Poll: Can you hear sound over 20kHz?
Feb 20, 2012 at 3:38 AM Post #181 of 551
I hear all the way to 23, and at the audiologist they said i got 24k listening capability as well, lucky me


No, unlucky you. There's nothing much up there in music to hear. All you get is high frequency headaches from flourescent light ballasts squealing.
 
Feb 20, 2012 at 11:45 PM Post #184 of 551
People don't seem to understand what these numbers mean. 10kHz to 20 kHz is one octave... The same as the difference between 20Hz and 40Hz. Most music is below 10kHz. If you "only" hear up to 15kHz, you are just missing three notes at the very edge of normal human hearing. And the only sound you're missing is second and third level harmonics on cymbal crashes which is a very low volume compared to the fundamental sound you can hear.
 
Feb 21, 2012 at 12:10 AM Post #185 of 551
Quote:
People don't seem to understand what these numbers mean. 10kHz to 20 kHz is one octave... The same as the difference between 20Hz and 40Hz. Most music is below 10kHz. If you "only" hear up to 15kHz, you are just missing three notes at the very edge of normal human hearing. And the only sound you're missing is second and third level harmonics on cymbal crashes which is a very low volume compared to the fundamental sound you can hear.


Oh, I see. That makes me feel better. I come into this thread with everyone hearing upwards of 18-20 kHz and feel left in the dark for hearing much lower. I suspected that most information we hear is significantly below those levels, but wasn't sure if there was any significance to hearing "less than" everyone else (aka normal/average human hearing). Guess, I start basing facts of numbers rather than actuality. So, thanks for clarifying.
 
 
Feb 21, 2012 at 1:32 AM Post #186 of 551
I suspect a lot of people claiming to hear these high frequencies are just turning up the volume until they feel the pressure of sound outside their range of hearing. People seem to think frequency extension is important. It isn't. Balance in the middle is much more important.
 
Feb 21, 2012 at 7:31 AM Post #187 of 551

Quote:
People don't seem to understand what these numbers mean. 10kHz to 20 kHz is one octave... The same as the difference between 20Hz and 40Hz. Most music is below 10kHz. If you "only" hear up to 15kHz, you are just missing three notes at the very edge of normal human hearing. And the only sound you're missing is second and third level harmonics on cymbal crashes which is a very low volume compared to the fundamental sound you can hear.

 
Many instruments produce harmonics louder than the fundamental, including the cymbals sometimes (frequently?).
 
I do agree with you. Using audacity on a few clear and simple solo acoustic tracks, I didn't find any peaks above 15kHz that were significantly less than 15 dB below anything else. Although I will note that there were moments where the dominant frequencies were in the 10-13 kHz range.
 
Doesn't mean we can't enjoy our old recordings. Looking at some of mine, where everything above 4 kHz is buried in noise, all the fundamentals are there so I can still appreciate the music. Admittedly, not the stuff I'd use for background listening.
 
Feb 21, 2012 at 6:21 PM Post #189 of 551
18/M/~23.5 kHz as tested with a tone generator courtesy of my high school's physics department. I'm curious as to whether or not it's deteriorated in the year since the measurement.

It's almost ominous, gradually losing track of your sensory perception as you age...
 
Feb 21, 2012 at 10:34 PM Post #190 of 551
It' a fair trade off because you get a lot smarter as you age.
 
Feb 22, 2012 at 2:59 AM Post #191 of 551
Erm, well unfortunately that isn't an universal trend. Some stay as dumb, and others get even dumber. And mass media, consumerism and other brainwashing sources don't seem to be helping.
 
Quote:
It' a fair trade off because you get a lot smarter as you age.



 
 
 
Feb 22, 2012 at 11:05 PM Post #192 of 551


Quote:
I suspect a lot of people claiming to hear these high frequencies are just turning up the volume until they feel the pressure of sound outside their range of hearing. People seem to think frequency extension is important. It isn't. Balance in the middle is much more important.

I think we all have good ear response on the middle, why would it be otherwise? And the satisfaction of hearing high frequencies is that you know your ears were well cared
 
Feb 23, 2012 at 12:35 AM Post #193 of 551
I started listening to the test tones with my LCD2's and couldn't hear anything above 18kHz, apart from an uncomfortable, almost painful, feeling of pressure in my ears. Then I tried with my HD650's from 15kHz and the first thing that hit me was the volume level - I had to turn it down significantly because the sound was almost painful (I only listen to loud music if it's something like a rock concert).
 
With the HD650's and a lower volume I could hear up to 19kHz. Thinking that the volume may have caused the painful pressure I experienced at the highest frequency's with the LCD2's, I put them on again and with a lower volume I definitely heard the brief 22kHz sound, and this time there was no discomfort.
 
Going down and back up the frequency scale a few times definitely helped me "learn" how to hear the highest frequencies.
 
Edit: Obviously I know the relative volume settings needed when swapping between my HD650's and LCD2's, so that wasn't an issue.
 
Feb 23, 2012 at 2:57 AM Post #194 of 551
I tried a couple of different ones on my T1s, game over at about 17-18kHz... I'm past the 40 barrier though, so I think it's not too shabby...
beyersmile.png

 
Feb 23, 2012 at 5:33 AM Post #195 of 551
I think we all have good ear response on the middle, why would it be otherwise?


Our ears do, but a lot of stereos don't. The difference between a good stereo and a great one is relative balances in the core frequencies, not the sound in the upper stratosphere.
 

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