Test Tones

Funny test ! Thanks @Hollow :smiley:

I was able to clearly hear tracks from 20Hz up to 16kHz.

But when trying the 17kHz, there was nothing. Complete silence.

That’s a rather strange feeling, being deaf after a certain frequency.

I have to try that with my 4 years daughter :grin:.

EDIT : the test can be done more accurately with REW

This is so cool. I could quite clearly hear from 20Hz to 15kHz, then nothing at 16kHz or 17kHz…but here’s the weird thing, I can distinctly hear the 18kHz tone. How on earth is that possible?

I believe the tracks found on Qobuz are mixed.

If you wish to accurately test your hearing capabilities, using your PC or Mac is probably a better idea.

And that’s it.

Then, unless you’re 20 years old, be prepared to cry when realizing you can’t hear 18kHz anymore :cry:

EDIT : you need, of course, to check that your headphones are able to produce frequencies as low as 20Hz in order for the test to be relevant (20kHz won’t be a problem).

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This video is good

Bluetooth from your phone to device to play it

It’s a bit depressing. My kids (of course) can hear far higher than me.

I was thinking of trying some tests, but as mentioned, it might be too depressing. As long as I continue to hear Kate Bush, I’m happy, and dont want to know what I’m missing

Did you conduct your test with your speakers?
Do they actually go down to 20hz?
Congratulations on still hearing 16khz tone of course that’s age related

I did it with a pair of Sennheiser HD-650 headphones.

My speakers go down to 24Hz, I guess they could produce some 20Hz but I didn’t try.

I suppose I’m lucky. I’m on my forties and shouldn’t be able to hear 16kHz. More like 14-15kHz max.

But I don’t have perfect stereo hearing. My left ear is slightly less capable than my right ear :pensive:

At around 50 years old hearing capabilities start dropping dramatically, down to 11-12kHz. And that’s pretty normal.

That’s why I tend to smile when I read some forum member claiming they have nearly super hearing :wink:

From a music amateur point of view it doesn’t make much of a difference, you don’t lose that much information :

when it comes to sound, the scale is not linear, it is logarithmic! :nerd_face:

Meaning that even if we aren’t young lads anymore, we still can enjoy our ND555 :partying_face:

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If you want to test your ears, use headphones, and ideally ones that have been tested and shown to have a reasonably flat response across the spectrum, or otherwise reveal any significant dips or peaks so you can interpret what your ears hear.

If testing your speakers, do in the garden well away from walls, and evaluate with a measuring microphone.

If testing your speakers in situ in the room, again best use a measuring microphone, and if using ears do assess your ears first, at least above say 10KHz. Positioning of speakers and listening position, will be key to bass performance, together with any bass traps or really thick/dense absorbing material.

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Yeah, I was just responding to this particular Qobuz test and thought it was pretty interesting. I already have REW and used the Stereophile Test Disc to measure my in-room response, which is impressively quite flat from 20Hz-20kHz, save for a pretty nasty dip around 45Hz which can be mitigated with seat positioning I haven’t bothered with to this point. Off subject, I also have a Dual Core 2.0 which did wonders for my two SVS subs; they do go down to 20Hz if even a few dB down and sound terrific in my listening/music room.
I just always assumed in the upper frequencies I am like many here. If there’s any legitimacy with the test tracks (the ‘narrator’ speaks which freq. is being played just prior to the tone) I just thought it interesting that 18kHz was pretty obvious to me, while the 16- and 17kHz tones were silent.

Is it universally accepted by scientists that hearing becomes to decrease dramatically after 50 years old?
There are exceptions, as for all.
I did a test with 10 young persons at work, none of them could hear some very low voices as accurately as me. It was 5 years ago, I had 49 .
However I am aware that my hearing will decrease, and has begun to. The reason I will never invest in Nd555 / twin ps/ S1/ 500dr when I will retire. It’s better to be confronted to reality.

Nothing to worry about :smiley:

In music terms, you lose what? Around half an octave of the higher part of the spectrum. There isn’t that much information upthere.

Meaning we can enjoy our gear for a long long time!

Sometimes math brings hope, not only headaches :joy:

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True. I try not to think too much about what I can vs. cannot hear. It’s funny, though, how there is a myriad of things that affect our listening experiences: room interaction, age/hearing (or lack thereof), equipment’s capabilities (in terms of covering the spectrum at least equally across the board…or not) and, of course, quality of a given recording—just to name the four off the top of my head. We then post fora-wide about how this sounds so incredible or that sounds rubbish with each addition or retraction of pieces of gear, etc. without regarding all of what I mention from a more synoptic perspective. Makes me wonder why we always have tried so hard to get it ‘right’ when such a thing simply does not exist due to the factors outlined in this and many other threads.

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Thinking about these high frequencies, what tracks actually have instruments or voices that reach that high. I can see why a speaker would need to have a big range in order to have a great middle range, but does it matter if we can’t hear a range that doesn’t come out in our music

It is a cruel irony that for many people the cost of top hifi is such that they can only reach the point of affording it or finally upgrading to it in the later years of tgeir working lives, when age is starting to play its tricks.

However, age related hearing loss does not necessarily rob you of the ability to appreciate better sound, even if one day you may not notice if your tweeters are working…

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Yes I agree it’s a bit of cruel irony indeed, but maybe never say never.
For example Michael Fremer is past 70 years old and still buy very expensive gear and enjoy it.
He bought 10 years ago a > 100 k turntable and a few years ago a 60k phono stage.

As for me I noticed one thing : I am less and less immune to brightness, edginess. So I am more thinking of buying a tubes amp for my retirement.
I heard recently Aries Cerat ( integrated tubes amp) and it’s perhaps my best listening experience since many years .

I couldn’t agree more.

And think of it, if your hearing ability tops at 10kHz you only lose a single octave.

In terms of “music content” you really don’t lose much.

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It’s human nature I suppose. We enjoy doing more, better, harder.

I’m a climber/alpinist. I’m still a relatively strong climber. But a lot of youngsters climb a lot harder, and are able to cope with a lot more training.

The key is to enjoy what we have, embrace aging wisely and treat our body like a temple :innocent:

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Top violin, flute notes may reach upto 19kHz.
But in practice they hardly reach 12-13kHz.

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I like your outlook, Thomas.

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Cymbals have significant harmonics going very high, and although falling above maybe 10KHz, cutting them does reduce their lifelike character.