so yeah, just wondering, im looking at headphones and CD players and what not, and they say frequency response or some shit like that "10-30,000" or something, but do you really need that extra 10 at the bottom and 10,000 at the top, because can;t prime time humans only hear from 20-20k?

1st

Yes. Humans can only hear 20-20, so it is irrelevant. Unless you DJ for cats.

My question related to this question is:

What happens to all the audio/electrical energy out of range of the headphone? Does it get lumped together as additional energy on other frequencies? Create noise or distortion???

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Originally posted by Oreoh142 so yeah, just wondering, im looking at headphones and CD players and what not, and they say frequency response or some shit like that "10-30,000" or something, but do you really need that extra 10 at the bottom and 10,000 at the top, because can;t prime time humans only hear from 20-20k?

Yeah, generally it doesn't make any difference, particularly the high frequencies. Remember your ears aren't the only thing capable of detecting vibrations though - you can certainly feel vibrations at 10Hz which can add to the experience (not that you need this for a pair of headphones!)

In fact out of range frequencies (i.e. if you pumped 30kHz into a human ear) can actually increase distortion in the range that you can hear.

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Originally posted by nefardec My question related to this question is: What happens to all the audio/electrical energy out of range of the headphone? Does it get lumped together as additional energy on other frequencies? Create noise or distortion???

Any good pair of headphones/amps will have an anti-aliasing filter to remove out-of-band signals as well as possible before they reach the cones to stop them from distorting frequencies within the audible band. Most music etc doesn't really go above 15kHz anyway (or at least you could be perfectly happy missing anything above that) so that end's usually quite easy to filter to an in-band signal.

In answer to your question, the filters that remove these frequencies usually occur before the amplification stage, so it's usually a very low about of power but yes, it does essentially get turned into heat.

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quote:

Originally posted by Oreoh142 so yeah, just wondering, im looking at headphones and CD players and what not, and they say frequency response or some shit like that "10-30,000" or something, but do you really need that extra 10 at the bottom and 10,000 at the top, because can;t prime time humans only hear from 20-20k?

in case any dogs or bats want to dj... duh!

You cant hear really high or low frequencies, but you can feel them. If you stand next to a really loud high frequency audio source for a short time, you will get a nasty headache, even though you cant hear anything. Similarly a really low frequency can upset your stomach and make you feel sick, and if it is loud enough, it can perforate your stomach.

So although it does make a slight difference, its not important in headphones as a DJ doesnt really need to 'feel' the music, but it is nice to have a sound system with a wide frequency response. Some cartridges and styli even go up to 80,000 Hz!

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Originally posted by the_gamemaster You cant hear really high or low frequencies, but you can feel them. If you stand next to a really loud high frequency audio source for a short time, you will get a nasty headache, even though you cant hear anything. Similarly a really low frequency can upset your stomach and make you feel sick, and if it is loud enough, it can perforate your stomach. So although it does make a slight difference, its not important in headphones as a DJ doesnt really need to 'feel' the music, but it is nice to have a sound system with a wide frequency response. Some cartridges and styli even go up to 80,000 Hz!

from what you just said, i don't see it as nice to have a wide frequency response. if i can't hear it and all it does is give people head aches/puke... i'll pass on it

i'm sure you mean at EXTREMELY high/low freq though... on another note, are the low freq what they use for that nonlethal weapon that cops have? i saw it on tv once, it looks like a green laser that when you aim it at someone they get nauseous and fall to the floor

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Originally posted by JD8180 from what you just said, i don't see it as nice to have a wide frequency response. if i can't hear it and all it does is give people head aches/puke... i'll pass on it i'm sure you mean at EXTREMELY high/low freq though... on another note, are the low freq what they use for that nonlethal weapon that cops have? i saw it on tv once, it looks like a green laser that when you aim it at someone they get nauseous and fall to the floor

low frequencis are extremely important, for example creating tonals at the sub-lows (0-50 or thereabouts) to create rumbly basses or whatever you're going for...if you have a grasp on freq's outside the average hearing range then you can create some neat effects. not everyone has severe hearing loss!

also as far as the device you're talking about, the military and police in the US are using a lot of newer technology such as this. the green laser itself is not the weapon, it's merely to aim the microwave or sonic bursts at an assailant.

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Originally posted by JD8180 from what you just said, i don't see it as nice to have a wide frequency response. if i can't hear it and all it does is give people head aches/puke... i'll pass on it i'm sure you mean at EXTREMELY high/low freq though... on another note, are the low freq what they use for that nonlethal weapon that cops have? i saw it on tv once, it looks like a green laser that when you aim it at someone they get nauseous and fall to the floor

No, it only does that if the amplitude (volume) is really loud, dont think the actual frequency makes much difference. BTW they have this thing in Britain now to stop 'youths' hanging around in public areas that emits a frequency that adults can't hear but is really painful to children.

quote:

Originally posted by JD8180 from what you just said, i don't see it as nice to have a wide frequency response. if i can't hear it and all it does is give people head aches/puke... i'll pass on it i'm sure you mean at EXTREMELY high/low freq though... on another note, are the low freq what they use for that nonlethal weapon that cops have? i saw it on tv once, it looks like a green laser that when you aim it at someone they get nauseous and fall to the floor

I think the mythbusters debunked the "brown note"

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