 
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
|
|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
75.168.158.85
In Reply to: RE: Pedantically, our ears use the pressure of the sound to sense the sound pressure posted by 13th Duke of Wymbourne on May 29, 2025 at 16:54:56
to sense sound pressure.
You can demonstrate this for yourself with simple test equipment. You need an amplifier, speaker, some sort of meter (VU meter works best, you can also use a sound pressure level app on your phone) and a sine/squarewave generator.
Run the sine wave thru the amp and speaker and set to a comfortable level. If using a VU meter, 0VU.
Cover up the meter and turn down the volume, switch to square wave and then turn up the volume until it sounds just as loud. Uncover the meter and you'll see that the ear uses higher ordered harmonics to sense sound pressure.
The fact that a 3rd harmonic can mask higher orders in loudspeakers has been known for some time. Its no different in amplifiers. The key is the relationship between the various harmonics. The 2nd or 3rd must be prodigious enough compared to the higher orders that the ear only hears the 2nd or 3rd (as a 'warmth' coloration, which is not annoying).
Follow Ups:
3rd can only mask the fourth...-fourth the fifth...-.fifth the sixth etc...- but ONLY if the preceding harmonic is significantly higher in amplitude than the following harmonic.
If an attorney were litigating this he'd be asking you if you were lying then or lying now?
Put another way you can't have it both ways. We both agree that the harmonics should fall off in amplitude with the order of the harmonic according to an exponential function.
But in your other post regarding Cheever you take a different argument which contradicts this one.
I find when people do this sort of thing its not about actual fact as it is about making someone else 'wrong'.
No, I don't see what Cheever states as a contradiction...perhaps you just misunderstand how he is using Aural harmonics?
-
I now understand your point but, don't forget, that a sine wave and square wave have different peak-to-average ratios so it is not surprising they are perceived differently.
Back to the pedantry, the ear's sensitivity to sound pressure and our perception of loudness are different things. The pressure for 'just detectability' gives us the well known Fletcher-Munson curves where the y-axis is in pressure but hearing psychologists measure loudness in phons where test subjects compare subjective loudness of different sounds, like your comparison of sine and square waves. But to get to that point the sound pressure has already been 'measured' by the ear and now it is about signal processing.
As to masking, again, I am just curious to see some numbers for my own education. I would be grateful for any references that quantify the effect
You might try that test anyway since an analog VU meter simply uses the energy available. If you don't care to do so, FWIW the VU meter tends to read about -25dB which is not explained by the difference in square and sine energy.
Any musician that works with waveforms or distortion knows how that can affect the instrument's ability to cut through the mix.
Fletcher Munson affects this since if higher ordered harmonics show up where the ear is most sensitive that doesn't help with how the amp might 'sound' since they are likely to be more audible.
For basics on masking see the link.
| FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]
