If I ever live in and consult in the UK, I think I'll insist on being paid in Guineas, like certain other professionals.
Hi,
I wish I had a sixpence for each time someone else does. I'd come out WAY ahead of you and even pay you the fiver for each time I did and still be laughing on the way to the bank...
Ciao T
I wish I had a sixpence for each time someone else does. I'd come out WAY ahead of you and even pay you the fiver for each time I did and still be laughing on the way to the bank...
Ciao T
I agree to give one transistor to everyone who claims that tubes distort more, and gives me one tube. Yesterday I received a package with 900 transistors total, both high voltage, low capacitance MOSFETs and flat beta per current BJTs.
Give me a shipping address!
I agree to give one transistor to everyone who claims that tubes distort more, and gives me one tube. Yesterday I received a package with 900 transistors total, both high voltage, low capacitance MOSFETs and flat beta per current BJTs.
Do the tubes have to work? I think I kept (why?) a bunch of 6"C"45s that I broke swiftly before determining what they needed for grid stoppers
I assume the grids mostly vaporized. Rather than Inselbildung, this was more like Inselniederreissen
Do the tubes have to work? I think I kept (why?) a bunch of 6"C"45s that I broke swiftly before determining what they needed for grid stoppers
I assume the grids mostly vaporized. Rather than Inselbildung, this was more like Inselniederreissen
Sorry, I can't find so many dead transistors, I usually discard them immediately.
Edit: like I discarded all samples of IRFPB4321 I had, because of very similar reason, I could not get right gate stoppers for that wild beasts.
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Of course, T mentions harmonic distortion, it is our PRIMARY tool for even making a design work properly. However both T and I know what the LIMITATIONS of THD are, and we usually expand our measurements with both signal averaging and harmonic weighting (at least in our head). For example, ANY 7th harmonic distortion present is a big problem for me. I don't have to multiply it 25 times or more on the scope to note that it will be a problem.
John, I don't know if you ever encountered the late Harry Partch (I didn't, but had friends who played his music and put up with his wayward ways), one of the staunch advocates of just intonation. He also wrote an influential book, Genesis of a Music.
Rather than stopping at pitches/intervals that were ratios of frequencies based on very-small-prime ratios and multiples, he talked of the "11 limit" or sometimes the "13" limit. I have to say that merely a pure ratio involving 7 is still challenging to my ears
In the key of C, 7/4 of the fundamental sounds like a very-flat B-flat (or simply "B" auf Deutsch). Although for me the 23rd doesn't seem so bad. But I've always been a sucker for a sharp 11th or flat 5th.Trombonists often blow a seventh-overtone note but adjust the slide to bring it into conformance with the equal-tempered note nearby. Britten asks his hornist in the Serenade for Tenor, Horn, and Strings to play natural overtone series notes at times, and I think it is the 7th that has the hapless player wishing he could notify the audience that this is the pitch the composer intended.
Don't your arms ever get tired from all that hand-waving, John?
Tell me, what's the lowest level at which 7th harmonic has been demonstrated to actually be audible?
se
Hey Steve .......... It may go beyond that .....
For some reason both western and eastern just
intonated tuning systems avoid " 7 " as a multiplier
" 7 " is a lucky number in some contexts but
(evedently) bunk for harmony ......
7 does sound remarkably odd. Perhaps at a later stage in our evolution it will sound everyday.
But we have a long way to go, since the tyranny of equal temperament has conditioned so many ears. Reference: Ross Duffin's How Equal Temperament Has Ruined Harmony, (and Why You Should Care).
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For audio reproduction, it is one of the worst harmonics, because it is not 'in tune' with any other note that is normally played. It is easy to understand this with a little Googling with reference to 7th harmonic. 9th harmonic is not good either, but it is even harder to generate than 7th, and therefore it is not as notable. Of course, the IM products that are generated by the same non-linearity make detection even more apparent, as they will not be related to standard musical notes as well.
he can't answer that question since the answer is 'it depends'. Sensitivity to nonlinear distortion decreases with increased spls and increases with decreased spls. That is, the quieter the musical signal the more we can hear nonlinear distortion.
but,
since our hearing is in itself nonlinear in its sensitvity to frequency
and,
since energy contribution to musical sound is greatest in lower frequencies,
and,
since psychoacoustic masking is done by louder nearby frequencies,
then,
7th harmonic of mid hundreds Hz tones can be quite a bit louder than nearby frequencies and this is in the most sensitive part of our hearing range,
then also,
7th harmonic can mask lower harmonics of higher notes,
then also,
the contamination by nonlinear distortion of sound in most sensitive part of hearing frequency range can modify timbre, and occlude higher pitches and attacks from being heard accutely,
but,
at what absolute levels this happens cannot be stated as a general rule since it depends on relative spls.
Since nearly all musical traditions depend on consonance they tend to avoid 7ths, except for special effects, which might explain JC.s avoidance of 7th harmonic.
whadda ya think?
You should have gone into politics. You're much better at giving non-answer answers to question than most.
Oh well. At least your hand-waving keeps the air in your apartment circulating.
se
he can't answer that question since the answer is 'it depends'. Sensitivity to nonlinear distortion decreases with increased spls and increases with decreased spls. That is, the quieter the musical signal the more we can hear nonlinear distortion.
but,
since our hearing is in itself nonlinear in its sensitvity to frequency
and,
since energy contribution to musical sound is greatest in lower frequencies,
and,
since psychoacoustic masking is done by louder nearby frequencies,
then,
7th harmonic of mid hundreds Hz tones can be quite a bit louder than nearby frequencies and this is in the most sensitive part of our hearing range,
then also,
7th harmonic can mask lower harmonics of higher notes,
then also,
the contamination by nonlinear distortion of sound in most sensitive part of hearing frequency range can modify timbre, and occlude higher pitches and attacks from being heard accutely,
but,
at what absolute levels this happens cannot be stated as a general rule since it depends on relative spls.
Since nearly all musical traditions depend on consonance they tend to avoid 7ths, except for special effects, which might explain JC.s avoidance of 7th harmonic.
whadda ya think?
I think John should give an answer to at least ONE "it depends" scenario.
se
Why? Damn near any amount you can measure will sound like a pig farm smells. Only not as nice.
For everyone, I have answered this question a number of times, over the years, and SE has ignored any substantive input that I have put forward. This has gone back and forth for more than 10 years between him and me, and it has little to do with 7th harmonic or its effects on musical reproduction. I offer here a piece of my experience that has been discussed by others for more than 75 years, in various publications, and I have found it useful. Certainly more useful than whether we measure some 2'nd or 3'rd harmonic distortion in a piece of audio equipment and want discuss its effects.
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