Have you measured just how high in the freq band you have the ability to hear? (1 Viewer)

[Geoff L]

I am in the middle of constructing a new set of full range towers and was doing some testing/measuring today and was suprised to find that::::
Tho it is said some people can actualy hear from 20hz to 20khz, I do know what I can clearly hear on the low end from building and testing subs.
About 22-hz (actualy hearing not just feeling). But today while doing this testing I found that, tho a friends equipment and RTA said it was Definitly their, ~{after 13-k}~ I am Stone Deaf.
My better half could continue to hear up to 17-k. I was very surprised to find this out and quite shocked.
Seems the years of running heavy earth moving equipment without ear protection up (till I turned 35), it has obviously damaged my hearing. I've worn ear protection for the last 10 years, but once it's gone it's gone!
I think many might be surprised to see just what they can't hear. You young people with those slammen 130db + car systems, rock concerts, Raves, etc. Might want to take a hard look at how much hearing loss you might have aquired already at your young age.
Regards
Geoff

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Geoff- I got tested in 1983, when I was about 18 (Army physical, believe it or not). I could hear out to 20 Hz then. Now, 19 years later? I'm almost afraid of getting tested again... My tinitis has definately gotten worse too. Rock concerts & a couple of very bad bouts with swimmer's ear. Shoot, no one *told* me in the 80's I should be worried about loud concerts wrecking my hearing. Now, wear ear plugs all the time.

 

[likestowatch]

this was something I looked into having tested last year, but couldn't find any testing facilities in the Northern Virginia area. I'l like to have this done as I am curious to see what my range is.

 

[jeff peterson]

Does anyone know if hearing aids help extend the frequency you can hear or only amplify those frequencies you can already hear?

 

[Geoff L]

Kevin:
Thats impressive to hear that high! Lucky you in your younger days to have excelent hearing on the highest of the spectrum, tho time and stupdity seems to have caught you, as it has me.

Jeff:
I know nothing of the hearing aid industry, but would imagine that something could be built to better the paticular freqs we/you have troube with. Just a guess, and someone with real experience should chime in and educate us.

Regards
Geoff

 

[Dustin B]

No formal testing. But I played a little bit with the NCH tone generator and my HD600 phones. I lost it around 21hz on the low end, and up around 19.4khz on the high end.

One of my roommates was the same on the low and could get up to 20khz, the other lost it mid 20s on the low and couldn't hear above 16khz on the high (he also was dumb enough a few years ago to break out the floor of a 10x10 concrete room with a jackhammer and no ear protection.

 

[Tyson]

At 30, I can hear to 18khz, and down to about 22hz (that's as low as I can actually distinguish tones, below that, it's just air pressure).

 

[Scott Kriefall]

Well, perhaps having only been to a few loud concerts has helped in my case...
I just downloaded some test tones and experimented a bit. I was able to easily hear up to 18kHz, and could also hear the 19kHz tone at a lower level. Couldn't hear the 20kHz tone at all.
I was using my M-Audio Audiophile 2496 sound card and a set of inexpensive Koss PortaPro headphones, however, so that might have adversely affected the playback of the 19kHz and 20kHz tones.
Does anyone know the approximate frequency at which the flyback transformer vibrates in a common CRT-based television? I can still detect when a television is turned on with the volume at 0%, sometimes even from the other end of the house.
Not too bad for a 30 year old fogey, apparently . Still, I think my high-frequency hearing has mellowed somewhat since my high school days, when I'd wince in pain and develop headaches after walking into a room full of Apple II monochrome monitors...

 

[Geoff L]

Man with the numbers you guys are postig on the highend, I am flat out stone deaf!
I am really surprised at the cut off point on the highend for me. I am certaily glad I prefer the typical Britt sounding speakers.
Usually they have a slightly rolled off high end. Don't mistake that for accuracy, I still want an "accurate" speaker, but just don't care for what some may call a bright or forward sounding high end.
Humm, maybe I'll go in and have my ears cleaned by a specialist. I've read that this can improve some peoples hearing, even if you keep your ears cleaned well. The oil and wax can build up deep inside the ear and can have quite an effect on some people!
My father had it done a year or so ago (is not hard of hearing) and said it was amazing the crap that came out of their. Said it was like he had a new set of ears. He was not tested, so how much better he could actualy hear is just speculative.
Maybe this could help my hearing a little..? If it was to....
Geoff

 

[James Bergeron]

I don't know the exact frequency, but I've played with pc speaker frequency sweeps and can hear them really really high. Most of my friends would say they could no longer hear them, but I could go on and on. I have pretty good hearing, due to VERY few concerts and mostly just moderate music whily growing up . I can hear in the highs right up until I feel sound in my jaw it's odd.
I'm not sure how high pitched tv sets are, but if you know that high pitch sound that emits from them when they are on, you know what I'm takling about. I can hear it for miles when there is no sound, annoying as hell when I walk into a store.

 

[Dustin B]

I forget the exact number, but for you typical tube TV I think it's around 16khz.

 

[Phil Iturralde]

Sorry to hear about your hearing limitation Geoff L! Unfortunately, hearing damage is permanent.
Besides heavy equipment, machine shop sounds and loud rock concerts constant 110-130 SPL exposure, another area where many have damaged their hearing is with stereo headphones! Remember Walkmans??
The following is from HEARING DAMAGE AND LOUD MUSIC ...

Your ears are very delicate, prolonged exposure to sound pressure levels above 85dBA will cause damage to your hearing. If you have ever been to a party or to a concert where loud music was played, you may have experienced Temporary Threshold Shift (TTS). This temporary loss of hearing can become permanent if exposure is done on a regular basis.
One way to tell if you've been exposed to excessive sound pressure levels is that you tend to hear a ringing in your ears.
Ringing in your ears, hissing, clicking or buzzing sounds all represent the effects of tinnitus**, which is often a side effect of noise-induced hearing loss. Inner-ear cells are sensitive to vibrations. But if they're damaged, the ears will still record ringing or buzzing, even when there's no sound.

**TINNITUS
The term given to noises which are heard 'in the ears' or 'in the head' - ringing, buzzing, hissing, whistling, pulsing or other sounds which do not come from an external source.
I was tested up to 20 kHz when I was 18 @ HS, and now, ... many, ... many, ... many, ... many years later, I can still hear up to 18 kHz - using my brother's Spectrum Analyzer / DVD Delos Spectacular 20 Hz to 20 kHz test sweep (for each speaker) @ 70 dB AVG / JBL NSP1's/S-Series. I bought my first Radio Shack SPL meter @ a garage sale for $15 (actually tested by Stereo Review) and have used it for my stereo setup / Jazz quartet gigs to balance the sound and monitor the SPL's.
As many 2-channel stereo setup consumers, playing our music loud was the norm, and then I read an article in the late 70's Stereo Review on Listening Fatigue / Hearing Loss. So, since then, I would watch/monitor the SPL's in my setup and my wife brought hearing protection ear plugs (if needed) to the live concerts we attended back then.
So, this thread sends an important message to you youngin's, ... protect your hearing if you want to enjoy your Music / HT's for years to come!
Phil

 

[Jonathan T]

I tested my hearing with NCH and my 280s. I was very suprized. I can hear out to almost 30khz and down to 17hz. Although I am 14 and I never listen to music loud.

 

[Geoff L]

This is very interesting and certainly shows what cumlative time with loud spl levels will do to ones ears.
When we are young, (most of us) think we are industructable to most every thing, along with never giving our hearig a second thought.
With my new found high freq hearing loss, maybe my Center speakers (2-systems) might not be as bad as I thought. Need to measure them to see just what they are producing across the entire freq spectrum. Something I have not done to this point. Only have done proper cailibration and aiming of my centers.
I think many of us would be suprised if we had our hearing pro checked, or at least use a freq disc and spl meter and checked it our selves. Not as accurate as having it pro done, but would definitly give one an idea of what you can and CAN NOT hear.
If the meter says it's their at (70db) and you can't here it, well you have your answer.
Thanks Phil, I'll take one of your good ears, as you really only need one good one right. You will still have 2, I'll send you one of mine back..
Whished I had read the information you did back then...
I can only imagine how much MORE hearing loss I would have if I (had not started) wearing ear plugs 10 years ago.
It's really kinda scary to think about....
Heed the warnings younger people, you will regret it one day, I certainly do! What good will hundreds or thousands of dollars in HT and Music gear be to you if you can't hear half of what it's capable of producing...
Regards
Geoff
Edit: All I can say is WOW Johnathan!!!!
You lucky dog...

 

[VinhT]

Sadly, it's too late for me. I had my hearing tested on Friday. As I was sitting in the anechoic chamber, the ringing in my ears completely took over. It turns out that my left ear is alright, but my right ear experiences a ~10dB drop-off after 6kHz. One good ear out of two doesn't seem so bad, right? But apparently my hearing is worse than the exam might seem to indicate. It's gotten to the point where I have to turn on the captions to watch television. I turn 21 in March.
So am I doomed? Probably. But, I have confidence that future medical advances will save my hearing!

 

[Murali Kalapala]

I am 28 and I can hear up to 18Khz. Then it starts to roll off and I have to increase the volume. This is in my house.


Kris.

 

[Chu Gai]

Also it's your sensitivity to sound that's also affected. Let's say you get your hearing examined and the results come back that you can't hear 15 kHz. Interstingly, if you take a 15 kHz tone, that you couldn't hear during your exam, and start increasing the amplitude, there'll come a point where suddenly you'll hear it. Depending on the amount of sensitivity you've lost, your perception of that sound you're now hearing may well cause you to hold your head in pain. This is because the bottom 10 dB, 20dB, or whatever of your dynamic range has been totally lopped off. Therefore when you start hearing it, it's no longer a low volume. In effect, your dynamic range at that particular frequency is not just much lower, you've completely lost the ability to hear soft sounds at that frequency.
For those interested in self-administering a hearing test to themselves, for $25 you can check this out.
http://www.digital-recordings.com/audiocd/audio.html
I guess if you split the cost between a few friends, it might make it more attractive.

 

[Scott Kriefall]

but for you typical tube TV I think it's around 16khz.

I did a quick Google search earlier today, and the ~16kHz figure seems to be correct. I'd thought it would be higher than that, since the squeal from the transformer can be very annoying at times. Thankfully it's not too bad with my 46" Mitsubishi... but it may be producing noise at a different (higher) frequency than non-HDTV sets.

On an unrelated note, I've noticed in the past that many of my friends and associates like to "crank" the treble control on their systems. I'd always wondered how anyone could possibly manage to listen to such a system for any length of time, as it was like listening to "nails on a chalkboard" in my opinion. After reading the earlier posts in this thread, I'm wondering if the tendency to crank the treble may be due to loss of high frequency hearing.

 

[Scott Simonian]

This thread is making my ears hurt!

 

[Geoff L]

Scott K.
You make a very interesting point. I have noticed that some of my younger friends do just that.
Now knowing that my hearing on the high end suffers, theirs might be worse.
This feels like needles being jammed in my ears and on top of that, they also have the bass pumped up fat and bloated. Sounds just awful, but they think it sounds excellent!
They also have some very nice gear & speaks. Makes me wonder if it's to compensate for the fat bloated bass or if their hearing is in worse shape than mine.
Scott S.
Hope your comment was just a play on words,,,, as I think this is a very valid and important thing we are discussing....
What, huh, speak up I didn't catch that..
Geoff