On Wed, Aug 31, 2011 at 5:18 PM, Joseph Apuzzo <[email protected]> wrote:
> Well putting aside the marketing hype why do they make audio equipment that > produces sound outside of the normal hearing range? > It's the "envelope" that needs to be preserved. Preserving the actual notes is relatively simple. The "Attack" and "Release" parts primarily (Attach-Decay-Sustain-Release) with (depending on instrument) Attack being usually the most important. For percussive instruments or notes, the attack is normally represented by an extremely high frequency - where the "note" you actually hear is contained and much lower. Usually. Some electonicly-generated stuff may differ ;-) > > "Humans have a maximum aural range that begins as low as 12 Hz under ideal > laboratory > conditions,[2]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearing_range#cite_note-1>to > 20,000 Hz in most children and some adults, but the range shrinks during > life, usually beginning at around the age of 8 with the higher frequencies > fading." > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearing_range#Humans > > My theory is that by producing sounds outside you are adding back in > harmonics in an attempt to more accurately reproduce the sound at lower > volume. I only base this on my observation that the brawler the range the > lower the volume I need to enjoy the music. > If this is not the case ( as I can not prove it either way ) then a good > $22 pair of headphones ( now assuming a good sensitivity of => 105dB/1mW )is > all you should ever really need. Thus my inquiry ;-) > You are pretty much right (though it has little to do with volume) - as long as those $22 phones CAN reproduce the frequency range. What you will hear is "accuracy" rather than notes. Lack of high freq response tends to sound muddy. An amusing anecdote - I once re-met a friend I had not seen for years, but usually only spoke to on 2-meter radio. We seldom met face-to-face. When I did meet him again years later, I felt I knew him, but wasn't really sure (I found later he had the same feeling). Some days later, he called me - and when I heard his voice on the phone, I knew INSTANTLY who he was. I actually NEEDED the lower frequency response of the phone system, which imitated the response of the FM Band we used to talk on - before I could "hear" his voice and remember it! The wider version in person was way too much information! JC -- Eschew obfuscation and pompous prolixity. Light a man a fire, he is warm for the night. Light a man afire, he is warm for the rest of his life.
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