Do you have golden ears?

What's the highest frequency you can hear?

  • Up to 21kHz

    Votes: 22 8.6%
  • Up to 20kHz

    Votes: 13 5.1%
  • Up to 19kHz

    Votes: 21 8.2%
  • Up to 18kHz

    Votes: 40 15.6%
  • Up to 17kHz

    Votes: 35 13.7%
  • Up to 16kHz

    Votes: 45 17.6%
  • Up to 15kHz

    Votes: 28 10.9%
  • Up to 14kHz

    Votes: 23 9.0%
  • Up to 13kHz

    Votes: 10 3.9%
  • Up to 12kHz

    Votes: 19 7.4%

  • Total voters
    256
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iko

Ex-Moderator
Joined 2008
Test your hearing by following this link and let's see: how far up the frequency chart can you hear?

I tested myself with an e-mu 0404 usb and Sony MDR-V6 headphones. My wife can hear up to and including 18kHz, while I could hear the tone only to 16kHz.

Go to the following link to do the test:
High Frequency Response and Hearing Test

Or simply download this file and play it.

I'm also trying to post a poll with this post.
 
That just plain hurts at about 16K...brought up the volume to "compensate".............the sweep is confusing, a generator 'in-house' would get you an accurate reading.
I still can hear "noisy" Horizontal Oscillators.
______________________________________________________Rick........
 
Administrator
Joined 2007
Paid Member
I use a lab generator and at just over the threshold of hearing can hear to around 10 or 11 khz, increasing the level slightly at this point ( just a few db) and that becomes 13 khz... increase a little more and that goes to around 15k.
Increasing from the threshold of hearing by 40db and I can "hear" to 18k
All that is with a pure sine wave...

You have to put numbers in, and use pure tones with no harmonics.

http://www.hsmc.co.uk/index.php?page=age-related-hearing-loss
 
So, if I can hear 12.4576259333KHz, do I vote 12 or 13? :clown:

In speakers, I can hear ~14KHz before a drop becomes noticeable (and rather steep :xeye: ).

In headphones, it's closer to 18KHz, same SPL.

I'm sure there's a stupidly detailed explanation for it (no, I don't want to hear it :D ).

Cheers!
 
At first when I tried I only started hearing it at 18kHz. I tried again heard 19. Again heard 20 and then 21. It sounds like something is in the background at 22kHz on mine not sure if that is some aliasing or something but it sounds like an upward sweep.
 

iko

Ex-Moderator
Joined 2008
That's aliasing. If you hover the mouser above the "dot" you will get that. If you download the .wav file and play it in your favorite player you should be able to get rid of that. You should not hear anything at about 20kHz, unless you're really an exception (and/or possibly 6 years old).

BTW, my 8 years old daughter who has pristine hearing, can hear the 20kHz tone very faintly, while at 19kHz she can hear it very pronounced.

@salas, :) you know it's not a scientific experiment. More like a fun experiment. I was talking about normal listening volume.
 
diyAudio Chief Moderator
Joined 2002
Paid Member
Like 80-85 dBSPL at listening seat from conventional loudspeakers? 15kHz tops. Got to be 105dB SPL controlled directivity, and first of all got to be confirmed you got it on a mic at the listening position. Or cans measured on a pseudo head. Then all will perceive 20kHz sine from a gen. Think of the piercing when near an airway when a jet takes off. That one has white at enough level. You certainly feel like you never heard so high before. This one file breaths so gives clues. For lower SPL like 95dB, its easy when modulating 2 high tones or with gong type pulses for the ear. Its funny anyway.:)
 
That's aliasing. If you hover the mouser above the "dot" you will get that. If you download the .wav file and play it in your favorite player you should be able to get rid of that. You should not hear anything at about 20kHz, unless you're really an exception (and/or possibly 6 years old).

Really there shouldn't be in the signal chain. I downloaded it and played it through ASIO. I think the aliasing might be embedded in the file I downloaded or something it really shouldn't be in my chain. Although I can simplify the chain to double check.

21 and 20 were much softer than 19 and 18. This is partly due to off axis frequency response of my speakers, the DAC I was using rolls off a tiny bit, and my ears combined. You have to turn it up for sure to hear above 19.
 
I can hear up to around 17,500Hz, after that only mildly "detecting" something up to 20,000Hz, but I wouldn't notice those frequencies unless I was listening for them, and at a higher volume than normal.

One of my ears is slightly damaged, which is annoyingly noticable. Sometimes it seems to start regaining some lost frequencies depending on my health, i.e. sleep, food, excercise, which changes the amount of blood flow to the inner ear.
 
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