I hope this is a sensible place to put this topic. Nowhere else seems to fit.
I just did an online hearing tone test. Because of my age I knew my hearing wouldn't be up to much, especially as I used to play in a rock band and since I was rubbish at it I ended up working in noisy factories all my life. I appear to be unable to hear anything much above 5,500hz. Bummer.
Theoretical question for ya. If I built a pair of speakers with drivers that dropped off sharply at that frequency would I even notice? If not, I could avoid having to spend on a few crossover components and the tweeters.
Do I have a point, or am I going lockdown mad?
I just did an online hearing tone test. Because of my age I knew my hearing wouldn't be up to much, especially as I used to play in a rock band and since I was rubbish at it I ended up working in noisy factories all my life. I appear to be unable to hear anything much above 5,500hz. Bummer.
Theoretical question for ya. If I built a pair of speakers with drivers that dropped off sharply at that frequency would I even notice? If not, I could avoid having to spend on a few crossover components and the tweeters.
Do I have a point, or am I going lockdown mad?
Old bones,
Unfortunately, your point is valid, provided that the speakers you used to test your hearing actually had response above 5500Hz- using speakers with blown tweeters or poor high frequency response would not be a valid test.
This site has a good hearing test and explanation of procedures:
Free hearing test on line ? Equal loudness contours and audiometry
Unfortunately, your point is valid, provided that the speakers you used to test your hearing actually had response above 5500Hz- using speakers with blown tweeters or poor high frequency response would not be a valid test.
This site has a good hearing test and explanation of procedures:
Free hearing test on line ? Equal loudness contours and audiometry
Yes you will likely miss a top more extended than the test would indicate.
You measured, as peope most commonly talk about, the extent of your ear’s frequency detection system. But their is a 2nd system that detects time. It does not degrade near as much as the other system. This system will know when something is missing up top.
The amount of listening training over your lifetime also plays a role.
I’d suggest an ideal situation where you can use a smallish full-range driver as a midTweeter. Anything it misses up top will be too high to be an issue, you can gain the seemlessness of a FR, the loss of an XO, and the savings not having to buy tweeter or XO parts. In this case losing the tweeter is beneficial in many ways.
dave
Here is a frequency sweep.
How high can you actually hear? Take this video test and find out - Classic FM
How high can you actually hear? Take this video test and find out - Classic FM
I doubt that those "online" hearing tests are accurate determinations.
Just like much of "online" things, there are flaws and misinformation abounding on the net, as well as using home/consumer equipment that could be of any quality level.
The only real way to determine one's hearing ability is with calibrated instruments in a doctor's office.
And for those that go to gyms, and rely on the equipment's readouts of heart rate, blood pressure, calories, etc, do you really know if the calibrations are accurate on them?
Don't rely on the gym's employees to give you a good answer either.
I hate sounding like such a "downer", but look, reality is reality, and anything else is hearsay, propoganda, and BS.
Just like much of "online" things, there are flaws and misinformation abounding on the net, as well as using home/consumer equipment that could be of any quality level.
The only real way to determine one's hearing ability is with calibrated instruments in a doctor's office.
And for those that go to gyms, and rely on the equipment's readouts of heart rate, blood pressure, calories, etc, do you really know if the calibrations are accurate on them?
Don't rely on the gym's employees to give you a good answer either.
I hate sounding like such a "downer", but look, reality is reality, and anything else is hearsay, propoganda, and BS.
Typical (who is typical??) age-related loss is level dependent. My HF threshold is way up above 50dB SPL, showing a steep slope. However if I play above 80dB SPL my hearing is more like flat.
It is the flip-side of the over-debated Fletcher/Munson bass loss. You can't hear small bass but raise the level a bit it is audible.
With a variable-level frequency generator you can plot "equal loudness" for soft medium and loud levels. Below 1kHz I am exceptionally flat, with barely a hint of bass loss at very low level (estimated 35dB SPL). But over the decades I've lost my hiss-zone, over 30dB loss. However as the level comes up the nerves perk-up. The nerve-stubs start to sway. At "pretty loud" my plot is a lot like a young person.
You may miss the tweeters. And in fact you may be hyper-sensitive to tweeter quality due to dynamic range compression.
It is the flip-side of the over-debated Fletcher/Munson bass loss. You can't hear small bass but raise the level a bit it is audible.
With a variable-level frequency generator you can plot "equal loudness" for soft medium and loud levels. Below 1kHz I am exceptionally flat, with barely a hint of bass loss at very low level (estimated 35dB SPL). But over the decades I've lost my hiss-zone, over 30dB loss. However as the level comes up the nerves perk-up. The nerve-stubs start to sway. At "pretty loud" my plot is a lot like a young person.
You may miss the tweeters. And in fact you may be hyper-sensitive to tweeter quality due to dynamic range compression.
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Is this made up? Sensorineural hearing loss, the most common kind, results from the loss of cilia in the cochlea. Age related hearing loss typically takes out the higher frequencies disproportionately whereas exposure related loss impacts the frequencies where the exposure was focused. Once you lose sensitivity in a frequency band how exactly does "timing" information reach the auditory cortex for processing? I can tell you that when I take my hearing aids out it's just quiet with a hint of tinnitus in the background...no timing signals coming through here.
The threshold appears to be around 1ms minimum. This test is interesting as the people don't even have to be awake 
https://www.researchgate.net/profil...-assessed-by-envelope-following-responses.pdf
https://www.researchgate.net/profil...-assessed-by-envelope-following-responses.pdfThat says my hearing is fine for a 25 year old!
Nonsense. I did use headphones but that is almost 1/3 of my actual age.
Probably because the time periods involved equate to relatively low frequencies.
In young people, ear washing often eliminates permanent ringing. It is not always due to tinnitus. On two occasions it gave me excellent results, I remember how it "opened my head" again, what a pleasure that was! Today, very close to the age of 71, my tinnitus, which was very annoying a few years ago, is now very mild, stress plays a very important role here, and I wear cotton in addition to ear protectors when I have to operate work machines or the House vacuum cleaner which is Chinese torture.
The test mentioned above from the university is very close to reality, I remember doing it a few years ago and compared to an analog signal generator. I could not do it now, it seems that it is because I uninstalled the AFP ...
But I went to Audacity, and I see that my hearing dropped in about 4 years from 14000 to 13,500 cycles. Quite little, by the way.
It seems like a complicated program, but for these tests it is not. It is free and also has no trial period, I always have it installed on my computer.
Go to Generate- Tone- Frequency- Intensity -Duration.
Then you operate it with the classic keys.
To the OP, I must remind you that music is not pure tones, there are harmonics and limiting the range of your cabinets is a mistake. Try unplugging the tweeter from a borrowed cabinet (you'll need a good friend here) listen to some cymbals, do it again with the tweeter plugged in, and you'll see that there are audible differences.
The test mentioned above from the university is very close to reality, I remember doing it a few years ago and compared to an analog signal generator. I could not do it now, it seems that it is because I uninstalled the AFP ...
But I went to Audacity, and I see that my hearing dropped in about 4 years from 14000 to 13,500 cycles. Quite little, by the way.
It seems like a complicated program, but for these tests it is not. It is free and also has no trial period, I always have it installed on my computer.
Go to Generate- Tone- Frequency- Intensity -Duration.
Then you operate it with the classic keys.
To the OP, I must remind you that music is not pure tones, there are harmonics and limiting the range of your cabinets is a mistake. Try unplugging the tweeter from a borrowed cabinet (you'll need a good friend here) listen to some cymbals, do it again with the tweeter plugged in, and you'll see that there are audible differences.
In an old book Life Extension by Pearson and Shaw they mentioned using an expensive drug used for some patients with dementia. This drug Hydrogene sp? was supposed to help regrow some brain neurons. Pearson and Shaw advocated using it at about 10 to 20 times the recommended dose. They said in those who had been using it at this high dose often after several months noticed a restoration of there high frequency loss. This is definitely off label so you would need a friendly Dr. and pay for it yourself. When I looked it up a few years ago this high a dosage about 10mg would probably cost about $ 1,000 a month !
Occasionally a deficiency in Manganese may cause hearing loss but caution here as too much manganese can be toxic causing brain damage resembling Parkinson's. So caution is definitely called for here. But years ago I noticed I had no hearing in my left ear above about 5k oh my right ear topped out at about 18k. I started taking about 10mg a day ( 1/5 of a 50mg capsule ) and after a few weeks most of my hearing loss was restored I now hear to 12 to 14k in that left ear. If I forget to take the manganese for a couple of weeks the hearing loss comes back. I am a little reluctant to use more than 10mg a day but did ty 50mg a day for a while but noticed added benefit over my 10mg dose. Again I am not recommending this just reporting my experiences.
Occasionally a deficiency in Manganese may cause hearing loss but caution here as too much manganese can be toxic causing brain damage resembling Parkinson's. So caution is definitely called for here. But years ago I noticed I had no hearing in my left ear above about 5k oh my right ear topped out at about 18k. I started taking about 10mg a day ( 1/5 of a 50mg capsule ) and after a few weeks most of my hearing loss was restored I now hear to 12 to 14k in that left ear. If I forget to take the manganese for a couple of weeks the hearing loss comes back. I am a little reluctant to use more than 10mg a day but did ty 50mg a day for a while but noticed added benefit over my 10mg dose. Again I am not recommending this just reporting my experiences.
Interesting and absolutely credible personal experience.
Something similar they claim here.
" One of the latest efforts is an ongoing clinical trial of a new injectable drug, dubbed FX-322, to see if the drug can regrow new hair cells to replace those that have been damaged due to one of the many causes of SNHL. The study, by Frequency Therapeutics, is currently a "phase 2," meaning the drug's safety and proper dosing is still being worked out before a larger trial is conducted."
Hearing damage: Can you fix it?.
Something similar they claim here.
" One of the latest efforts is an ongoing clinical trial of a new injectable drug, dubbed FX-322, to see if the drug can regrow new hair cells to replace those that have been damaged due to one of the many causes of SNHL. The study, by Frequency Therapeutics, is currently a "phase 2," meaning the drug's safety and proper dosing is still being worked out before a larger trial is conducted."
Hearing damage: Can you fix it?.
The on line tests are interesting, however I recommend you have a professional test performed and determine if you would benefit from hearing aids.
I have worn them for at least 16 years, and maybe as much as 20 years.
I suffer "Sensory Neural Hearing loss" due to serving in the USA NAVY as a radio operator on a P-3A/B (Orion) anti-submarine aircraft as a radio operator.
I was exposed to high levels noise and have severer hearing loss as a result.
However, with hearing aids my hearing is much improved and extended to 10KHz.
Yes,this is not great however it is much better than my hearing without the hearing aids. Instruments sound much more "normal" with them.
I have worn them for at least 16 years, and maybe as much as 20 years.
I suffer "Sensory Neural Hearing loss" due to serving in the USA NAVY as a radio operator on a P-3A/B (Orion) anti-submarine aircraft as a radio operator.
I was exposed to high levels noise and have severer hearing loss as a result.
However, with hearing aids my hearing is much improved and extended to 10KHz.
Yes,this is not great however it is much better than my hearing without the hearing aids. Instruments sound much more "normal" with them.
This is the pair of ear wax that I have just removed. They came out in one piece and the texture is like rubber. The down side is, now I hear my wife yelling much louder.
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