mˈæskɪŋ θɹˈɛʃoʊld wɪðˌɪn ɐkˈuːstɪks ɐ bɹˈæntʃ ʌv fˈɪzɪks ðæt dˈiːlz wɪð tˈɑːpɪks sˈʌtʃ ɐz vˌaɪbɹˈeɪʃən, sˈaʊnd, ˌʊltɹɐsˈaʊnd , ænd ˌɪnfɹəsˈaʊnd, ɹᵻfˈɜːz tʊ ɐ pɹˈɑːsɛs wˌɛɹ ɪf ðɛɹˌɑːɹ tˈuː kəŋkˈɜːɹənt sˈaʊndz ænd wˈʌn sˈaʊnd ɪz lˈaʊdɚ ðɐn ðɪ ˈʌðɚ, ɐ pˈɜːsən mˈeɪ biː ʌnˈeɪbəl tə hˈɪɹ ðə sˈɔft sˈaʊnd bɪkˈʌz ɪɾ ɪz mˈæskt baɪ ðə lˈaʊdɚ sˈaʊnd.
Masking threshold within acoustics (a branch of physics that deals with topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound , and infrasound), refers to a process where if there are two concurrent sounds and one sound is louder than the other, a person may be unable to hear the soft sound because it is masked by the louder sound.