[fghtffyrobesity]

But if humans can only hear ~20-~20khz, why do manufacturers make headphones that go way above and below that?

 

[kool bubba ice]

A sen rep explained why on youtube, but forgot what he said. It did make sense though.

 

[fjrabon]

1) To look good on spec sheets

2) I think human hearing actually can go out a little further than that

3) you'll actually feel the bass below 20, which actually does effect how you "hear" sound

4) it's easier to make the headphone sound great all the way up to and down to 20/20 if it goes slightly past those points. Headphones usually start to tail off when you get towards the ends of their ranges.

 

[fghtffyrobesity]

Looks like I should have used the search bar! Found a thread asking the same question here an interesting question about headphones and frequency range..!

 

[fjrabon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fghtffyrobesity /img/forum/go_quote.gif Looks like I should have used the search bar! Found a thread asking the same question here an interesting question about headphones and frequency range..!

link doesn't work for me.

 

[fghtffyrobesity]

Try it again. It should work now

 

[fjrabon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by fghtffyrobesity /img/forum/go_quote.gif Try it again. It should work now

tyftl. I guess I was wrong about some people being able to hear past 20-20.

 

[billybob_jcv]

Without a spec showing the +/- tolerance of the frequency response, it is completely meaningless. 5-50K Hz +/- 20 dB might not be better than 30-15K Hz +/- 3 dB.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Not a dumb question at all, and it doesn't have much to do with the lucky few with great hearing range.

Transducers tend to be more linear when not pushed to the extreme in either direction. At the high end and low end of the operating range, you start to get distortion. So if you had something strictly limited to 20Hz-20kHz, then it would distort as it got to the limits of human hearing.

The besb way around this is to stretch the bandwidth out. If you had a transducer with a range of, say, 10Hz-35kHz, then it would have less overall distortion in the 20Hz-20kHz band than a transducer limited strictly to that range. There's more to this, but that's what is going on when frequency response gets drawn out.

Similar thinking goes into a lot of other audio gear. Your speaker amp might average pulling 10W while you're listening, but you don't want to be pulling 10W from a 10W amp. It will be distorted at the top of its range and will clip if a big transient comes along. You're better off pulling 10W from a 50W amp. The 50W amp will be loafing the entire time, which is good. That means you'll get a very linear 10W and it won't clip when the finale begins.

 

[vcoheda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kool bubba ice /img/forum/go_quote.gif A sen rep explained why on youtube, but forgot what he said. It did make sense though.

x2.

very interesting as well.

 

[zantetsuken]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vcoheda /img/forum/go_quote.gif x2. very interesting as well.

can someoen provide a link to this?...im interested.

 

[krmathis]

Because with a wider frequency range more/all of the linear range is within our hearing range.
While the fall-offs and distortion are outside our hearing range.

 

[vcoheda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by zantetsuken /img/forum/go_quote.gif can someoen provide a link to this?...im interested.

http://www.head-fi.org/forums/5444470-post2850.html

 

[zantetsuken]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vcoheda /img/forum/go_quote.gif http://www.head-fi.org/forums/5444470-post2850.html

good stuff thanks!

 

[Nocturnal310]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif Not a dumb question at all, and it doesn't have much to do with the lucky few with great hearing range. Transducers tend to be more linear when not pushed to the extreme in either direction. At the high end and low end of the operating range, you start to get distortion. So if you had something strictly limited to 20Hz-20kHz, then it would distort as it got to the limits of human hearing. The besb way around this is to stretch the bandwidth out. If you had a transducer with a range of, say, 10Hz-35kHz, then it would have less overall distortion in the 20Hz-20kHz band than a transducer limited strictly to that range. There's more to this, but that's what is going on when frequency response gets drawn out. Similar thinking goes into a lot of other audio gear. Your speaker amp might average pulling 10W while you're listening, but you don't want to be pulling 10W from a 10W amp. It will be distorted at the top of its range and will clip if a big transient comes along. You're better off pulling 10W from a 50W amp. The 50W amp will be loafing the entire time, which is good. That means you'll get a very linear 10W and it won't clip when the finale begins.

Best Answer....i struggled to put this into words like u did.

Pls Sticky it