[mvw2]

Here are some interesting hearing tests that you folks may want to play through.

The first is a distortion test, basically how well can you hear distortion. I'll note this is part your perception of distortion and part the limitations of the audio device you use. You will notice that stepping from one headphone (or any other device like stereo, PC speakers, etc.) will limit what you can hear. For example, a really clean and detailed headphone will readily point out very minute amounts of distortion but something like a crappy laptop speaker will already have a lot of inherent distortion and a lack of ability to present differences beyond a medium point. Example, a good pair of headphones may get you to -40dB but a crappy laptop speaker may only get you to -15dB before you really can't tell the difference. It's fun to play with anyways, see where ya get. Try a couple different headphones and see how easily they show minute differences as distortion drops. It may shed a little light on the clarity and dynamics of some of the hardware you have.

Audibility Of Distortion

Here's a fun one to play with, not really to test hardware but more to test yourself, basically A <-> B comparison and if you hear a difference or not. It's mostly a game of memory but shows how readily you recognize changes.
Tonedeaf Test: Test your musical skills in 6 minutes!

Another one by the same guy, a test of your ability to hear pitch changes:
Adaptive Pitch: Measure your pitch perception abilities

A classic frequency test. There are many of these really, and this one isn't terribly special, just something to play with. See what you hear. Try and different headphone and see how much easier/harder it is to notice certain frequencies. The shape of the curve should change with the frequency response differences of the headphones as well along with your natural ability to pick up on a frequencies.
Equal loudness contours and audiometry - Test your own hearing

 

[Kahuna]

Thanks for the Links.

 

[Ballz2TheWallz]

I correct got down to -24db on the distortion with my somewhat messed up Sennheiser HD485s, somewhat fun. Guess either my setup is good at hiding distortion or my ears are not so golden.

Made it to .75hz without messing up on the adaptive pitch.

 

[chinesekiwi]

Strange thing is although I did 'in-the-pack' in terms of the hearing tests, I did exceptionally well in the musical-visual test. Got 80%, but should be been even higher if I knew what I was doing the first few questions.

 

[mvw2]

They're fun to play with. It's useful to try some of these tests with more then one device, if you've got a different headphone to try or speakers.

The distortion test is especially interesting for me because it seems heavily dependent on the device used and not necessarily your ears or perception.

The frequency response thing isn't the best I've come across. I should find a better one, but I'm lazy. Still, it's neat to look at and to realize how limited ones hearing or headphone is at the extremes. Notice the word "or."

You not hearing 16kHz or 30Hz may not be you at all. Sometimes you just don't have the right hardware to extend out that far with useful sensitivity. It is useful to understand if it's a hardware issue or a ear issue though.

 

[kangcore]

woohoo! 91.7% on the tonedeaf test!

but its more like an audio memory test than a tone deafness test per se. but hey, can't argue with a med student... probably a doctor by now.

 

[Ojsinnerz]

I told the difference between the first two samples in the Audibility of Distortion pretty easily, got 77.8% on Tonedeaf Test, and at 500 Hz, I can reliably differentiate two tones 14.1 Hz apart.

 

[mvw2]

The pitch thing is kind of curious. It sort of shows how close or off someone or something can be before you notice they're off key. It's like a singer not hitting that A flat or a piano slightly out of tune. Do you pick it up when you hear it? I'm in the 0.75Hz range. I did grow up playing musical instruments, so I had become accustomed to it. I played trombone, and that is all listening. The slide position only has a rough meaning of frequency. The other half is what you do with your lips. It's been many, many years though, lol.

I'm kind of curious how much the headphone influences the accuracy too. Since the change in Hz gets pretty small, I wonder if the headphone needs a higher level of clarity/definition/etc. to create enough of a difference to be perceivable.

 

[myinitialsaredac]

so far- 8x% percent on tonedeaf and 85% on music visual learning test
pitch - 2.1hz at 500hz QQ

Dave

 

[teatime]

These tests were fun; thanks for the link!

Musical visual: 85%, Tonedeaf: 75%, Pitch discrimination: 7.2 Hz
Distortion audibility (ER4S straight out of Powerbook): -27 dB

 

[GN85]

Interesting tests, remember doing the tonedeaf one a while back and getting around 90. Just did the musical - visual one, got 100. 2.7Hz in the adaptive pitch...

 

[Scarlet Infidel]

Thanks for the links, a good bit of fun.

Does anybody know a good site/program to test the frequency range of your hearing? Mine was the best in the class during a physics lesson, but that was several years ago.

Edit: just thought, that was probably using a tone generator with a greater range than normal speakers.

 

[mvw2]

There are a lot of tone tests online. The hard part is you need an audio source (earphones, speakers) that can reproduce the range too. It doesn't help to run a speaker set or earphone that drops like a rock at 12kHz and you wonder why you can't hear 16kHz.

Just keep that in mind when you play around with the frequency response stuff and gauge your hearing ability. Differentiate hardware limitation and human limitation. For example, I currently don't have any earphones capable of reproducing 16kHz with any meaningful sensitivity. I would need to step to home audio speaker to get a tweeter capable of reproducing that end of the spectrum.

 

[nakedhand]

Nice links mvw2! This is real interesting. To be able to test yourself like this without having to go to a clinic, sweet!

Adaptive pitch: 0.525 Hz , Tonedeaf: 97.2%, Visual: 65%, Distortion -21dB

..Its Jake Mandell ! I have two records by this guy... excellent electronica, cuts n clicks.. what ever we call it.

 

[Filburt]

-45dB on the "Pop Music" distortion test w/ zero errors. Will try the other stuff tomorrow.