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Hearing Test with Signal Frequency


MeloManiac

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I'm 51 years old and I was curious about my hearing capabilities. I tested it using the Youtube video below on my living room system (Denon RCD-m41 + Klipsch RP160M). 

I started hearing the signal at 36Hz and I stopped hearing anything around 12,400 Hz.

The results for my second setup were quite a surprise (tubecube 7 amp with Heresy 1972 speakers.) I instantly heard "some" sound at 20Hz, at 30 Hz the sound was definitely present. It disappeared at 12,000 Hz. 

 

These results are conflicting with the factory specs and with my listening experience: when listening to music I always thought the rp160m speakers went a bit lower than the Heresy. The Heresy do create a fuller 'wall of' sound, of course. 

 

I know this thread could go two ways: either towards tech (speakers and amp) or towards hearing (age and damaged hearing). I'm interested in both.

 

This is the link:

 

Edited by ILI
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Well your hearing is way better then mine lol
I’m 54 and have mostly worked in very loud environments and it’s really taken a toll on my ears, not to mention that I’ve had ear problems my whole life I was actually deaf for about six months when I was 13 from a massive ear infection. So I take great pride and joy for having what hearing I do have. Be very grateful that you hear anything over 8K as I can’t hear anything over 7K
That’s why I have to rely so much off of instruments for tuning my sound and no longer can rely off my ears for that. It made it quite difficult when I did live sound and Studio recording in my late 20s and early 30s, but I was able to do quite well with that
No two would not put much stock in a YouTube video about hearing test. We’re having to download and then replaying the file third gonna be information lost during that transfer of data even if it is digital


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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I connected my trusty HP 204 oscillator to a JVC ribbon tweeter and started at 5 KHz, on axis about one meter away. After I could no longer hear the signal, I looked at the dial, 13 KHz is where the old ears faded out.  Not bad for 64. The last time (about 10 years ago) my ENT tested my hearing, his test (which stopped at 8 KHz) indicated my hearing was much better than the average for 50+ men. He said that many of his male patients had worked with loud machinery most of their lives, I have been an office worker most of my career, and that explained the difference.

 

By way of comparison, when I was 18, I connected a similar HP oscillator to my Koss PRO 4AA headphones. My ears gave up at 18 KHz.

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You might consider the Fletcher-Munson curves.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal-loudness_contour 

 

These show that even average ears need a higher acoustic level (phons) to perceive low freqs.  Therefore by these standards everyone is hard of hearing at low freqs.   

 

Let me suggest you try some in-ear headphones, I have a pair from a cell phone purchase, to try the tones on the link which was posted.  I can hear 30 Hz without problem on my laptop in a quiet room.   OTOH this is where many big speakers are rolling off in acoustic output rather quickly.  Therefore speakers have falling output and ears have falling sensitivity.  It is a losing battle down there.

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35 minutes ago, boom3 said:

That reminds me of a long-standing question of mine. Instead of "flat" response as measured by a microphone, why not design a speaker to have the inverse of the F-M curve, so as to be "perceptually flat" ?

 

That is a common misconception of the F-M curves. They are, in fact, perceptually flat when you look at a single curve.

 

All points (across frequency) will have the same apparent loudness (a psychological quantity) when played at that level (in dB, a physical quantity and indicated along the y-axis). This is usually referenced to a nominal  "loudness" of a 1000Hz tone at 40 dB. The different curves are for different overall levels (usually separated by increments of 10dB). So within a curve, those different frequencies would be perceived as having an "equal loudness" and therefore perceptual flat in terms of loudness. 

 

Good luck,

-Tom

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On 7/16/2020 at 5:45 AM, boom3 said:

That reminds me of a long-standing question of mine. Instead of "flat" response as measured by a microphone, why not design a speaker to have the inverse of the F-M curve, so as to be "perceptually flat" ?

 

Another reason is because at those low frequencies the room (size and proportions) have the most effect on frequency response "flat-ness".

 

Making a speaker that is "perceptually flat" would just exaggerate that, actually making the in-room speaker response less flat at low frequencies.

 

And then, we have the human ear. Not everyone hears "perceptually flat" the same.

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I played this on my PC with my Klipsch Reference on ear headphones. It helped me figure out 2 things.

 

1. The tinnitus that I have is in the 3-4 Khz range. (would have guessed higher)

2. At age 47, I can no longer hear above 13Khz.

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9 hours ago, boom3 said:

In my case, in a quiet house I can hear an ant pass gas.

In a noisy bar or restaurant (remember those?) I sometimes struggle to understand what the person across from me is saying.

 

... after how many drinks?

 

😉

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On 7/23/2020 at 7:01 AM, Jeffrey D. Medwin said:

Next time you visit your MD for a regular check up, have him prescribe a Hearing Test.  I believe, as you get older, you can have one a year.  They do it in a booth, with calibrated equipment, and pros testing you.   They will TRY to sell you hearing aids !!

 

An older person's hearing can be substantially "off", yet you will still perceive ALL sorts of things, from high frequency resultants that come down into the mid range.  Worry not, enjoy de music !!!

 

Also, have the ear/nose/throat person clean your ear wax out.  Only professionals should do this.  "Never put anything in your ear that's smaller than your elbow."  I had a big wax plug that was invisible from the outside.  Without it, I can hear much better!

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Many things affect how you'll hear the low frequencies coming from your speakers. A room is full of nodes and nulls. You'll hear more or less low Hz just by moving around the room. And your speaker placement will affect the position of these nodes and nulls. The best you can do is to get the best low Hz sound in your sweet spot. For these reasons, and since you feel low Hz as much or more than you hear it, you don't want to evaluate your speaker's low frequency response by ear. Use a mic and REW to do it.

 

I'm 49 and my high frequency cuts out at about 14,000Hz.

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