Audibility of nonlinear distortion

[Pan]

Ok.. talk is cheap. Take this test and see how sensitive you are to the major nonlinear distortion mechanisms in dynamic loudspeakers.

http://www.klippel-listeningtest.de/lt/default.html

There are some good info about the subject at the site. Read it if you haven't.

I don't know the exact performance of the driver choosen or how the calculation is done, but a least it would be interesting to see how much we differ in our ability to detect distortion.

Hoping for an intresting discussion.

/Peter

[Pan]

I also want to add that thermal distortion is a non issue with decent hifi drivers and normal playback volumes. In case someone wondered.. ;-)


/Peter

[Pan]

I reached -30dB testing L, -18dB testing Bl+C+L and -3dB for the Bl.

If Klippel choosed a medium performance driver of about -55dB @90dB THD in the midrange (dominantly 2nd and 3rd order harmonics) this means that I would need a driver with -75dB THD in order to not be able of hearing nonlinear artifacts.

A little simplified reasoning perhaps but it mirrors earlier findings the way I see it.


/Peter

[pelanj]

As soon as I can find some headphones, I will take the test. I am curious abut the result!

[Pan]

More results:

octave test -30dB
two tone 300 + 800 -27dB
octave Bl -24dB
octave C -9dB
octave L -33dB


/Peter

[pelanj]

So here are my results with JVC earbuds at my "comfortable listening level" - might be a bit low for somebody

6inch
Pop:-18 dB
Pop - Bl: -9 dB
Pop - L: -12 dB
Octave: -33 dB
Octave - Bl: -30 dB
Octave - C: -9 dB
Octave - L: -36 dB
Terz: -18 dB
Twintone: -33 dB

telecom:
Vocals: 0 dB
Octave: -24 dB
Terz: -3dB
Twintone: -21 dB

That was my first try. Some of the distortions are quite easy to detect.

[poptart]

isn't there a test we can do online of basic harmonic distortion and thd? This was your point in the other thread, that THD was relative to subjective enjoyment of microphones, amps, and speakers.

[breez]

I'd say this test is more valuable than a simulated test with added harmonic distortion. HD is just a symptom of non-linearity, while this test includes directly the non-linear characteristics of a real loudspeaker (which entails more than a fixed amount of HD).

[pelanj]

Originally posted by poptart
isn't there a test we can do online of basic harmonic distortion and thd? This was your point in the other thread, that THD was relative to subjective enjoyment of microphones, amps, and speakers.

I am not sure that I know what you mean by basic harmonic distortion and THD?

THD in this test is just a number, that is the total distortion from the respective phenomena - spectrums are most probably different - as are different the sensitivities for average man. I gues that some kind of spectrum is more audible than other.

[cbdb]

this is great! What are common distortion specs for 2 way speakers these days?