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Il suono è più incomprensibile di quello che credevo.

Il suono è più incomprensibile di quello che credevo.
The sound is more incomprehensible than what I believed.
From Lesson 284:Clause-level comparisons (di quanto, di quello che)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Il suono è più incomprensibile di quello che credevo.

Why do we use di quello che here instead of just che or di for "than"?
When you compare something to a whole clause (a phrase with a conjugated verb, like "what I believed"), you can't just use a simple di or che. Instead, you have to use a phrase like di quello che or di quanto. Literally, it translates to "than that which".
I thought we needed the subjunctive for this type of comparison. Why is it credevo (indicative)?
Good catch! If we had used di quanto instead, it would trigger the subjunctive: di quanto credessi. But di quello che is more conversational and generally takes the normal indicative mood (credevo). Both phrases mean the exact same thing.
Could I use pensavo instead of credevo in this sentence?
Yes, absolutely. In contexts like this where you are expressing a past opinion or expectation, credere (to believe) and pensare (to think) are completely interchangeable. Saying di quello che pensavo is perfectly natural here.
How does the word incomprensibile break down?
It is formed a lot like its English equivalent! It uses the negative prefix in- (not), the root of the verb comprendere (to understand), and the suffix -ibile (able to be). So it literally means "not able to be understood."

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