Do you notice that sound is faster in the morning?
Aug 8, 2013 at 8:12 PM Post #31 of 54
This question seriously piqued my interest so here's what I found
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070903050720AAVZIqr

Contrary to what a few guys have written it would appear sound waves propagate slower in cold air. The OP's perception of timing In the morning must just be a mental phenomena.
Again, aural perception is heavily dependent on mental state
 
Aug 8, 2013 at 8:17 PM Post #32 of 54
Maybe it's the other way around now that I think about it... Tough I don't think temp would make much of a difference when the sound is traveling from like 5mm from ur ear.
 
Aug 8, 2013 at 11:07 PM Post #33 of 54
Quote:
panamahat said:
This question seriously piqued my interest so here's what I found
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070903050720AAVZIqr

Contrary to what a few guys have written it would appear sound waves propagate slower in cold air. The OP's perception of timing In the morning must just be a mental phenomena.
Again, aural perception is heavily dependent on mental state
Click to expand...

BS - and so was the explanation in that link.  It's an absolute fact that sound travels faster in denser media - water, for instance.  Mach numbers are achieved with lesser speeds at high altitude than at sea level - due directly to the decreased density of air.  It's also an absolute fact that the gas laws dictate that colder air is denser (PV=nRT), thus - sound travels faster in colder air.  That can definitely affect pitch - re: Doppler effect.  However, I think the distances involved in headphones vs. ears are too insignificant to effect the kind of change that would be audible.
 
I actually think Billson's first post was the closest to explaining the phenomenon.  I have noticed "ear fatigue" myself.  If I listen to headphones constantly for a couple of days, my perception of detail and nuance decreases.  If that fatigue is lowest in the morning after a night's rest of silence, well, that makes common sense that you may perceive more detail and think that the music is faster.
 
Aug 8, 2013 at 11:30 PM Post #34 of 54
I'm not real saavy on the topic, but a quick google search yields decent results.
 
The formula to find the speed of sound in air is as follows:
v = 331m/s + 0.6m/s/C * T
v is the speed of sound and T is the temperature of the air. One thing to keep in mind is that this formula finds the average speed of sound for any given temperature. The speed of sound is also affected by other factors such as humidity and air pressure.
 
Notice the direct relationship between temperature and velocity.
 
Aug 8, 2013 at 11:58 PM Post #35 of 54
   I read in some article that sound seems to speed up or slow down at any time you listen to the music because you have an idea of how the song plays. Therefore, you know how the beat plays and sometimes you perceive it as faster or slower than when you actualy listen to the song. Then, this phenomenon kicks in. 
   During a listening session yesterday, some songs seemed faster at midnight and slower in the morning, thereby disproving the temperature and/or cold air theory.
 
   I too wanted to know why this happened, long before I even entered Head-Fi. It is quite intriguing if I do say so myself. Some more digging reveals that there haven't been any totally scientific explanations as to the cause of this phenomenon...which leaves it to us to find the key to this mystery. 
 
Aug 9, 2013 at 2:03 AM Post #37 of 54
Quote:
pformagg said:
for me, when I wake up, sounds are a lot louder, I think its because you shut out noise when you sleep, so when you first awake, new sound is at its best.
 
Click to expand...

Well, I think it's because your brain kinda cuts off your audio input for a while, and it refreshes when you wake up. That happens to me, too.
 
Aug 9, 2013 at 10:55 AM Post #39 of 54
Quote:
panamahat said:
I'm not real saavy on the topic, but a quick google search yields decent results.
 
The formula to find the speed of sound in air is as follows:
v = 331m/s + 0.6m/s/C * T
v is the speed of sound and T is the temperature of the air. One thing to keep in mind is that this formula finds the average speed of sound for any given temperature. The speed of sound is also affected by other factors such as humidity and air pressure.
 
Notice the direct relationship between temperature and velocity.
Click to expand...

Let's call it a draw on this one.  I was drawing the analogy that because colder air is denser, then sound will travel faster.  It's a lot more complicated than that because of the compressibility effects.  Sound does travel faster in denser material and air does get denser with colder temperatures.  However, sound in air travels by way of a compression wave and is not necessarily proportional to density when pressure (or compressibility) effects are in play.
 
This gives examples of the speed of sound in denser materials:
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/sound-speed-solids-d_713.html
Knowing that the speed of sound at sea level in dry air is 1100 ft/s, one can see in that chart that in water, the speed of sound is more than 4 times as fast - 4700 ft/s and in iron, 16 times faster.
 
This online calculator also shows that air gets denser with colder temperatures:
http://www.denysschen.com/catalogue/density.aspx
 
The difference is that air is compressible, so the affect of the sound wave on the air molecules is somewhat dissipated by increasing regions of pressure as the wave is propagated.  The reason the formula you cited works is 1) Air is assumed to be a perfect gas (it's not) and 2) increased altitude (example of temperature decreasing) results in decreased density and pressure, so the two effects cancel each other out.
 
My assumption was that sound travels faster in denser media (correct), but that's not true for a gas.
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Aug 10, 2013 at 3:39 PM Post #40 of 54
First of all I don't think this has much to do with temperature or anything like that. If ur ursing iems and headphones, then the seal is closing you off from the outside world. This logic would make sense if you were listening to speakers but not iems or headphones.
I think its probably a result of attentiveness. When you wake up, you feel far more fresh and lively which translates to you listening to your music through your headphones with more intensity and concentration. As the day moves on and you get tired, youll tend to get distracted and it will be harder to focus. Its like how studying in the morning tends to be better than studying at night; you are more awake, lively, and energetic in the morning. You may also have your mind on more things later in the day which will take away from the music.
You talk about the speed of your headphones which makes perfect sense. If youre willing to focus more in the morning ull be able to differentiate the instruments more and track the recording better. As you get tired, this effort goes down and ull feel less of an attack and decay phenomenon in your music and it may start to sound more muddy. But I don't think it has anything to do with sound waves. Just your psychological state as the day moves on :)
Hope this was helpful
Nusho
 
Aug 10, 2013 at 4:46 PM Post #42 of 54
The question is, if cold/warm headphones sound different.
 
Aug 10, 2013 at 8:10 PM Post #43 of 54
So basically i should use getting drunk as an excuse to enjoy my iems more? I mean, they will be faster and more efficient (louder). :)
 
Aug 10, 2013 at 9:19 PM Post #44 of 54
Not when you are drunk. Alcohol and music is good for nothing.
 
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