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[ajowers]

After doing some hearing tests, I find that my upper limit is around 14K Hz.  I consider myself an audiophile and like most adults am find a reducing upper range of hearing.  I am now 50 years old. I am not hearing impaired... just average.

Am I missing a lot of the spectrum or is that range from 14K to 20K only a small percentage of the experience ?
Can I still be a critical listener knowing I am missing some upper range for example?

Your thoughts?  (we will all get to this point one day I suppose)

[MrC]

Isn't this like asking if you can be a competitive high jumper with only one leg?  :-)

See also: Mosquito Ring Tones

[ajowers]

I don't think so.  My topic is also not a joke.

[marko]

I am absolutely certain no offence was meant, just a strange question is all. If it sounds good to you, then it is. How critical do you wish to be?

I googled mosquito ring tones and wound up at teenbuzz.org, which felt kind of weird!!

They have a video there that plays sounds at varying KHz. I was OK up to 17.4, where I could just make it out and no more in a quiet room. My grand kids heard it without a problem.

I'm 47 years old.

Interesting.

[Scolex]

If you look at the below linked interactive graph you may get an idea of what you may be missing.
http://www.independentrecording.net/irn/resources/freqchart/main_display.htm
IMHO there is very little that you are missing.

[InflatableMouse]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_tone

[gappie]

After doing some hearing tests, I find that my upper limit is around 14K Hz.  I consider myself an audiophile and like most adults am find a reducing upper range of hearing.  I am now 50 years old. I am not hearing impaired... just average.

i like the teenbuzz.org link. i also could still hear the 14 kHz, although im 49 now, but it hurt. and according to them that is for below 45 years. so that is not bad then. i dont think you miss anything, or not that i can hear , but it might change the colour of the sound a bit. then again, who knows what the intentions of the musicians them self where when recording it, how much the colour was influenced by their age and tinnitus.

 
gab

[ajowers]

If you look at the below linked interactive graph you may get an idea of what you may be missing.
http://www.independentrecording.net/irn/resources/freqchart/main_display.htm
IMHO there is very little that you are missing.

Thanks Scolex.  This was the conclusion I came to after a week of research.  I build/design speakers however I am confident that I can still judge them critically and comparatively.

Now, I have a business partner who can't hear our UPS beep when the power flickers.  I think that tone is around 4000 HZ.  He definitely is missing a lot of the music.

I see now that I am missing some overtones and harmonics.  I also read that a build up of ear wax in your ears can reduce high frequency perception.  I need to have that looked into as well.

[kstuart]

Watch the movie "It's All Gone Pete Tong" for the philosophical answer (and avoid spoilers first).

[mwillems]

We used to play high Hz tones (without saying anything) as a kind of parlor game, to see which of our guests could hear what.  I probably "tested" several dozen people of varying ages.  I've met few folks over 30 who could hear much above 16 KHz, and many of them can't hear anything above 12 or 13.  I did know one fellow in his late twenties who could hear 20 KHz tones, but he was a definite outlier.  For my part, I can't hear much above 15KHz (although I can definitely perceive High SPL sound in the 16 or 17 KHz range, mostly as listener fatigue and headaches), and count myself lucky I've still got that much. 

So, my thought: if most of your clientele can't hear the UHF, you're certainly not compromising their experience if you're similarly situated.  And, as noted above, there's not much natural music up there anyway.

[Samson]

Yes we all know music can be enjoyable even in a truncated narrow frequency range but can you hear stuff thats not there..., huh?!

Although my opinion wont be popular, I believe the physical measurement is only one part of the perceptual equation. It is likely people learn to perceive frequencies that they cant literally hear.... abit like Beethoven composing music when deaf. If you hear the lower harmonics of a note it is not outrageous to consider the possibility that the brain extrapolates to "hear" what it thinks it should.After all you dont need to have a left foot to feel a  left foot....maybe you have heard of phantom pain? With music it may well be that this works only with familiar music ie where the brain has a strong memory of the sound/music. The brain is an amazing place,people with strokes that cant utter a word can sometimes sing clearly.people can be born without, or aquire the inability, to not recognize human faces.Although neurologically completely differnent concepts to hearing stuff, the brain can be  a strange and mysterious place. (crazy idea from a medical specialist in neurolgy,neuropsycholgy and rehabilitation)

[ajowers]

Samson,

That is a very interesting point.  I like your thoughts on this and I am glad to see my topic is still sparking some interest out there.

[syn-ack]

I am 38 and could hear the 19kHz tone just fine, but could not hear anything above it at all.

That said, I don't think I would enjoy music any less if I was not able to hear frequencies above 14kHz. There is still plenty of range between.