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Bregman 1990 described how the concepts of timbre constancy and the cocktail party problem act as examples of the complexity of auditory perception. specifically, both refer to the question behind how people distinguish individual voices in a crowd (like at a party). such a task requires recognition of the unique timber of the targets voice, and the isolation of the frequency components responsible for it it from the rest of the crowd. humans typically manage to choose the correct components , which can differ across different context. this suggests that the process involves some advanced calculations by the brain, rather then being a simple recognition of sensory inputs.

• (i.e it is an active process rather then a passive absorption ) (Bregman, 1990)