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A Human "Proof"

B

BobOnTheJob

What started this was a TV news item that mentions kids are using ring tones that adults can't hear & they can. Makes sense...at that age, I could hear the 17+khz horizontal sweep oscillator in TV sets. Which led me to question just where my high frequency limit is today, Out came the Heathkit IG-18 audio generator & into the LPB console it went. A freq counter was attached briefly to verify the accuracy of the IG-18. It was about 150hz off at 15khz. Close enough for my purposes. On with the Audio-Technica ATH-M40fs phones & here is my result...

Sudden drop from essentially full level at 13khz to nothing at 14khz. My internal "Low Pass Filter" seems to be set at 13.6khz. I'm a few weeks away from being 55 years old.

I'd be curious to know where I stand in line with my engineering peers if anyone cares to do a mini "proof" on their ears & share the results...
 
BobOnTheJob said:
Makes sense...at that age, I could hear the 17+khz horizontal sweep oscillator in TV sets.
Click to expand...
The sweep frequency is actually 15.732 kHz with 525-line TV (American) or 15.625 KHz with 625-line TV (European).

The old British 405-line black & white TV system, in use from the late '30s through the mid '80s, had a sweep frequency of 10.125 kHz. Needless to say, that was much more audible. Even in YouTube videos of restored 405-line TV sets in use, you can hear it.
 
Kevin Tekel said:
BobOnTheJob said:
Makes sense...at that age, I could hear the 17+khz horizontal sweep oscillator in TV sets.
Click to expand...
The sweep frequency is actually 15.732 kHz with 525-line TV (American) or 15.625 KHz with 625-line TV (European).

The old British 405-line black & white TV system, in use from the late '30s through the mid '80s, had a sweep frequency of 10.125 kHz. Needless to say, that was much more audible. Even in YouTube videos of restored 405-line TV sets in use, you can hear it.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the correction...I knew that number many years ago, but like so many other unused numbers, the memory becomes a little rusty...
 
13.6 kHz is pretty good for 55.

I have a friend here who is 65, and he can't hear anything above 2 kHz (except for a few specific frequencies).

I'm 41 and I can still hear the line frequency buzz of a TV (15625 kHz here).

However, I may be the exception to the rule, as I have extremely sensitive hearing.

I hear a lot of things that most other people don't.

Kids standing 15ft away from me will cup their hands and whisper to their friends, thinking I can't hear them, but I hear every word -
much to their shock!

The downside to this is that most ordinary everyday sounds are very loud for me, sometimes painfully so.

I have always had sensitive hearing, and I still cover my ears if an angle grinder or other loud machinery is operating near me.
I get some strange looks from people sometimes - the sort of look that says "What are ya? Can't you handle a bit of noise?" but I don't
give a stuff. I want to be able to hear my music when I am as old as my friend mentioned above.. and not continually saying to people
"I'm sorry, can you say that again?".

With regards to the sounds that kids can hear that us older people can't, I have uploaded a sound bite which is apparently
one of the "ring tones" that they use on their cellphones.

I've analysed the waveform and it is indeed audio - just at a fairly high frequency.

Check it out here: http://www.swoopshare.com/file/69cacd114e3884d2eec65174b27aa4fd/atc_teenbuzz.mp3.html
 
Bob, I'm curious how ChiefEngineer does ...

I can hear the test tone Studio1 posted, but I would never use that for a ring tone ... so high-pitched, it's annoying. Of course, no more often than I use my phone ...

I generated some test tones using Audacity and listened to them on my Toshiba laptop, so it is less scientific than Bob ... but I heard a tone at 17.5kHz
 
Interesting thread, however I don't subscribe to the testing methods. If you really want to know how good your hearing is, you need to make an appointment with an audiologist for a hearing test.

R
 
I don't think any of the above scenarios were suggested as being a substantive test for hearing ability, more just an indication of how hearing does decay over a period of years.

Certainly the tests that an audiologist prescribes are far more precise and involved than this.
 
PTBoardOp94 said:
Bob, I'm curious how ChiefEngineer does ...

Had a "proof" on my ears last year. Substantial hearing loss in the left ear but the fix was suggested as a hearing aid or tube in that ear.

Hearing came back so I didn't do anything but it comes and goes.

In the process I found that the hearing tests measured loss in db. How is your testing less than what was done by my doctor Bob?

The proof is much less than what we do on fm studios. Soundproof room and old telephone style ceramic headphones.

Tones on the left ear and right ear measured seperately.High frequency noise is placed on the ear not being measured as one of the tests. Ref set at 400 hz and 1 khz and higher frequencies are compared to the lower freq tones.

If you have loss in one ear then it affects your hearing in the other ear.

A few low frequencies are tested. Most people have fair low frequency hearing. My loss due to fluid is affecting all frequencies. At one point it was over 40 db down at 10 khz. The loss still substantial did get better at 1 khz.

The guy with loss above 2 khz tends to bring this in line with what the doctor said. Higher frequencies are worse.

I can still hear the 25 hz tone with my right ear. I still hear IBOC hiss. I still hear tones generated by cool edit or adobe at 14 khz.

Cool thread.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks to all who offered their 2 cents worth...just wondered where I stood relative to a sampling of my peers in a very non-scientific test. I did download the Teen Ring Tone & put it on the Frequency Analysis on AA 1.5 and indeed, it's basically just a 15khz tone, well beyond my 13.6 khz and my wife's 12.5 khz 'maximum usable frequency'. The only bad things that I've done to my hearing were a couple of concerts back in the early 80's...after each one, my hearing sounded like it had a 20db pad inserted for about 30 minutes. After that, it came back to normal. Whether that resulted in any hearing loss, I can't say. But we all know an old Top 40 jock or two who can't hear above 5khz on a good day. For those young 'uns reading this, keep the volume down to reasonable levels...A decent set of ears will serve you well in both broadcasting & in quality of life in general. Merry Christmas & God Bless...
 
At 46, still good to 19 kc but barely, about 20 db down. I have worked in VERY noisy environments (steel mills, pressrooms), but have
been religious about using my earplugs. I keep headphones below the level at which pitch altering occurs.
If you haven't ever noticed this pitch-flattening at high levels, god help you. This effect is your eardrums being overdriven.
 
Good out to 16kc, it drops off at 17kc but I can still make it out. After that it is in the ether for me. I was surprised at how good 13, 14 and 15kc were for me, when someone younger than I who was hanging out during this non-scientific test didn't do as well.
 
I'm 19, and I can hear up to 18.5 kHz.
I wouldn't want to hear over 19 kHz, the stereo pilots of FM stations would annoy me.
 
PTBoardOp94 said:
Bob, I'm curious how ChiefEngineer does ...

I can hear the test tone Studio1 posted, but I would never use that for a ring tone ... so high-pitched, it's annoying. Of course, no more often than I use my phone ...
Click to expand...

So can I. That's not just annoying, it was PAINFUL! I could only bear a few seconds of it, literally. :-[
 
Im 23...playing on a regular in very loud nightclubs with soundsystems blaring all the time...so far..I can still hear a 20khz tone..after that...i'm not sure if its equipment limitations or what...hehehe..my audio gear starts doing funny stuff after 20khz..

I can hear FM stereo pilot loud and clear
 
I don't hear the pilot as much as I sense it. I can't imagine why anyone would want that ring tone...I found it extremely uncomfortable, but to each his own.
 
Sgeirk said:
... I can't imagine why anyone would want that ring tone...
Click to expand...

In the school system I work in I know of plenty of kids who have that ringtone so they know their phone is ringing without the instructor hearing it.
 
Bill DeFelice said:
In the school system I work in I know of plenty of kids who have that ringtone so they know their phone is ringing without the instructor hearing it.
Click to expand...

I'm glad I'm not a teacher, epecially at that school. I'd be on the floor, screaming in pain and having a seizure in front of the class. ;D ::)

Seriously though, that tone sounded like a REALLY bad case of tinnitus. It literally hurt my ears.
 
Bill DeFelice said:
Sgeirk said:
... I can't imagine why anyone would want that ring tone...
Click to expand...

In the school system I work in I know of plenty of kids who have that ringtone so they know their phone is ringing without the instructor hearing it.
Click to expand...

What? No vibrate mode?

Sheesh....

R
 
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