Can't Hear Above 13.5kHz. What Am I Missing? Options

[botface]

Using pure tones at "normal" listening levels I can't hear above 13.5kHz. I was disappointed with that result initially, but on thinking about it I'm not sure.

Assuming the usual 20kHz ceiling for perfect hearing that equates to a D# (give or take a few cents). 10kHz is also D# but 1 octave lower. My 13.5kHz limit is more or less a G#, which is a perfect 4th above the 10kHz D#, or to put it another way I can hear more or less half of the top octave. Given that there are no fundamentals from real instruments up there then at worst I'm losing some upper harmonics.

Add to this the fact that many people found MP3 low passed at 16KHz to be perceptually transparent - and I'm only 2.5kHz short of this - and I'm wondering what I'm actually missing.

I'm sure there are many 20 year olds that could easily ABX a suitable "full range" sample and that same sample low passed at 13.5kHz but how would the difference manifest itself and does it really matter (in a musical sense)?

This post has been edited by botface: Mar 28 2012, 17:13

[Arnold B. Kruege...]

Using pure tones at "normal" listening levels I can't hear above 13.5kHz. I was disappointed with that result initially, but on thinking about it I'm not sure.

Before you start contemplating the audio equivalent of Hara kiri or Seppuku you might want to run your tests at an appreciably higher SPL. ;-)

Assuming the usual 20kHz ceiling for perfect hearing that equates to a D# (give or take a few cents). 10kHz is also D# but 1 octave lower. My 13.5kHz limit is more or less a G#, which is a perfect 4th above the 10kHz D#, or to put it another way I can hear more or less half of the top octave. Given that there are no fundamentals from real instruments up there then at worst I'm losing some upper harmonics.

In the context of actual music the actual limit of detection of brick wall filters is more like 16 Khz.

Add to this the fact that many people found MP3 low passed at 16KHz to be perceptually transparent - and I'm only 2.5kHz short of this - and I'm wondering what I'm actually missing.

Good question. I was wandering around Youtube this morning looking at the various downloads, and I immediately noticed that two videos sounded vastly different. It turned out that the one I liked was brick wall filtered at 16 Khz, and the one that sounded obviously chopped was brick walled at 10 Khz. Given that I'm 65 I feel pretty good about that. BTW the one with the chopped high end was also somewhat more compressed even though the envelope of both songs aside from the introduction looked pretty thoroughly mashed at - 0.5 dB or so.

I'm sure there are many 20 year olds that could easily ABX a suitable "full range" sample and that same sample low passed at 13.5kHz but how would the difference manifest itself and does it really matter (in a musical sense)?

Don't get too optimistic about 20 year olds. Many of the ones I work with don't hear what I hear easily. Ditto for their parents. Drummers who love acoustic drums or guitar players who love standing in front of their amps and playing loud, if you catch my drift...