How high can you hear?

[bascule]

Going along with the Teen Repellant thread... this guy posted a bunch of samples of various frequencies. How high can you hear?

 

http://www.ochenk.com/entry.php?id=63

[Kyrisch]

The 10k one killed... Ouch. It didn't help that my volume was on full blast. It started to taper off around 15k; I barely heard the 16 and 17 and wouldn't be able to pick them out even in complete silence, though I could hear them after pausing them and playing them again, knowing when they were playing compared to the silence.

[GutZ]

I hear them all.

 

That normal though. I can hear if a TV is on from another room muted. I always hear electrical devices. It's because I play everything so softly my ears adjust, I watch my TV on the 3rd lowest volume. (7 divisions with 3 levels for each).

 

p.s. everything up too 25 hurts really bad.

 

::edit::

 

I tried 25k again it hurts too.

[ecoli]

13khz hurt me the most. I couldn't hear anything after 15khz... but I used to play in a Rock band... so there you go.

[Nevermore]

I can hear up to 21k. Did anyone else notice that 19 and 20 sounded quiter and lower pitched than 18?

[AzurePhoenix]

After 19 my comp wouldn't process them, but I could only barely make out 19. None of them really got to me though; maybe that ocasional ringing in my ears from the migraines has innoculated me

[Heretic]

I made it to 18 and I hate myself for putting me through that.

[GrandMasterK]

I can hear them all. That can't be 25,000hz...how could I hear it? Nothing hurts, I wouldnt call it the most enjoyable sound though.

 

Thanks guts, so that's why I could always tell if the TV was on without being in the same room, but nobody else could (everybody who tried is much older).

[YT2095]

nothing past 16k here, in fact 16k was only a "sensation" more than an Ear thing.

I`m not entirely sure my speakers are up to the task either.

[alt_f13]

I can hear up to 21k. Did anyone else notice that 19 and 20 sounded quiter and lower pitched than 18?

Chances are that is your sound system, and you may not be able to hear above 18khz.

After 19 my comp wouldn't process them, but I could only barely make out 19. None of them really got to me though; maybe that ocasional ringing in my ears from the migraines has innoculated me

 

The average sound card before recently could not even reach the highest frequencies listed. Speakers are even worse.

 

If you want to hear what your computer can produce, get the tone generator here, and set it to sine, then keep upping the frequency until your computer plays something that sounds lower pitched.

 

Besides... it's alot easier than downloading samples :S.

[YT2095]

yeah, it sounds very much like a harmonic or beat frequency that you were listening to.

[alt_f13]

yeah, it sounds very much like a harmonic or beat frequency that you were listening to.

I think that was a combination of stereo recording, and stereo playback... all on less than perfect equipment. Listening to sounds at these frequencies is usually reserved for those special vans that roll around to all the elementary schools giving eye exams and hearing tests. God those were fun. It was my first taste of psychological warfare.

 

[edit]I've noticed that frequencies that are out of my soundcards range (but not my headphones) tend to be played back in what sounds like a form of digital compression(as in jpeg or mp3)... like on a bad cell phone connection.[/edit]

I hear them all.

::edit::

I tried 25k again it hurts too.

You would be one of the few people on the planet that could mate... congrats.

 

BTW' date=' how many hundreds of thousands did your speakers cost

 

[edit']

I think it was proven that babies can hear at those frequencies... and speakers that good are only in the few hundred dollar range; I was exaggerating.

[GrandMasterK]

Well no doubt my speakers can handle it, and my reciever does all the processing, the signal just goes right through the soundcard. But still, 25Khz......something seems fishy, I could hear it just fine. Judging by how the tone was hitting those different sounding octaves it seemed like I could of went a couple higher. That can't be possible, so I'm skepticial about what the frequency really is of those.

 

And I listen to music very loud, for long periods of time, for years now. My hearing has to be below average for my age, which is 19.

 

These are the fronts I used to listen on: http://www.av123.com/products_product.php?section=speakers&product=79.1

[alt_f13]

System: 3-way' date=' five-driver direct-radiating system, vented enclosure with three rear-firing flared ports.

Drivers: Vifa Ring Radiator tweeter, two custom 5.25" long-throw mid-woofers, two custom 6.5" aluminum cone bass woofers.

Frequency Response: 36 Hz to 20 KHz (± 3 dB)

Crossover Points:

Midrange: 180 Hz – 1.75 kHz

[b']XT tweeter: 1.75 kHz – 20 kHz [/b]

Impedance: 8 Ohms nominal

Efficiency: 87dB (@ 1 watt / 1 meter)

Dimensions: 43.5" H x 15.5" D x 9.5" W

Weight: 94 lbs./pc shipped

 

It doesn't show the rolloff on the graph, but it doesn't show any signs of dropping, so it could go up to 30Khz+, who knows.

 

I still think it is your soundcard. Whether it's "passing through" or not, it is being processed digitally.

 

I checked the samples out on my computer. My amp is connected by optical cable so it's a digital signal. My output is set at too low a sample rate because the amp is old and can only receive up to 48Khz. The signal was dumbed down to what sounded like 800Hz!

 

I snapped my headphones in to the analog outs of my soundcard, and it was perfect... I didn't hear boo at 25Khz, but at least I know it works properly (and I'm really impressed with my Soundblaster(!?!)). I can hear up to ~17000 with the volume CRANKED, 16000 at high levels, and 15000 at normal levels. Whether the sharp curve was caused by my headphones or ears, I'm not sure, but I'd hazard a guess at it being my headphones. Your ears tend to roll off into sound you can still "feel," in both upper and lower ends of the audible sound spectrum. This rolloff was rather unnatural, and fairly linear.

 

Use an amp you know to work at a 96Khz sample rate, and be sure your cards digital outs are set to 96Khz. That, or use headphones right from your soundcard. Personally, I've found bitstream technology to be extremely flaky. Check the specs for your soundcard too.

 

[edit]

The sample rate of your soundcard should be more than twice what you are trying to hear, frequency wise. In reality, this would still produce a VERY inaccurate wave... but twice is what most people say :S. 96Khz+ is the only rate suited to these samples, as the next option down is usually 48Khz, which is only good for up to 24Khz in sound reproduction, and really poorly at that... I don't know what the standard is these days, but I doubt it's at 96Khz for regular consumer-grade cards.

[JustStuit]

I searched on the web and all the sites I found said humans aren't able to hear above 20,000 Hz so those who can hear them all should check the sound card/speakers or what ever.

[insane_alien]

well humans can hear upto about 50kHz if you bypass the outer ear and transmit the sound through the bone...

[alt_f13]

I searched on the web and all the sites I found said humans aren't able to hear above 20,000 Hz so those who can hear them all should check the sound card/speakers or what ever.

Yah, a sub-par system trying to play 22.05Khz+ (or anything above what it's specs say it should play, based on the outline I gave above) would create audible artifacts, and it sounds like people are confusing those for what they think they should be hearing.

 

FYI, standard audio CDs have a sample rate of 44.1Khz. They can only produce sounds up to 22050hz in frequency (with great difficulty). This part of the spectrum is reserved for cymbol highs, triangles highs and the like, as well as the upper harmonics of other sharp waveforms. Like Stu said, chances are great that you won't hear it, which is why the mosquito buzzer is at ~16Khz.

well humans can hear upto about 50kHz if you bypass the outer ear and transmit the sound through the bone...

 

I thought hearing loss was due to degredation of the cilia in the cochlea...? That would be the reason old people can't hear above the highest frequencies that youngins can hear.

[insane_alien]

I thought hearing loss was due to degredation of the cilia in the cochlea...?

 

Thats perfectly accurate. its just that the outer ear and the little bones filter out the higher frequencies because they're a bit squishy. if you use the skull as the entry point for the sound, the vibrations can be transferred to the cochlea much more effectively with less high frequency loss.

[bascule]

FYI, standard audio CDs have a sample rate of 44.1Khz. They can only produce sounds up to 22050hz in frequency (with great difficulty). This part of the spectrum is reserved for cymbol highs, triangles highs and the like, as well as the upper harmonics of other sharp waveforms.

 

No, it's not. Redbook compliant CDs have to be mastered with a low-pass filter at 20kHz.

[GutZ]

You would be one of the few people on the planet that could mate... congrats.

 

BTW' date=' how many hundreds of thousands did your speakers cost

 

[edit']

I think it was proven that babies can hear at those frequencies... and speakers that good are only in the few hundred dollar range; I was exaggerating.

 

I would never spend that much on speakers. I just know I can hear very well. So it's pointless to get good speakers if I only turn the volume up 1 or 2 notches 90% of the time.

 

I have no reason to lie. I can hear them all whether or not those are the true frequencies.

[aj47]

Out of interest does anyone know what it would sound like if you were to similtaneously play every audible sound frequency at the same volume?

[bascule]

Out of interest does anyone know what it would sound like if you were to similtaneously play every audible sound frequency at the same volume?

 

You'd end up with a lot of destructive interference... I don't know what it'd sound like, but the majority of the sound would cancel itself out.

[tomgwyther]

hmm interesting, I've worked in the music industry all my life and have a mesurable amount of ear damage (Tinatus) but could still hear up to 21000Hz

Quite pleased my ears aren't as bad as I thought they were.

 

I played the sample through top notch studio mastering monitors to be sure I was getting a true representation of the sample

[tomgwyther]

Out of interest does anyone know what it would sound like if you were to similtaneously play every audible sound frequency at the same volume?

 

You end up with 'white noise'

It sounds like a radio that's not tuned in properly,

something I also use when calibrating sound equipment.

[reor]

Anyone knows the acoustic frequency of fluorescent tubes? I always had a headache when being near them.