[Patrickhat2001]

I've read weather can affect how sound waves move in a room--does anyone know if empirical studies support this notion? I would assume that sound waves would travel better when air is less humid since water molecules are heavier than the other components that make up air; such as oxygen and nitrogen. As for temperature I would assume that it would depend on what temp produces the correct density for air molecules to best transmit sound.

Anyway, does anyone know if anything I've said makes a heaping bit of difference when listening to loudspeakers and, most importantly, headphones?

Thanks, and please let's not turn this into an arguement of celcius vs fahrenheit like what happened with this thread--Does weather affect headphones?

 

[lini]

Actually, I'd exspect a bigger influence on the listener than on the equipment, as long as you don't go into extremes... And even then: If you're just freezing to death, headphones won't make much of a difference, anyway.

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[pbirkett]

Quote:

Originally posted by lini If you're just freezing to death, headphones won't make much of a difference, anyway.

Might keep ya ears warm though

 

[Patrickhat2001]

Yeah, what I meant to ask, exactly, is how weather affects sound traveling through the air--sorry I wasn't clear on that. Of course cold temperatures would affect how well the drivers are able to move because in cold weather the materials of the drivers become less pliable. But I'm only interested in how temp and humidity would affect how sound travels through the air. Even though both would effect the drivers ablility to move as well, that's not really what I'm interested in.

 

[davidmiya]

I've done a bit of searching and have concluded that sound waves generated by headphones aren't affected to such a degree that you'd notice. Even if the humidity gets close to 100% (as it oftentimes gets in Hawaii at certain times of the year), you wouldn't hear a major difference. Why so? The drivers on headphones are extremely close to your ears and sound waves have very short distance to travel. In addition, there is no wind, thermals, or air currents to disrupt the waves.

I would imagine that the K1000's may be susceptible to weather a little more than most phones because of their "open" nature. However, most phones have an isolated environment with the ear.

I would imagine that weather conditions would have a greater impact on the you and the phones themselves than on the transmission of sound. For example, if it is VERY humid, your inner ears might get a bit stuffy. This could impede your hearing. If it is VERY moist, the pads and drivers on a pair of phones could get soggy and provide a funky response.

If you would like to read up, I found a nifty little article on the sound waves

You can view it HERE

Cheers,
David

 

[wallijonn]

listen to how your ears hear in different weather, different humidities, different temperatures.

just as you feel uncomfortable at different temps and humidities, so will also your hearing feel uncomfortable at different temps and humidities.

 

[ServinginEcuador]

I wonder about things like this myself, but more in the way of how altitude affects the sound of headphones. I live at about 9800 of elecation here in the Andes mountains and am curious to know how that affects the sound of my cans since the air pressure here is much lower than at sea level. What got me started thinking about this was my shoes. Shoes? That's right, my shoes. I bought (3) pair of Rockport Pro Walker shoes with the Air Transfer System built into them. Man, they were comfortable at my in-laws' house in CA, but when I got out of the plane here in Quito it felt like I was walking on a tennis ball. The pressure of the air was so much lower here that the air expanded and inflated my shoes to the point I had to pop one pair and suffer with the other two until I could take them back to the states where they reside permanently.

So, does the lack of oxygen at higher altitude make things sound better or worse? Is it easier for the driver to be propelled back and forth at high speed since it encounters less resistance? Does the lack of air make it easier for the driver to produce sound since the air cavity created in my sealed cans have less pressure, therefore an easier time of creating bass and such? Or, conversely, does the lack of air inhibit the sound since the air moleclues are more scattered and less dense? Ah, so many questions, so little answers and research. It'd be nice to have gerG or WalliJohn visit here with their knowledge and do some testing to see whether altitude is more or less conducive to heapdhone and speaker listening. If it works out it might start a trend of people moving to Colorado and such to really get the most from theri headphone rig.

 

[Canman]

Doug the amazing thing is that you have access to the internet way up there

 

[ServinginEcuador]

Canman,

Yeah, having internet access of any kind is better than nothing at all. The city of Quito has about 2 million people in it, so it is relatively modern and offers a number of modern ammenities for which we are extremely grateful.

Actually, I'm amazed we have access to ANYTHING here sometimes. I guess life is different when you live here full-time and not just visiting. You get used to having peanut butter one out of four trips to the supermarket. Pace Picante sauce just made its first appearance in the country, and as soon as this batch is gone it will be another month or so before the next one arrives. They have stuff you are used to like salad dressings, peanut butter, jelly, and many other little nick-nacks you never think about while in the states but miss like crazy here. To compensate you find yourself hording things whenever they are in stock. We sometimes buy 3-4 bottles of zesty Italian dressing just to make sure it is here when we want it.

You wouldn't put up with this stuff in the states, but when there is really only one supermarket chain in the country, and the only place you ca get money by overwriting checks, you make due. Man, people complain if one item is out of stock at the nearest supermarket in the states and they have to DRIVE another 5 whole minutes to get it somewhere else.

 

[lini]

SiE: Again, I'd think that the impact of high elevation on the listener is higher than on the equipment - I'd assume that the lower oxygen content in the air will affect the hearing ability more than the lower air pressure/particle density will affect the playback...

Greetings from Munich!

Manfred / lini

 

[blr]

Back to humidity/temperature issues, it will affect the diaphragms of the phones the most and this in turn will influence sound. A typical example is the cellulose mambrane on Sony phones. My 888 do sound different at different humidity simply because cellulose takes up quite a bit of water if the humidity is high and swells. I work with thin cellulose films and can tell you that these can take almost as much water as their mass, so at 100% RH the diaphragm would double its mass and the sound would be bloated. This is what I'm hearing when I wear the 888s in very humid weather.

 

[psyco1]

Wouldn't heat/cold cause some of the materials to expand/contract and change the physical dimensions and characteristics of not only the driver, but everything holding it.
Like for instance, would a low temp cause the gap between the magnet and coil to increase in size?
Would a high temp increase the impedence?

 

[wallijonn]

Doug,

as Lini says, do you find yourself hearing better at higher altitudes? Or, do you find yourself yawning before listening? (I do yawning exercises at near zea level as I find that my ears get uncongested and makes for a better listening experience.)

Yawn until your jaw hurts. Yawn. Yawn. Yawn.

Just reading "YAWN" makes me YAWN.

 

[BowerR64]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wallijonn Yawn until your jaw hurts. Yawn. Yawn. Yawn. Just reading "YAWN" makes me YAWN.

lol *yawn*

 

[Spankypoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BowerR64 lol *yawn*

Dangit, I yawned. It really does work.

I asked a psych prof why that happens, and she said, "When someone figures that, the world will end. It'll be over. That'll probably be the key to all existence."