[Turbine Guy]

Hey fellow people of head-fi, I was wondering, what is mids highs and lows? Could someone enlighten me about it? Thank you so much? What's the difference between, mids, highs, lows, treble and bass? Thank you so much for explaining these terms to me!

 

[Selenium]

Bass is the lower frequencies, so bass=lows. Treble is the higher frequencies, so treble=highs. Mids are frequences in the middle. Mids=middle.

 

[CEE TEE]

Lunatique posted this link within a thread on "neutrality" in the Sound Science forum:  http://www.independentrecording.net/irn/resources/freqchart/main_display.htm
 
Edit: ClieOS posted the above link and the one right below in the thread at bottom....thanks to both Lunatique and ClieOS!
 
That's a good place to go work on the frequency range...there's a sticky on terms in the Sound Science Forum too:  http://www.head-fi.org/wiki/describing-sound-a-glossary
 
This is very good from Lunatique too:  http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/546715/a-plea-to-the-community-let-s-standardize-the-way-we-describe-sonic-signatures
 
I am still learning...
 
 

 

[sesshin]

All musical sounds reside somewhere on the audio frequency spectrum. its good to learn to hear the difference because it can help you evaluate sound better.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audio_frequency

 

[sesshin]

That post by Lunatique is great!

 

[CEE TEE]

Previously, what I thought were highs are probably upper-mids.  
 
I still have work to do so that i can better communicate what I am hearing.
 
(We all need to do some work so that we may speak in a common language.) 
 
My hat is off to any of you who are also working in a second (or third) language before having to deal with these difficult things to convey!!

 

[kiteki]

 
If you study colours in an art school, you're not allowed to use fancy terms, you just speak in frequency levels, an exact science of audio would do the same, avoiding the term "highs" and instead saying "7-8kHz range", for example, and so on.
 
 
 

 

[CEE TEE]

Exactly.  I plan on training myself with test tones and a couple of EQ's that I have sitting here...

 

[Assimilator702]

Quote:

Exactly.  I plan on training myself with test tones and a couple of EQ's that I have sitting here...

While that might seem like it would train you in theory......it only helps if all you listen to are test tones.
 
Any musical tone is a mix of different frequencies.
 
I'm a drummer......I have virtually every frequency from 20...more like 35ish with my bass drum/floor toms up to and past 18kish with the cymbals.
 
One example without getting too deep into the subject.......bass drum has the lowest frequencies of the kit.
 
But can you guess which frequency contains the attack of the beater on the head? Give up? 12k.
 
Cymbals might reach upwards of 18/20k......but the impact of a wooden stick on the bell reaches down to the lower midrange frequencies.

 

[ClieOS]

Note that any instrument will produce fundamental tone as well as overtones. The characters of the overtones often determine the timbre of the instrument. On the note of high, mid and low - these are not strict terms in the music world, so different schools might have a different definition on whether one frequency belongs to upper mid or lower treble, etc.

 

[CEE TEE]

And transients reach incredibly high...the drums have all of these frequencies!  
 
That's why it seems hardest to me to be able to capture the drums.  (But I'm not a recording engineer.)
 
Having to squeeze the drums into a microphone is just a shame...then we try to bring it back out of headphones.
 
I'm also planning on using the EQ's on music to see what happens when I cut frequencies...what disappears?
 
Is it the leading edge of a snare attack or cymbal "shimmer"?
 
The way I learn about things is by approaching by many different angles and payin' dues...thanks for adding to this thread!
 

 

[AllanB80]

Wow, thanks for the info everyone! Will definitely give this a read later on.

 

[kiteki]

@CEE TEE
 
That's the equalizer you're using? (btw I can see you are not into photography, so you are an audio-phile and not a latest-technology-buzz-phile it seems)
 
The drummer is correct (AFAIK), however like you said CEE TEE, you can listen to a drum recording (a bit boring imho, but everyone has an affection for for a certain instrument!) and adjust different bands on your equalizer and get used to how it sounds when x-band is reduced or enhanced.
 
Then, when you hear [x] headphone, you'll recognize that the 3kHz band is enhanced, since you're used to that type of sound already, seems pretty simple to me, perhaps easier said than done? I wouldn't know =P apart from playing around with the equalizers on my DAP's and getting used to the bands on them, but that's more about what sounds I like and dislike, imho reducing 1kHz a tiny bit usually sounds pretty good, for example.
 
 

 

[i2ehan]

@CEE TEE: Thank you for the links my friend!

 

[Hongook]

EDIT*