Philomel Records

Play Sound File : Deutsch's Phantom Word example

This is a stereo sound file.
Listen using external speakers
(not headphones nor laptop speakers)

In listening to this stereo illusion through loudspeakers, it is important to have the speakers placed with one to your left and the other to your right.

The speakers should be separated as widely as possible, and you should listen some distance away from them. The effect works particularly well in a classroom or auditorium.

Here are just a few of the phantom words that people have heard when listening to this posted example in a good space with widely separated speakers:

window, welcome, love me, run away, no brain, rainbow, raincoat, bueno, nombre, when oh when, mango, window pane, Broadway, Reno, melting, Rogaine

This audio example is presented here in .MP3 format.

  Play Deutsch's Phantom Word example (3.0 MBytes)     

When listening to this sound file, it is best to use equipment with a flat frequency response, so as to avoid spectral distortion. Features that alter the signal in any way, such as spatialization features, should be turned off. Compression algorithms should be avoided, in particular for the stereo illusions. And make sure that the playback amplitude is not too high.

See the Technical Notes for more information.

© Diana Deutsch     For more information : http://philomel.com

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