- Introduction |
- Hardware |
- Software |
- Sound Quality |
- Reference |
- Enjoy
An introduction to computer audio
- Amplifier
- ASIO driver
- Audio cables
- Bit perfect jitter
- Bits: 16 or 24
- Clock
- Crossover
- CDtext
- CDP vs DAP
- Cue sheet
- DAC
- Digital cable
- Direct Sound
- DLNA
- Driver
- DSP
- FireWire
- Headphone listening
- Hearing
- I2S
- ID3
- Kernel Streaming
- Memory player
- Music Server
- Perception
- Performance
- RAID
- Ripping
- RFI
- Router
- Sampling, up and over
- Sample Rate Conversion
- S/PDIF
- Tagging
- Toslink
- Transcoding
- Units
- UPnP
- USB
- VST
- WASAPI
- WAV
- Wave Out
Hearing
Frequency
When young the range is 20 - 20.000 Hz.
The sensitivity varies with the frequency and is best between 1 kHz and 5 kHz.Your audio components might have a straight frequency response, your ears don't.
You can test the frequency response of your ears here: http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/hearing.html
Presbycusis
A progressive loss of the ability to hear high frequencies, which occurs as people get older.
Source: http://www.hearinglosshelp.com/articles/reverseslopeshort.htm
Some nice empirical evidence: http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=65398
Dynamic range
Sound is a variation in air pressure. We can detect a change of less than one billionth of standard atmospheric pressure. This is the lower threshold and corresponds to 0 decibels. Sound at 120/130 dB starts to hurt. Our dynamic range is 0 - 130 dB, a difference of 1013 =10.000.000.000.000. That's why a logarithmic scale is used.
Direction
Sound coming from the one side will reach the ear furthest away later than the closer ear. We can discern approximately 0,002 second time lag.
Pitch
The frequency of a note. Very few people can tell the pitch of a isolated note.
In classical music the A is used to tune. In case of baroque music this is 415, classicism 430 en modern 440 Hz. If you have perfect pitch you have a problem!
Perfect pitch or not, we all can hear a differeence of 1 Hz.
Reading: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/hframe.html
Equal loudness contour
A online hearing test that measures the relative sensitivity of your ears at different frequencies. It produces equal loudness contours or hearing curves – the frequency response of your own ears.
