Audiologist: Nothing useful above 8k

Sidivan

Fractal Fanatic
I went in for a hearing test and some ear impressions yesterday and one thing really shocked me about the test. The audiologist claims that they only test up to 8k as there is "nothing really useful above that". Most mixing boards "high" knob are a shelf filter at 12khz, so I'm extremely confused by this statement. Are they on a different scale or something? I swear some of the beeps I heard were much higher than 8k (in the 15k range I would say). I should have asked the guy at the time, but I didn't think of it until afterward.
 
I'd agree to nothing useful above 18k
maybe he was a guitar player and meant 5,8k
or a bass player in which case he meant .8k

not helping, I know... ;)
 
I'm by far an audio frequency expert, but i know my way around a bit. I could sear that cymbals and such were up above that a bit...i know a loud drummer is harsher on my ears with cymbals and any volume i've played at.
 
I'm pretty sure the equipment my audiologist has only goes up to 8K as well. I suspect that in general they focus on speech, and in that context anything above 8K is not really critical.

Terry.
 
Well to put things into perspective how many people can hear a television when it's turned down (old CRT type TV)? I'm talking about that high frequency whine. That's a bit over 15.5K and if you ask me there's not a whole lot of important musical data at the range. Sure if you start EQ'ing the high end down you can hear it, but most of the time that's because EQ's aren't flat at that frequency and there is some imaging that comes from those extreme highs, but I'd say that the audiologist isn't completely out of line in terms of regular daily listening.

But it's all over the place depending the on the person. We just did a test today with one of my classes where we play 'name that tone' and I was able to hear 18kHz when it was cranked up....it's not really hearing it either; its more like feeling that horrible drill bit in your ears that is 18kHz. If I'm congested I can't hear it at all. It's extremely directional as well even though one guy got a reflection of it off of one of my bald students heads. :razz

Anything above 18kHz I wouldn't want to hear and we have to turn up the gain so high that you start hearing noise from the amp and audio console instead.
 
I remember a class similar to this, however, we focussed on the very low end and cranked the PA to 'hear'/feel/get sick of the stuff below 40 Hz.
not an experience I care to repeat
 
That's a funny comment. Of course, there's only one more octave above 8KHz to 16KHz, which is about the limit of where most people's hearing deteriorates to eventually. I guess the comment is valid for speech, but clearly this guy has never worked in a recording studio. Maybe he's just proved that audiologists know jackshit about music ;-)
 
I remember a class similar to this, however, we focussed on the very low end and cranked the PA to 'hear'/feel/get sick of the stuff below 40 Hz.
not an experience I care to repeat
Yeah that low frequency stuff really gets kind of dicey because I can throw 15-20Hz into the speaker (which isn't really a great idea) and you can see the cone moving and feel the air and "hear" it, but I think that it's more of crap in the room vibrating and there's probably some psychoacoustic crap going on that's well beyond my knowledge level. I teach a pretty basic level in terms of sound which is fine because that's about all I have knowledge wise. It's good to give them some ideas on just what frequency is and how it relates to what they're hearing. Plus broadcast audio is limited to 50Hz-15kHz most of the time and it lets them see what audible portion they may be missing if any.

My own personal sick pleasure comes from cranking it up to about 20kHz, seeing which guy acts like he can hear it and then turn off the generator and see how long he acts like he's in pain. There's always one guy that has to outdo everyone else at everything. :razz
 
My own personal sick pleasure comes from cranking it up to about 20kHz, seeing which guy acts like he can hear it and then turn off the generator and see how long he acts like he's in pain. There's always one guy that has to outdo everyone else at everything. :razz

I like that! :)
 
Torture the neighbor's dog and chase wild life... :lol That is my goal! Not being able to hear it is a bonus.

Crank it UP!
 
When he sends the bill, knock a few bucks off your check and comment that there's nothing "useful" in that dollar range.
 
I recently heard about a new type of hearing aid for people who have extensive high frequency hearing loss. The hearing aid translates high frequency sounds to a lower frequency. Apparently your brain recognizes the sounds and you hear them as if they were the original frequency.
 
Most audiologists are totally inadequate when it comes to testing for all "musically valid" frequencies. To cut off at 8K is ridiculous.
I went in for testing because I was absolutely certain that I'd lost high frequency response in my left ear, relative to the right. The sizzle of the cymbals just didn't sound the same ear to ear. They told me there was no difference. There is.
I made a frequency sweep in Wavelab, through very high end Genelec speakers, and showed that my left ear lost response at the same volume level at ~14kHz.
I also found the approximate frequency of the tinnitus in my left ear was ~12kHz.
All information you'd think an audiologist should be able to tell you, but they couldn't.

And there is useful info above 8K...it's the "air", the breathe of the music. When it's not there the pleasure of music (for me at least) decreases.
 
Most audiologists are totally inadequate when it comes to testing for all "musically valid" frequencies. To cut off at 8K is ridiculous.
I went in for testing because I was absolutely certain that I'd lost high frequency response in my left ear, relative to the right. The sizzle of the cymbals just didn't sound the same ear to ear. They told me there was no difference. There is.
I made a frequency sweep in Wavelab, through very high end Genelec speakers, and showed that my left ear lost response at the same volume level at ~14kHz.
I also found the approximate frequency of the tinnitus in my left ear was ~12kHz.
All information you'd think an audiologist should be able to tell you, but they couldn't.

And there is useful info above 8K...it's the "air", the breathe of the music. When it's not there the pleasure of music (for me at least) decreases.

Totally agree with you. Like the attack of the pick on the strings on an acoustic guitar for example.
 
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Well, I can ;) I think most people in their 20s can at least.

Oh, I can hear it; heck I can still hear it halfway across the house late at night and it drives me nuts....my point was that there isn't a lot of important musical information above 15kHz IMHO. I think that it's just a good point of reference for people without a signal generator. :)

I actually wish that I wasn't quite so sensitive sometimes because it really does irritate me A LOT. If I walk into a room with a CRT in there and it's quiet otherwise I just get really agitated.
 
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