Testing your high frequency hearing

[jls001]

You can check your high frequency hearing here, using a headphone. Please make sure that you use a headphone that does at least upto 20 kHz. I used a headphone that is specified to 22 kHz (a Sennheiser MM50 IEM). This test uses a pure tone of 22, 21, 20, .... 8 kHz.

A more real-world test is here. The reference is a white noise (meaning it contains all audio frequencies) low passed to 22 kHz. Depending on how high frequency you could hear (e.g. 17 kHz) in the first test, you can choose a white noise which has all frequencies upto 17 kHz, and test if you can hear the difference between 17 kHz white noise and 22 kHz white noise. If you can't hear a difference, choose 16 kHz and try again. If you still can't make out the difference, choose 15 kHz, and so on. The frequency at which point you can hear the difference from a 22 kHz white noise is your real-world hearing ability.

I made 6 people in the 25-42 age group at work do the first hearing test and what came up was shocking - one guy (under 30) who always has his IEMs glued on can discern upto 13 kHz, and with great difficulty could barely make out 14 kHz. Three could hear upto 17 kHz. One could hear upto 18 kHz, and the last guy claimed to hear 20 kHz!

Check out your's.

And may be you should give that IEM of your's a rest

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

You can check your high frequency hearing here...

You can check out much more too. it is a wonderful site, with many useful tests throwing light on our ears, out equipment, our listening environment etc etc etc.

I made 6 people in the 25-42 age group at work do the first hearing test and what came up was shocking - one guy (under 30) who always has his IEMs glued on can discern upto 13 kHz, and with great difficulty could barely make out 14 kHz.

Is it so shocking? it is normal to loose high frequency with age: perhaps we should google for what is considered average hearing frequency range plotted against age. Mine is shocking --- but then, I am 61, and it wasn't exactly brilliant even in my 20s, although, at the time, I had no idea that that was why I couldn't hear one person talking in a party. If I had, I might have cut back on the rock concerts!

There's another test you might find interesting, with a grid of different volumes and frequencies, that shows you your frequency response curve. You might know the site already --- but I'll try to dig out the bookmark and edit it in.

edit. Here: Hearing test on-line: sensitivity, equal loudness contours and audiometry

(from the same people, FAQ in music acoustics covers just about everything )

And may be you should give that IEM of your's a rest

Youngsters... It is really hard to understand the damage you may be doing, and that you have many decades ahead of you in which you would like to listen to both conversation and music. Even slight deafness is a social handicap. Believe me!

 

[IndianEars]

Some years ago, it was VERY Simple.

Ask your subject if they could hear a high pitched sound when their (CRT Based) Colour TV was on.

ALL CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) basedTVs utilised a 15.75 KHz oscillator. Almost 50% of subjects above 35 years could not hear it..

 

[omishra]

So that means I could not hear above 17KHz pitch tone. Thanks for posting.

Edit: In second test I scored 10/10 for 14KHz, 6/10 for 15KHz.

 

[jls001]

Is it so shocking? it is normal to loose high frequency with age:

I thought so. This guy's still young - may be 27-28 years.

 

[jls001]

So that means I could not hear above 17KHz pitch tone. Thanks for posting.

Edit: In second test I scored 10/10 for 14KHz, 6/10 for 15KHz.

I can also hear upto 17 kHz in the first test, but I can distinguish only 14 kHz and lower as distinct from the 22 kHz white noise in the second test. So you have much better hearing acuity than I do. Congrats

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

People aren't missing very much much when it come to music.

Interactive Frequency Chart

But they are missing something, and even more as things get worse, and, sadly, they don't and can't get better, unless it turns out to have been just wax! I can't talk about audiophile "air," because I can't hear it. I miss out on cymbal shimmer and woodwind breathlessness too. There's plenty of music I can hear --- but absolutely no point in buying supertweaters.

People can experiment with EQ in software to find out what they are missing. Until you hear it, you don't know that you didn't hear it before.

 

[ssf]

First test file 22 khz to 8khz sweep

Using headphones I could hear 20 khz
Using speakers I could hear 15 khz

Age: 47 Years.

I am guessing that I should be good for music for a while.

 

[alpha1]

I can hear upto 14kHz only.
Which gives me certain advantages
I am not bothered by extreme high frequencies ...
e.g. sometimes just to piss ppl off I start the tone generator (phone based) at 15 kHz (most adult human's cannot listen above 16kHz, so no point going that far), and leave it there.

*wicked*

I know the reason for my hearing loss: exposure to extreme high noise equipment right after the college

 

[IndianEars]

Do you start the 15KHz phone Into yr Phone conversation ?

 

[alpha1]

Do you start the 15KHz phone Into yr Phone conversation ?

I didn't get the question.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I wondered too, but now I think he means starting the tone generator mid-call (?).

Could be a good way of getting rid of unwanted callers. Probably most of the spam cold-call salespeople are quite young. Mischievous, but, perhaps, effective.

I know the reason for my hearing loss: exposure to extreme high noise equipment right after the college

Me too. Plus, in some of the odd jobs that I did, nobody told me that I should not fling pieces of steel around. the clang is, literally, deafening.