Timing ABX Test — Latency Drill
Can you hear 40 ms down to tiny 2 ms delays? Double-blind ABX timing trials probe your Haas-effect resolution. Train your timing ears. Free in your browser.
Protect your hearing. Start at a low volume. Never raise the volume to make a tone audible. Levels are shown in dBFS, relative to full scale — not SPL.
How it works
Double-blind ABX Haas effect and latency test synthesizing millisecond-accurate stereo delayed impulses.
Temporal Auditory Processing
The human auditory system possesses exquisite time-domain resolution, necessary for survival to pinpoint the location of predators and prey. Interaural Time Differences (ITD) can be resolved down to 10 microseconds (0.01 ms).
Delay Zones in Psychoacoustics
- 30–50 ms: Echo Threshold. Delay breaks apart from the direct sound into a distinct secondary reflection.
- 10–30 ms: Haas Spatial Widening. The brain fuses both signals into one wide acoustic image.
- 2–10 ms: Comb Filtering Zone. The delayed arrival causes acoustic phase cancellation at harmonic intervals, altering the tonal timbre.
- < 2 ms: Micro-timing & Phase Alignment. Critical for drum multi-mic alignment and stereo overhead phase coherence.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Haas Effect (Precedence Effect)?
When two identical sounds arrive within 1 to 35 milliseconds of each other, the human brain fuses them into a single auditory event and localizes sound toward the earlier arrival, while perceiving spatial widening.
At what delay do humans hear two distinct echoes instead of one widened sound?
The echo threshold for transient clicks is approximately 5 to 10 ms, while for complex music and speech it is between 35 and 50 ms.
What is comb filtering and how does it relate to timing?
When a sound is mixed with a delayed copy of itself, phase cancellations occur at periodic frequency intervals (f = 1 / delay). Short delays (2–10 ms) produce characteristic hollow or flanging coloration.