Which type of spectrogram is more sensitive to timing changes?

Wideband spectrograms are particularly sensitive to timing changes due to their ability to provide a finer resolution in the time domain compared to narrowband spectrograms. This is because wideband spectrograms use shorter analysis windows, which enable them to capture rapid changes in frequency and amplitude over time. As a result, they are more effective in illustrating transient features of speech sounds, such as the onset and offset of phonetic segments, glides, and other quickly changing acoustic events.

In contrast, narrowband spectrograms use longer analysis windows, which enhance frequency resolution but can obscure timing information. This longer window averages over a larger time frame, making it more challenging to accurately depict rapid changes in the speech signal.

Understanding this distinction is crucial for analyzing speech sounds and their temporal properties, especially in voice analysis, phonetics, and speech science research.