[coolaneasy]

My sony s series walkman mp3 player says the following about its frequency response.
Frequency Response : 20 - 20,000Hz (When playing 44.1 kHz sampling data file, single measruement)
What does this mean?
I'm asking this cause many of the portable amps I see have the same frequency response and so I'm asking myself if I stand to gain any sound quality from an amp for my denon 2000. Sony players are supposed to have one of the best sound qualities ever. Now I understand that I'm talking consumer grade electronics here. Any suggestions on what are good sources at consumer grade price. In the past I had a panasonic cd player and that was the best source I ever had.

 

[JRG1990]

20 - 20,000Hz is the standard slap on tag, cause thats the average hearing range of the human ear it means nothing without the -/+ db rating.

 

[coolaneasy]

Oh thanks. That was another thing I was wondering. Whats the -/+ db in the frequency spec and how does it affect the sound? Could use some enlightenment sir.

 

[El_Doug]

across the entire frequency spectrum, you have an average sound pressure level from a given device.  the +/- tells you the variance there is between the lowest and highest spl's along the entire range.  so if a device measures 20-20k +/-3db, then across that entire range, the sound pressure only varies up or down by 3db for any given frequency.  Sometimes, a company will want to boast a deeper bass response (for marketing purposes), so they will show "10-20k +3/-9db."  This means that across this range of frequencies, the sound pressure levels may be 3 above average, or up to 9 below average, at certain frequencies. 
 
a lot of companies simply omit the +/- altogether, making the 20-20k statement essentially meaningless
 
Quote:

Oh thanks. That was another thing I was wondering. Whats the -/+ db in the frequency spec and how does it affect the sound? Could use some enlightenment sir.

 

 

[JRG1990]

3db is the difference in volume the human ear can detect, so if you see 20hz - 20khz -/+3db it means from 20hz-20khz the frequence responce doesn't spike or dip above 2.9db, if it's just -3db it means the freq responce doesn't dip by 3db until 20hz or 20khz but could spike above +3db.

 

[inarc]

3db is the difference in volume the human ear can detect, [...].

I think it can be less than that, depending on frequency and testing conditions: http://www.audioholics.com/education/acoustics-principles/human-hearing-amplitude-sensitivity-part-1

 

[coolaneasy]

So what is a good -/+ db?
Are these specs good?
 

1. Max output power:
   1. 20 mW into 16 ohms
   2. 40 mW into 32 ohms
   3. 50 mW into 100 ohms
   4. 15 mW into 300 ohms
2. THD, A-weighted:
   1. <0.025%, 1 mW into 32 ohms
   2. <0.025%, 1 mW into 100 ohms
3. Dynamic range, A-weighted:
   1. 93 dB, USB input
   2. 102 dB, analog input, 32 ohm load
   3. 108 dB, analog input, 100 ohm load
4. +10 dBV max into high-impedance load (>600 ohms)
5. Frequency response: 13 Hz to 22.5 kHz, +/-1 dB
6. Op-amp supply rails: +/-5 VDC

 
I don't know what THD is but still pasting that info here.

 

[JRG1990]

Looks ok to me, longs you don't plan on using headphones too much above 100ohms with it, and the dynamic range via usb is a bit low, THD : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Total_harmonic_distortion , anything below 1% is fine and inaudible.

 

[coolaneasy]

okay. those r the specs on my portable amp that i purchased. hope it drives my denon 2ks better than the sony player