What's the highest frequency you can hear?

[MRC01]

Speculation: Maybe you can hear the lower frequency harmonics that come with the frequencies above 15 kHz?

Harmonics work the opposite way - they are above the fundamental, not below it.

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

My hearing rolls off pretty sharply at about 2KHz. My left ear is much weaker than my right. I'm not sure about my hearing with hearing aids. I know that due to the limitations of the hardware that the theoretical limit is around 8KHz. That's not so bad if you think of it in musical terms. I'm missing a little more than an octave, assuming my right ear is responding according to capability of its hearing aid. No musical instrument can produce a fundamental tone in the frequency range I'm missing. I first noticed the hearing loss when I was about 30 and got my first hearing aids in my mid '60s.

 

[JayGilb]

I'm 59 and can hear 11kHz in my right ear and 9kHz in the left. When I was 20 or so, I was shooting a 357 stub nose and the left ear plug either loosened or partially slipped out and instant high frequency loss.

 

[MRC01]

... I'm guessing I wouldn't even notice if I lost all hearing about 8-10k, even if that change happened overnight. Am I being an idiot by not seeing the value in frequencies that high?

High frequencies are useful in several ways, for example having a conversation in a noisy restaurant, or more generally, distinguishing individual sounds in a noisy environment. Also for differentiating the tone quality or timbre of a fundamental tone you are hearing. For example, the highest note on a piano is C8 which is about 4200 Hz. Same for piccolo. Yet to hear whether the note is from a piano or piccolo, you need to hear the harmonics an octave higher (and more). Someone who can't hear 8 kHz will hear that 4 kHz note but won't be able to distinguish the instrument playing it.

 

[solderdude]

Most people can hear at least 8kHz so the second harmonic will be audible.
Distinguishing between piano and piccolo is still easy because of a different attack, sustain and decay from fundamental and harmonics.

 

[fpitas]

A bit short of 65 KHz my ribbon tweeter equipped speakers are capable of.

But if you ever need it, it's there!

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

My hearing rolls off pretty sharply at about 2KHz. My left ear is much weaker than my right. I'm not sure about my hearing with hearing aids. I know that due to the limitations of the hardware that the theoretical limit is around 8KHz. That's not so bad if you think of it in musical terms. I'm missing a little more than an octave, assuming my right ear is responding according to capability of its hearing aid. No musical instrument can produce a fundamental tone in the frequency range I'm missing. I first noticed the hearing loss when I was about 30 and got my first hearing aids in my mid '60s.

This got me interested. I played some test tones. With my hearing aids in I can just barely hear 8 KHz. I have an app from the manufacturer with some adjustment features. With the 3 band tone control treble cranked to max I can, maybe, hear 10 KHz faintly.

 

[danadam]

16-17k @ 41. Begs the question though, is that good for anything other than hunting mosquitoes? Sounds start getting uncomfortable after 8k, and irritating as hell after 11k. When listening to a tone sweep, the sudden silence at 16k-17k was a merciful reprieve.

I'm guessing I wouldn't even notice if I lost all hearing about 8-10k, even if that change happened overnight. Am I being an idiot by not seeing the value in frequencies that high?

Depends on material. I suspect you won't have any trouble hearing a difference here:
Laurence Juber / Guitar Noir / 02. Mosaic, 5 seconds at around 0:53

But admittedly, for me, in this example, the difference begins to vanish around 11k.

 

[Danaxus]

Depends on material. I suspect you won't have any trouble hearing a difference here:
Laurence Juber / Guitar Noir / 02. Mosaic, 5 seconds at around 0:53


But admittedly, for me, in this example, the difference begins to vanish around 11k.

You're right, the difference is obvious - the lowpass version sounds muffled in comparison. Wouldn't hurt my appreciation of the music in the slightest, but you do lose something.

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

As a result of my quick and dirty "hearing test" I started experimenting with EQ. Using the graphic EQ in Moode Audio I increased the volume at 8 KHz and 16 KHz by about 5 dB. I'm shocked by the difference. I don't know that that's the perfect setting for my ears but recordings I've listened to since I was in my 20s sound a lot more like I remember them. The most noticeable thing for me is the sharpening of the attack. I may actually learn how to set the Q parameter in a parametric EQ.

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

Depends on material. I suspect you won't have any trouble hearing a difference here:
Laurence Juber / Guitar Noir / 02. Mosaic, 5 seconds at around 0:53
View attachment 314635

But admittedly, for me, in this example, the difference begins to vanish around 11k.

I can't hear a difference between the two. It's my hearing that's at fault. My roughly determined 8 KHz upper limit is coming into play.

 

[Frank2]

Harmonics work the opposite way - they are above the fundamental, not below it.

I stand corrected.. I was thinking about the IM distortion graphs where distortion frequencies below the two frequencies that interact are visible. But these are not harmonics, indeed.

 

[Jim Hagerman]

I don't feel so bad after reading how everyone else is doing. Age 63 and I'm good to 12k in both ears. At 13k nada, zilch.

 

[afinepoint]

Had my ears tested a couple of months ago to quiet some non believers here in another thread who disbelieved my statement that my hearing hasn't really changed (much) over time..

I'm 64 and per the audiogram my hearing rolls of sharply at 16k. Lesson to some: Don't make assumptions.

 

[MattHooper]

I'm 59, about to turn 60. In casual home test I hear a little over 14K in both ears.

(But since I don't like pure tones, excites my tinnitus, I play it pretty softly. I don't know how high I might actually hear at louder volumes).

 

[Joe Smith]

I am two months shy of 65 and I can just hear to 13k. That's my upper limit.