How bad is your hearing?

[ForumMaster]

with the new file supplied by MSDawn, i can hear the 22.4 one as well.

 

[herbiehancock]

I'm just curious why most of those tones are called ultrasonic when they lie in the normal range of human hearing. From what I remember from my training in the military as an audio specialist, ultrasonic is consdered to start at frequencies above 20kHz, or above the normal human hearing range. 17kHz is not ultrasonic, nor is 18kHz, nor 20kHz....although little music contains fundamentals in those ranges. I'd honestly put the 21.2kHz tone as the first ultrasonic tone there.

 

[NanoStuff]

I don't understand why this has to be repeated so many times, but you're not hearing the tone at the corresponding frequency! All you're hearing at those frequency ranges is aliasing and distortion. Like has been said so many goddamn times, it means your sound card is producing ****** in the output, it doesn't mean you have superhuman hearing.

 

[Cerb]

Nanostuff: while certainly the case for the compressed ones, otherwise, how are you sure it's not the tone?

How is it that you know the DAC can't do the job reasonably well? If it simply can't, why not?

How do you know that headphone A can't reporduce tone Y alright?

Finally, since when has 22kHz been superhuman? You hear it quieter than 16k or 18k or even 20k, but it's certainly within the normal hearing range of human beings under like 40 who haven't gone to a bunch of clubs or concerts or worked in extremely loud environments, and don't use normal headphones in loud environments.

Originally posted by: NanoStuff
I don't understand why this has to be repeated so many times, but you're not hearing the tone at the corresponding frequency! All you're hearing at those frequency ranges is aliasing and distortion. Like has been said so many goddamn times, it means your sound card is producing ****** in the output, it doesn't mean you have superhuman hearing.

Because you've given no reason other than your own faith, and make claims like the frequencies requiring superhuman hearing. People generally like reasons why.

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: NanoStuff

Anyone who says they hear the 22.4 is lying.

I don't think so. They can hear a sound when they attempt to play 22.4, but it's not going to be what they think it is. For that matter, it's going to be a similar issue with tones a few steps below 22.4 as well.

How on earth can you reproduce 22.4khz with a 44.1khz sample rate? The theoretical max is 22.05, isnt it?

 

[NanoStuff]

Nanostuff: while certainly the case for the compressed ones, otherwise, how are you sure it's not the tone?

It's not compression that's the problem, any decent algorithm will accurately compress such high frequencies as long as there is no other information to compress within the alloted bandwidth. Even though a sinusoidal wave cannot be accurately represented at that sampling rate, even that is not the problem. The problem is simply human hearing. There is no reason for me to assume your equipment can't produce that tone, but there is good reason to assume you can't hear it.

If you go to get your hearing professionally checked; or at least get an entry level professional audio card and a good playback system, you might be surprised, but you won't hear a damn thing above 20kHz, and probably far lower than that. If you're hearing tones at that frequency now, you're either a genetic marvel (and if that's the case, don't tell the doctor or they will lock you up for laboratory testing), or you're hearing the excrement that your inexpensive sound setup is generating. The fact that so many people hear something at those frequencies doesn't surprise me the least, audible distortion at all frequency ranges is the norm for just about any typical pc sound card.

 

[NanoStuff]

Nanostuff: while certainly the case for the compressed ones, otherwise, how are you sure it's not the tone?

It's not compression that's the problem, any decent algorithm will accurately compress such high frequencies as long as there is no other information to compress within the alloted bandwidth. Even though a sinusoidal wave cannot be accurately represented at that sampling rate, even that is not the problem. The problem is simply human hearing. There is no reason for me to assume your equipment can't produce that tone, but there is good reason to assume you can't hear it.

If you go to get your hearing professionally checked; or at least get an entry level professional audio card and a good playback system, you might be surprised, but you won't hear a damn thing above 20kHz, and probably far lower than that. If you're hearing tones at that frequency now, you're either a genetic marvel (and if that's the case, don't tell the doctor or they will lock you up for laboratory testing), or you're hearing the excrement that your inexpensive sound setup is generating. The fact that so many people hear something at those frequencies doesn't surprise me the least, audible distortion at all frequency ranges is the norm for just about any typical pc sound card.

Originally posted by: BD2003

Originally posted by: NanoStuff

Anyone who says they hear the 22.4 is lying.

I don't think so. They can hear a sound when they attempt to play 22.4, but it's not going to be what they think it is. For that matter, it's going to be a similar issue with tones a few steps below 22.4 as well.

How on earth can you reproduce 22.4khz with a 44.1khz sample rate? The theoretical max is 22.05, isnt it?

Yes, but like I said, they're not lying. There's plenty there to hear even though it's not 22.4kHz.

 

[91TTZ]

Originally posted by: djheater

How bad is your hearing?

WHAT??

Originally posted by: djheater

How bad is your hearing?

HUH?

Originally posted by: djheater

How bad is your hearing?

WHAT???

 

[atybimf]

18.8, 14 years old.

 

[91TTZ]

This test measures my speakers more than my hearing.

I can't hear anything over 16 with my speakers, but I can hear much more with headphones.

 

[DaTT]

21.1 28

 

[Rock Hydra]

Originally posted by: MS Dawn
For those that may be hearing anomalies in the sweep - it's 24/96 WMA 440kbps.

I've uploaded the original.

try this

To fully realize this material without distortion requires a straight through DAC capable of 24/96 playback. 🙂

EDIT: It had to be shortened to 30 seconds (same range obviously) in order to be of manageable size.

OMFG I thought my ears were gonna split open and bleed. :|

 

[EGGO]

Originally posted by: tfinch2
I can hear the 21.1 one, but not the last one. I'm 22.

I can hear that one, and I'm 21. I keep thinking I can hear the last one just barely but when it stops I still hear ringing so it can't be it.

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: lyssword

Originally posted by: LoKe
The highest pitched ultrasonic mosquito ringtone that I can hear is 21.1kHz with ease, volume almost at 0. The next one, however, I can't hear at all, even at 100% volume.

its possible that average comp audio hardware is not even capable of playing @ this frequency

I wonder too what the MP3 compression does to those frequencies.



Edit: What the hell? I just opened up the 22.4KHz file with Goldwave. There's nothing there. There's no audio signal in there, as far as Goldwave can see.

I don't think I'd trust this as a legitimate test of hearing ability, since consumer-level hardware has questionable capabilities in terms of accurate tone reproduction, especially at frequencies that most customers wouldn't be able to perceive anyway.

 

[bobsmith1492]

You know what, I don't know if anyone noticed, but a 22.4 KHz signal would require a sampling rate of over 45 KHz to reproduce digitally... seeing as most audio recording and playback is at 44 KHz, no wonder there's nothing coming out - it's all aliased to nothingness. 🙂

 

[acole1]

How come I get digital noise at 18.8 and higher?

Soundcard - Audigy2 Pro
Speakers - Logitech Z5500's
Using either analog or digital output with either direct or optical outputs.

I am having a bit of trouble hearing 17.7... I have to turn it up to hear it. The others I hear just fine.

 

[exdeath]

I played all of these on my HTPC on my home theatre system to eliminate equipment limitations. I consider myself an audiophile and I can distinguish the difference between Dolby Digital and DTS blindfolded on my equipment.

I am 27, I could hear all of them even with the sound of my Koolance Exos running, but it sounds like some of the higher ones are actually lower? The 17.7 KHz actually sounds deeper than the 16.7 KHz for example. Something doesn't seem right? The 14.1 KHz sounds the highest to me, ear piercing and almost inaudiable. The rest just sound like lower frequency tones at much lower volumes. I'm surprised at my age my hearing is still good with all the shooting I do, but then I value my ears and wear both foam plugs and a head set when I shoot.

My home stereo speakers have a range of 13 Hz to 30 KHz and I was able to hear everything except the last one at 22.4 KHz even though I could easily hear the 21.1 KHz, so I believe either my amp or my PCs SPDIF optical port is cutting it off. There was no perceptible audio playing even with the 30 KHz tweeter right next to my ear.

Actually no, while writing this, I just verified the file in an audio program and indeed the 22.4 KHz file is flat lined, there is no oscillation in the scope signal at all. Oscillation is present and easily discernable in all the other files.

As a FYI for people, your equipment could be a limit, and the .mp3 encoding process possibly clips out certain frequencies since its perception based after all, and the average human ear cannot hear them. In this case though it appears that the 22.4 KHz file is empty.


Update:

Reading previous posts, I can also conclude that it's probably Nyquist artifacts and aliasing causing some of the tones to sound lower than they should. I'm using onboard RealTek sound since my Audigy doesn't have a optical out port. Of course this mean my recievers' 24/192 DACs should be doing the work instead of a crappy PC sound card so the source of the problem is in the file, the software, or the SPDIF isn't true pass through and is modifying something.

 

[dotcom173]

i can hear the 21.2, but not the 22khz one. im 17

 

[exdeath]

Originally posted by: dotcom173
i can hear the 21.2, but not the 22khz one. im 17

See my post, the 22 KHz file is empty ^_^

Verify it yourself in media player with the scope on and look at the other files.

 

[OOBradm]

the 17 is the one i can hear sitting comfortably in my chair. If i lean really close to my speaker i can hear the 18 one. Im 20

 

[tk149]

37
14.1 KHz is the highest I can hear on speakers.