The High Frequency Response Test (8-22 kHz)

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by weirdo12, Jan 29, 2013.

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  1. Steve in Omaha

    Steve in Omaha Never kissed a bear, never kissed a goon

    Crap....12 last night and 12 today. Thanks, J Geils Band!
     
  2. Jim T

    Jim T Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mars
    ------------------------
    I tell people it is always 'Summer" in my mind with all the crickets chirping. To many ammunition firing ranges while in the military.
     
  3. Faust3D

    Faust3D Sick of it all

    Location:
    NYC
    Even with sinus infection and clogged ears I can hear 19Khz :D
     
  4. kevintomb

    kevintomb Forum Resident


    How old are you?
     
  5. kevintomb

    kevintomb Forum Resident

    We had a similar thread a while back, and I have a friend that does hearing aids, and does free hearing tests, the real thing on certified equipment.

    His findings totally contradict what many of you guys are claiming.

    Most all guys even in their late 20s or early 30s dont even come close to 20 Khz.

    I think you are hearing ringing or distortion that appears to be very high frequencies.

    He said the only ones to come close to 20 Khz were young kids basically.

    Most men in their 20s, 30s or 40s, were doomed to more around 15-17 khz if lucky.
     
    SBurke and Spek like this.
  6. reapers

    reapers Forum Resident

    Location:
    Michigander
    I can clearly hear 16k on the iPad. I think I am hearing 17k, but it's borderline. 48yo.
     
  7. joelongwood

    joelongwood Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wading River, NY
    13K......which I don't think is too bad for a 65 year old guy. Geez, some of my friends are wearing hearing aids. :-(
     
  8. Ham Sandwich

    Ham Sandwich Senior Member

    Location:
    Sherwood, OR, USA
    If someone is hearing 20 kHz in this test I would suspect that they are actually hearing the artifacts of aliasing or distortions caused by their headphone or speaker. Most headphones get really wonky in the high frequencies with wild peaks and valleys in the frequency response. You get driver ringing and all sorts of bad things happening cause that poor little driver is being forced to do more than it ought to be doing.
     
    Misery_loves.. likes this.
  9. dhoffa85

    dhoffa85 Well-Known Member

    17 khz I thought I was more deaf
     
  10. Spek

    Spek Well-Known Member

    Location:
    DFW, TX
    I agree. If there are 50 year old men here actually hearing 18 kHz, it's a medical marvel. Whenever I've had my hearing tested it's been, as you said, on specialized equipment and I *didn't* know when the tones were being played. I suggested everyone have another person test them so at least expectation bias could be eliminated, but that still doesn't account for the distortion. I truly think most of what people are hearing at higher frequencies is some sort of aliasing effect.

    I know for sure my iPad cannot produce those high frequencies because I tested it once. The headphone port could though, it seems. However, I haven't used test equipment so it could have been the fact that I was expecting the tone, not necessarily that I actually heard it.
     
  11. bigtyke66

    bigtyke66 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles CA
    I detected something with the 21 and 22kHz window but dismissed it as an artifact of the playback. I heard nothing 20kHz down to 17kHz, but the 16kHz and lower was clearly audible for me. I used headphones (Bose) and my PowerBook (2011) audio line out. I played the wav file with Amadeus v2.0.
     
  12. Burt

    Burt Forum Resident

    Location:
    Kirkwood, MO
    I like to bring a big old HP 200CD to work and hook up some kind of a tweeter. I start around 25 kHz and work my way down until someone gets annoyed. Most men over 30 can't hear much over 15 but some women can hear 21, 22 kHz .
     
  13. Pinknik

    Pinknik Senior Member

    13kHz was the first tone I heard. It's a bummer on paper, but music doesn't sound muffled to me, so that's a plus. I believe that frequencies above what we can hear interact with frequencies further down the spectrum in ways that we all can hear. I've never used a supertweeter, but people often describe changes in the sound where the music lies, or lays, I'm not really sure.
     
  14. moople72

    moople72 Forum Resident

    Location:
    KC
    16khz

    felt something weird at 17khz
     
  15. lobo

    lobo Music has always been a matter of Energy to me...

    Location:
    Germany
    40 and 15 Khz.... But I'm suffering a bad cold at the moment. Maybe all that slimey stuff in my had affects my hearing :)
     
  16. Jim T

    Jim T Forum Resident

    Location:
    Mars
    When I get home and get ready to mix my concert recordings I get my wife involved as I cannot trust my hearing any more to hear HF artifacts. She doesn't like the music so she is just listening critically and if she hears any buzzes or chirps (LOL) that don't belong she is on it.
     
  17. lobo

    lobo Music has always been a matter of Energy to me...

    Location:
    Germany

    Attached Files:

  18. Stefan

    Stefan Senior Member

    Location:
    Montreal, Canada
    What struck me as interesting when doing this test was that I heard/fealt absolutely nothing from 22 to 16kHz but 15kHz was loud and clear. I guess I have a built-in brickwall filter above 15kHz. An FM transmitter in my head? ;-)
     
  19. McLover

    McLover Senior Member

    I am good to 18 K. I have a lot of congestion in my ears. Can perceive higher even congested.
     
  20. weirdo12

    weirdo12 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Toronto
    It's pretty unpleasant when you get way up there eh? I sure don't hear 16kHz at normal listening levels.
     
  21. I think there's a number of factors to consider. Not just hardware/playback limitations. Age is one, but also heredity/genetics and personal history probably come into play. Obviously if you've worked or been in a loud environment for years, it's probably going to put a lot of wear and tear on your hearing. Even things like medications or drug/alcohol use/abuse may even have an effect.
    I had my hearing "professionally" tested about 5 years ago. I was 40. I don't know exactly what the frequency was, but the doctor actually said "You can hear that?". He kept going back to that same tone to make sure and I finally asked that he stop because it actually started to make me feel a little sick. I also recall I could hear it best in my left ear. Same with the test that was previously posted in this thread. I can hear the higher frequencies best in my left ear and starting around 17k in my right ear.
    I work in a sometimes noisy environment - a planetarium - but I can control it. Never did drugs (honestly) and I don't drink alcohol. (Yes, I can still have a good time. :D ) I usually don't "blast" music and keep the headphone volume at a comfortable level. Luckily, I don't have any "ear problems" (which does tend to run in the family) - like tinnitus, ear aches, infections, etc... Does it mean I have "super hearing"? No, I think it's just all these factors working together so I haven't lost the higher frequencies. (Yet.) One of my grandfathers apparently also had really good hearing and I do remember him yelling at my grandmother to turn the TV down all the time. My family would visit and it became almost a joke about them changing the TV volume all the time.
    I also teach as an adjunct in college - and just last year I had a student with one of those high frequency ring tones that "adults aren't supposed to hear". I could hear it just fine and she was surprised when I asked her to turn the phone OFF when in class. Some of the other students in class could hear it, some couldn't.
    So I think there's a quite a number of factors to consider. Every person is different.
    -Bill
     
  22. tmtomh

    tmtomh Forum Resident

    "Felt" something at 19, but could only clearly hear it around 17.

    When I was in my teens and 20s I could hear up to 18 or 19. Now I'm in my mid-40s. Oh well, at least I'm wiser than I was then. :)
     
  23. nm_west

    nm_west Forum Resident

    Location:
    Abq. NM. USA
    Ditto, using those little computor speakers.


    Steve
     
  24. forthlin

    forthlin Member Chris & Vickie Cyber Support Team

    I'm not certain what I can hear, but I am able to confirm the ringing in my ears is at 21khz;)
     
  25. kevinsinnott

    kevinsinnott Forum Coffeeologist

    Location:
    Chicago, IL USA
    The key is are you enjoying what you're hearing? I suppose it's a trade-off between hearing all the frequencies and having the experience to note and savor what you're hearing within perhaps a more limited range. I know I enjoy music more each day.
     
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