Not really sure if this is a test of your headphones or your hearing ...but interesting nonetheless.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0a2Prc_MQo

Seems that my Sennheiser HD600's are not bad but my hearing drops off noticeably at 50Hz and about 14kHz.

Jeff

I saw Sony was pretty high on their list, I was testing on that brand. I had an issue with the high frequency test. Didn't think my hearing would drop out hard right in the 15KHz range. I played it back over a software mixer and the whole audio signal drops out in that same 15KHz range. So your high frequency range may not be at fault. Interesting video nonetheless.

A good, fast and easy source of test material. To be used with reservation of course, but nevertheless a good and useful tool.

Thanks for sharing.

Interesting reference video/test. Got to admit, some frequencies make me dizzy

Ok, maybe I will sound like a complete amateur, but this is my major concern with this, or any other similar tests that are done with non lab equipment - SoUnDcArDs (interfaces). They all just sound different to me. So in my view you can have amazing headphones, but if the sound card has particular sound color/saturation from nature of electronic components used + A/D you might just not hear some stuff just for these reasons alone.

I assume it is a friendly discussion, so if I may throw a question for someone who possibly knows. Short pretext:
At one point I was looking at some USB headphone amplifiers+soundcards, particularly (don't laugh) made by Creative. I wanted to get the "closest to original" possible output from my headphones of recorded material. But reading a few articles on a subject it seems that even audiophile versions are not transparent by themselves. They are "enhancing" the output signal to "perfection". So
my question is.. How you define or make sure that your sound device is neutral on output, right before it hits headphones? Seems it is almost impossible to know in home environment without external independent specialized gear that you can plug directly to headphones "out" of your soundsoundcard.

I did find that one 'rudimentary' computer speaker system immediately did a total cut every time at exactly 15KHz. I doubt the issue was with the speakers themselves, but with a cut-off filter somewhere in the speaker system.

Note, this is not being critical of the test system itself by any means. That system is definitely quite useful, but the point to make is that there can be many other influences that might affect results.

Regardless, I still like the system. It has many benefits.

If you all are seeing hard stops on spectral content right at 15 kHz then it’s probably the codec used to compress the audio data density.

This was a really neat find! Thanks for sharing.

Good point!

I could also hear up to 15 kHz in my AKG K92 head phones and for this old timer who played in bands for years is a very good thing!

I don't believe someone of our age (Mario) could hear that high. My hearing is still excellent considering the bands I've been in, and I top out at around 13,000 on a legit test.

The key word here is "legit". I don't think this is a legit test. But yes I did hear it up to just below what they called 15 kHz.

There was another hearing test a couple of years ago that was up on the forums and it I remember correctly I was around the 13 kHz with that test.

Maybe I was listening to my own tinnitus

However, I heard the signal clearly abruptly stop at exactly 15kHz and checked a couple more times, so I'm happy to be able to do that.

Maybe I was listening to my own tinnitus

However, I heard the signal clearly abruptly stop at exactly 15kHz and checked a couple more times, so I'm happy to be able to do that.

I just took the test again and I still can hear the rising kHz sound until it stops at 15 kHz. But I am leery of the accuracy of these on-line hearing tests.

My headphones dropped out at about 24 Hz, and 15000 Hz. Very interesting - nice find!

Yes, very good point. No doubt there are multiple contributing factors that could affect the output.

RustySpoon#,

Regarding your post and comment on Creative Labs sound cards. Yes they can color the sound or audio signal but they can be neutral also. Much depends on how you set the sound card up.

The main offender is the software package that ships with most of the cards. The software acts as a digital signal processor (DSP) to modify the sound output based on use mode settings like theater, noise cancelling, voice enhancement, podcasting and so on. These settings dynamically add effects like equalization, reverb, delay or fake surround sound to the audio signal. Even the audiophile software processes the audio signal.

All you really need is the card driver. The card driver is normally available bundled with software and as a standalone entity. Whenever possible install just the driver and ignore the software package. If you must install the software make sure all the software is disabled.

The other oddity of Creative sound cards is the Creative driver defaults to 48K sampling rate instead of 44.1K. Band-in-a-Box uses 44.1K since that is the audio standard while 48K is standard for audio used in video. BiaB automatically resamples the audio signal to 44.1K but the Creative Lab sound card driver doesn't automatically resample BiaB's 44.1K audio output to 48K which can cause conflict or crashes. Luckily MOST Creative Lab drivers can be set for a 44.1K sample rate. As an aside, Creative Labs is not the only audio developer that sets their driver to default at 48K. Every now and then you'll see a forum post where users report their audio interface defaulted to 48K.

While their drivers have always using the 48K sample rate, Creative Lab sound cards otherwise use to be a sensible choice for audio production. The inclusion on their sound cards of an onboard midi sound module, midi in and out ports, first midi sequencer and then DAW software introduced many people to the joys of "computer music".

Creative Lab successfully filled a niche created by IBM and Microsoft's decision to ignore audio. Now just about all pc motherboards include an onboard audio solution that satisfies the needs of most users so Creative Lab shifted to serving the gaming and audiophile market while, for the most part, ignoring audio production.

Wow Mario!

I was surprised to hear up to 27 khz in my cheap ear plugs.

WOW! You have the hearing of a dog

Ducking and running for cover!

I finally listened to it. That test was a mess.

What's all that swirling going on? What's all that distracting and unrelated visual pulsing?

What does +60 or +93 mean? Numbers without a scale reference mean nothing. It surely isn't dB or we'd all be dead now.

And even if the test was designed correctly, It's On YouTube. The life was compressed out of any audio the moment it went up.

Bogus.

I've just found out I had my headphones on back to front!
Tascam TH-03 seem to stand up quite well. Especially as I tested them back to front.

When you have your headphones front to back and your near field monitors you have surround sound

Ducking and running for cover.

When you have your headphones on front to back and your near field monitors on you have surround sound

Ducking and running for cover.

Jim,
Thank you for the detailed reply! There is much to learn...it never stops I guess, unless it is fine lab equipment, neutrality is always subjective. In most of our application use, I presume the main component is a quality (and neutral) DAC hardware.

It is my understanding that crappy DAC hardware would not reproduce sound accurately.

For some time I was considering some of higher end SB audio cards, but it seems, as you mentioned, it is targeted for gamers. I finally found a device at very fair price that I was looking at for a long time, which Apogee One. Supposedly it has very good DAC / hardware. Plus it can be used as an interface and it even has onboard mic. I think it could be a perfect companion for auditioning, mixing and even recording sketches / ideas. Not as a main interface, but something compact. Plus I love that it has a huge volume/level knob right in center

I have an Apogee One on my Mac. I think the quality is quite good, and yes, I love the volume knob.