Perception of auditory patterns based on an intensity difference was investigated in 20 experienced normal‐hearing subjects under binaural and monaural listening conditions. Patterns were made up of either three white‐noise bursts or three 1000‐Hz tone bursts which were temporally spaced. Bursts within each pattern differed only in intensity and were either loud (L) or soft (S), i.e., each pattern included one of one intensity and two of the other. The six possible patterns were SLS, LSL, LLS, SSL, LSS, and SLL. The loud bursts remained at a constant intensity and the soft bursts were attenuated by either 9, 7, 5, or 3 dB. Patterns were presented at 50 dB sensation level. Tone‐burst patterns were easier to perceive and resulted in a larger number of correct responses than noise‐burst patterns. However, there was no significant difference between tone‐burst patterns and noise‐burst patterns in the percentage of errors that were pattern reversals. Symmetrical patterns were reversed more frequently than asymmetrical patterns. Auditory pattern reversals are compared to figure‐ground reversal and simultaneous contrast phenomena in vision and are discussed in relation to sensory inhibition.