Like for like I've probably listened to more speakers than most. My side-hustle is breaking speakers and selling the drivers. Like most of you I'm over 21 - my hearing is already past its peak.
Before I destroy a speaker system, I have the virtually unique opportunity to listen to them placed in an identical position, connected to the same amplifier as others.
In the modern era most of our music is compressed via MP3 or MP4a. If I'm being totally honest most of these speakers are much of a muchness - I can't often tell the difference.
My favourite bookshelves speakers (paired with a subwoofer) are manufactured by Sony.
As to the Brand of my favourites without a sub - I'm too embarrassed to say.
Rest assured, I have broken Mission, Yamaha, Tannoy, Peavey, Wharfedale and others.
Before I destroy a speaker system, I have the virtually unique opportunity to listen to them placed in an identical position, connected to the same amplifier as others.
In the modern era most of our music is compressed via MP3 or MP4a. If I'm being totally honest most of these speakers are much of a muchness - I can't often tell the difference.
My favourite bookshelves speakers (paired with a subwoofer) are manufactured by Sony.
As to the Brand of my favourites without a sub - I'm too embarrassed to say.
Rest assured, I have broken Mission, Yamaha, Tannoy, Peavey, Wharfedale and others.
Not sure if I've got all the message.
When I was 20, I could hear frequencies up to 19/20kHz.
I coud hear the FM pilot stereo decode signal that was trasmitted over the air as well as the TV horizontal 15.7kHz oscillator.
Today, I'm 56 and upper limit is around 10/12kHz.
But linearity between 20Hz to 10KHz is still perfect, so it is still worth to have a good loudspeaker.
I love low frequencies around 30Hz, so all speakers I build and use respond flat from at least 30Hz - single 3-way full range speakers.
I don't like separate book shelves + sub-woofers. I like the sound coming from a single point (2 points in stereo, of course)
Regarding MP3, if you encode with at least 320kbps, you are not losing much and sound can be great.
Music and video has a lot of redundancies and also "zero" information to remove without loosing anything and saving some bits.
The way music is recorded today in the studio is much more relevant than how we digitally fit it in a media (CD, DVD, streaming etc).
Remember that there are 2 types of compression:
-Data compression (digital encoding)
-Sound, volume or dynamic compression - this is done in studios to limit music dynamics (horrible thing for those who loves good sound)
Much of crap sound we hear today are more related to the dynamic compression (volume variation reduction) and high frequency limitation done on purpose by producers. That's the society we are living in, unfortunatelly.
About the MP3, No one needs to believe in me. Just make your own tests.
Take a master piece of record you like most - something very well recorded.
Compress it to MP3 using 320kbps and listen to the MP3.
Ask someone to help and make the blind test comparing original and MP3.
I made lots of these tests back when I still had good ears, 20 years ago more or less.
When I was 20, I could hear frequencies up to 19/20kHz.
I coud hear the FM pilot stereo decode signal that was trasmitted over the air as well as the TV horizontal 15.7kHz oscillator.
Today, I'm 56 and upper limit is around 10/12kHz.
But linearity between 20Hz to 10KHz is still perfect, so it is still worth to have a good loudspeaker.
I love low frequencies around 30Hz, so all speakers I build and use respond flat from at least 30Hz - single 3-way full range speakers.
I don't like separate book shelves + sub-woofers. I like the sound coming from a single point (2 points in stereo, of course)
Regarding MP3, if you encode with at least 320kbps, you are not losing much and sound can be great.
Music and video has a lot of redundancies and also "zero" information to remove without loosing anything and saving some bits.
The way music is recorded today in the studio is much more relevant than how we digitally fit it in a media (CD, DVD, streaming etc).
Remember that there are 2 types of compression:
-Data compression (digital encoding)
-Sound, volume or dynamic compression - this is done in studios to limit music dynamics (horrible thing for those who loves good sound)
Much of crap sound we hear today are more related to the dynamic compression (volume variation reduction) and high frequency limitation done on purpose by producers. That's the society we are living in, unfortunatelly.
About the MP3, No one needs to believe in me. Just make your own tests.
Take a master piece of record you like most - something very well recorded.
Compress it to MP3 using 320kbps and listen to the MP3.
Ask someone to help and make the blind test comparing original and MP3.
I made lots of these tests back when I still had good ears, 20 years ago more or less.
I can hear 128kps artifacts but 320kps mp3 is more volume dynamic compression.
I am using a upscaler on my mp3s which make them sound great.
I am using a upscaler on my mp3s which make them sound great.
57,3/4 years old 😉
Still hear up to 14300-14500 hz in tests.
Had 19 ear infections, and my sister 21 ( we was called ear child)
My eardrum has grown together with the skeleton/skull bone very deep after all the times the eardrum has ruptured.
So the doctor always calls in a specialist after shining a light into the ears, but I hear "perfectly".
But know what you mean!
Still hear up to 14300-14500 hz in tests.
Had 19 ear infections, and my sister 21 ( we was called ear child)
My eardrum has grown together with the skeleton/skull bone very deep after all the times the eardrum has ruptured.
So the doctor always calls in a specialist after shining a light into the ears, but I hear "perfectly".
But know what you mean!
So do i, 20 hz is also supernice so you really feel the music trought your body.
Become like a fundament "from the floor"
The threshold of my hearing is very good and sensitive (quite low dB, noises like a vacuum cleaner really annoy me) despite a few loud rock concerts when I was younger. I find overly compressed, poorly mastered or harsh recordings unlistenable.
My upper frequencies seem to cut out at 9-10,000 Hz, so I'm not hearing some harmonic, but I'm not going to use an expensive 'super tweeter' to reproduce 20,000Hz...
Geoff
My upper frequencies seem to cut out at 9-10,000 Hz, so I'm not hearing some harmonic, but I'm not going to use an expensive 'super tweeter' to reproduce 20,000Hz...
Geoff
Even though I can only hear to 10kHz I can still tell if information is missing above that frequency. Must be something to do with the structure of the waveform and harmonics.
Heard that the ear (more the brain) keeps audibility of short impulses in the highs by augmenting them by 20db. Sinusoidal signals are not augmented.
With dsp I hear easily some db's too much at 20khz. Irrespective of my age (now 55).
With dsp I hear easily some db's too much at 20khz. Irrespective of my age (now 55).
TV horizontal 15.7kHz oscillator.
could hear that with 15/20 years but not any more at 30years.
Once measured the 15.7 tone and it had 70db(!) from an old TV. Wondered why my parents weren't bothered by this loud tone during watching TV
could hear that with 15/20 years but not any more at 30years.
Once measured the 15.7 tone and it had 70db(!) from an old TV. Wondered why my parents weren't bothered by this loud tone during watching TV
I've done that. Just sold a pair of RS cone tweeters / waveguides on epay. Got 4-5 MDF cabinets rotting outside in the rain as we speak, 4 from Infinity.
My ears have definitely gone downhill, now into my late 60s. There's literally parts of recordings I loved, that I cannot hear. I can still describe their location in the soundstage to another who can hear it and they say they hear it there, where I've outlined.
That's sad. So I've been putting a lot of stereo / listening time into learning to play acoustic guitar. I've a loose goal to play every Friday night at this open mic nearby where I live. So trying to work on "how it sounds" from that end, while I can still hear something... Many of the other performers are around my age and have hearing aids. Trying to be Neal Young at 24, at 70...
I figure when it gets to the point of 'aids, I wont have the time anymore to chase after things like capacitor / resistor formulations and their effect on sound, or differences in sampling rates in the 100K to 1MHz decade. Leave that to the "kids", with full faculty.
I prefer 2.1 for complicated reasons. For me, the definitions of hearing and our perception of lower frequencies warrants debate.
In my makeshift system the mains go down to about 50hz, the worthless sub probably manages about 40hz.
The sub is crap. I often wonder if it's working. However, perception changes at my preferred listening position. I can't hear the subwoofer but can feel it through the sofa.
Typically, an earthquake is around 1Hz, you are aware. Do these vibrations qualify as sound? Will your system reproduce them?
The non-linearity of the inner ear - the part of the ear that changes sound waves to electrical signals - can produce difference tones.
The difference tones produced by high frequencies, being lower in frequency than the real tones, can be audible.
1Hz we fell and see - I had this earthquake experience during a vacation trip to Guatemala in 2007 during lunch. It's really strange!
Glad there was no damage. Earth moved very slowly, about 0.5Hz.
No my system doesn't reproduce that 🙂.
My 21 years old DIY speakers rolls off at 23Hz -3dB.
3-Way, 8 inch woofer, 80 liters, ported tuned to 26Hz.
I recently rebuilt its crossovers with the knowledge I've got here in this forum - amazing improvement!! Thanks to AllenB, MarkBakk, ShadowPlay62 and ericksquires.
For pop music, which is what I listen to, I understand that 30Hz flat is enough.
A 5-string bass lower frequency (note B) is 30.87Hz, so to hear the fundamental, 30Hz flat response is needed.
Some kick drums and special effects in movies might have harmonics down below 30Hz which is also nice to have, if it is possible.
Your perception shouldn't change with position, but the in room response at low frequencies can change by 20dB or more in less than one meter.
I'm aware that the main seismic frequency range of earthquakes is from .01 to 10Hz, while the frequency range confirmed by recordings of the sound accompanying small earthquakes indicate that the dominant frequencies were in the range of 5 to 60 Hz [Sylvander et al., 2007].
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2012GL054382
Generally, sound is defined as vibration carried through the air or another medium and heard when reaching one's ears.
Seismic activity may or may not generate airborne sound waves.
I have no problem hearing fundamental frequencies as low as 10Hz through decent headphones.
Depends on how you define "reproduce". Speakers can easily be seen moving at .01Hz, reproducing the input waveform, but a young adult person of average hearing requires ~80dB SPL to hear 20Hz, while requiring less than 1dB to hear 3-4kHz.
A sealed 10" driver can produce 80dB at one meter with only ~5.5mm (under 1/4") peak to peak movement.
If the output of that driver was instead "funneled" into headphones, the SPL at the eardrum could approach earthquake levels of 160dB, and easily be heard before potentially rupturing ones eardrums.
Art
@weltersys offers technically sound answers but I'm still going to question any test data due to the speciation of the microphone. There is no microphone of similar spec to the human body with the bone sensors surrounded by liquid damping.
I suggest our perception of bass increasingly transfers from ears to body the lower the frequency.
I had a 100% deaf step-daughter who blew my prized Wharfedale E90s. Despite being deaf she had her favourite tunes.
If you truly believe hearing is limited to air transmission to the ears, turn up your stereo, put in some ear-defenders, and submerge yourself in the bathtub.
I suggest our perception of bass increasingly transfers from ears to body the lower the frequency.
I had a 100% deaf step-daughter who blew my prized Wharfedale E90s. Despite being deaf she had her favourite tunes.
If you truly believe hearing is limited to air transmission to the ears, turn up your stereo, put in some ear-defenders, and submerge yourself in the bathtub.
I found as I went past 70 too much low bass got in the road so my speakers now have F3 around 60-70Hz and have gone to 2.1 so I can dial in the low bass that is suitable. Just compromises to suit the new reality.