Eli5: while using my riding mower I tend to listen to podcasts or YouTube videos. For some reason, the bass tends to disappear amidst the engine noise. Deep voices become nasally, and medium and high voices become squeaky. Why does that happen?

Question

Eli5: while using my riding mower I tend to listen to podcasts or YouTube videos. For some reason, the bass tends to disappear amidst the engine noise. Deep voices become nasally, and medium and high voices become squeaky. Why does that happen?

In: 5

Answer 1

[Auditory Masking ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditory_masking) is the phenomenon where the perception of one sound is affected by the presence of another sound.

If your mower engine is loud in the bass frequencies, then it will mask the bass in your earphones, making them sound thinner