How well can we hear high freq sounds?

[hass]

I couldn't find it in a sticky or recently...
So uhm.

How well can we hear high frequency sounds?
I'm trying to decide on a speaker.
I want to get it online, as it's so cheap
my brother works at best buy, and gets a 5% above cost discount.
But, I'm just getting some extra wiring from there, because their speakers suck :]

So like.

Does it really make a difference.. Between like.
a speaker that has a max range of 21,000Khz, and one that has say... 30,000 or 40,000?
Is there really so much more to hear?

I saw an eclipse on Crutchfield with 40,000...
But the Kappa I was looking at is only 21,000 i think.

[hass]

Gogo wiki.

Humans can generally hear sounds with frequencies between 20 Hz and 20 kHz (the audio range). Although the sensation of hearing requires an intact and functioning auditory portion of the central nervous system as well as a working ear, human deafness (extreme insensitivity to sound) most commonly occurs because of abnormalities of the inner ear, rather than the nerves or tracts of the central auditory system.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_ear


Solved that one myself actually.
So, a speaker that goes up to 21,000, is more than enough, right?
Since we can't hear anything above that.
So it's pointless to expend power on something we can't hear, correct?

[Rosado]

:iconfused uummm.......................

[hass]

yes?

[jperryss]

First off, CD sampling rate is 44.1kHz, which means that the highest frequency your CD source will EVER put out is just a smidge over 20kHz. You could have speakers that will play up to 50kHz (I think Infinity made this claim at one point) but it won't make ANY difference since you're source (CD) will only go up to 20kHz anyway.

Secondly, it's very unlikely that you'd hear any differences above 16kHz. Besides the fact that there is typically so little musical information above 16kHz, many people's ears won't pick up signals that high anyway (your ability to hear high-frequency information diminishes with age). Kids can typically hear the super-high frequency stuff better than teens and adults.

This site has tones at specific frequencies. You can see just how good (or bad) your upper-frequency hearing is.
http://www.ultrasonic-ringtones.com/

[hass]

I didn't say CDs only :]
I meant like HD radio, and everything.
[since I have HD radio]

Thanks muchs =)

[kuecker_dj09]

just get the Kappas...you wont be able to hear anything above 20kHz anyway.

[jperryss]

Well, I'm no expert but I can't imagine FM or HD/FM go any higher than CD. They may actually not go as high.

The short of it is this: I wouldn't base your decision on the high-end being 'only' 16-20kHz. The amount of musical information that reaches beyond 16k is minimal, and whether or not you could even hear it questionable. And even if a speaker claims to be able to play up to 20kHz, it doesn't mean it can do it well anyway.

FWIW, the sampling rate of SACD (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Audio_CD) allows frequency response in the 90-100kHz range :wow: But again, would you really notice? Probably not.