Well as I said, PRaT is not a direct reference to the physical effects of a loss of accurate attacks and decays. Rather, it is a perception of rhythm and timing loss. You have to think outside the box a little bit here.
I believe that from the entire acronym, "rhythm" is the most appropriate descriptor, because the rhythm of a song is perceived as being inaccurate or unmoving when the attacks and decays are not reproduced in their original form. I guess that applies to the entire waveform as well.
But in the end, I think "PRaT" is mostly used to describe something like the "toe tapping factor" (which sounds a lot dumber than PRaT). If it's music that gets you involved, get's you bobbing your head, tapping your toes, whatever, then the music has "PRaT." As far as physics go, I believe that music that lacks this quality has poor reproduction of dynamics, and a huge part of the sound of dynamics is attacks and decays. You can argue that the term is stupid, I really don't care. I don't use it that much anyhow. But at least when someone uses it, I know what they're *trying* to refer to. :)
I believe that from the entire acronym, "rhythm" is the most appropriate descriptor, because the rhythm of a song is perceived as being inaccurate or unmoving when the attacks and decays are not reproduced in their original form. I guess that applies to the entire waveform as well.
But in the end, I think "PRaT" is mostly used to describe something like the "toe tapping factor" (which sounds a lot dumber than PRaT). If it's music that gets you involved, get's you bobbing your head, tapping your toes, whatever, then the music has "PRaT." As far as physics go, I believe that music that lacks this quality has poor reproduction of dynamics, and a huge part of the sound of dynamics is attacks and decays. You can argue that the term is stupid, I really don't care. I don't use it that much anyhow. But at least when someone uses it, I know what they're *trying* to refer to. :)