Can you tell where a sound is coming from?

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I've noticed this a few times now: when there's a sudden, loud noise I look in the complete opposite direction to where the sound is coming from. I thought it might be the sound bouncing off the walls that confused me. This morning I was cycling and I heard a loud crunching sound. I instantly looked behind me. Then I realised the car in front of me had hit a patch of gravel. I can't blame the walls for that. Can anyone explain this phenomenon?

I have noticed this too and I have learned to look the opposite way when I hear something outside, including shouting. I also remember hearing a popping sound and I looked up and turned and noticed the light rail had hit a car. It was that obvious because you couldn't miss it so I knew that was the sound I heard when I saw the crash. I thought this was normal. maybe NTs can chip in here and say if it happens to them too.

This happens to me.

I was just thinking about something like this the other day. I've noticed that I often can't tell the direction from which sounds are coming. Loud noises and soft noises.

I always know where sound is coming from. I have severe tinnitus and one of few good things about that is that I have better than perfect hearing.

I have that problem, especially with emergency sirens. I had my hearing tested a long time ago and it showed one ear was better at picking up high pitched sounds, the other was better at lower pitched sounds, so if that's still the case it might have something to do with it. I've heard owls and some other animals have offset ears so they can pick up direction better.

That is something I realized several years ago, that I am not able to tell what direction sounds are coming from very well.
For me, it only seems to apply to sounds coming from more than about 12 feet away though.
The farther away the sound is, the harder it is for me to tell what direction it came from.

I have problems with this.

Once in a while (doesn't seem to be related to the weather) a certain pipe in the basement will drip condensation onto an aluminum heat duct. The very first time I heard it, I was lying in bed trying to fall asleep. I thought it was the roof leaking. I went around the 3 rooms of the house that I thought were leaking, including closets. I did at least have the correct corner of the house! But how come I thought it was the roof when it was in the basement was bizarre - it took me an inordinate amount of time for me to figure it out to go downstairs and look

i have almost perfect directional hearing; when in traffic i almost trust my hearing better then my vision (also because i am often overwhelmed by the lights around me, really at night).
i am able to judge direction, speed and distance to other traffic on sound alone, even when i'm in a car myself.
this doesn't apply to only traffic, but it is most noticable/useful in that situation.

aside from that, i am also (by training as a musician) able to select distinct sounds and amplify/weaken them so i can select a single sound to follow or ignore; this allow me to hear the difference between a bus that's preparing to pull up to the stop and a lorry that's just leaving the intersection a few yards away.

basically, you could say that i have the hearing of a blind person; i don't really need my eyes for a lot of situational awareness, and i indeed only use those if i need specifics

I do have problems with immediately locating the direction of sounds.

I have difficulty with detecting the source of a sound. I have other auditory processing difficulties too. All part of my complex neurological issues.

I have terrible problems detecting the direction of sounds as well, although my hearing is very good. That's why I avoid rooms full of people at all cost.