Hifi or hearing

[Gray]

Hearing loss with age is perfectly normal:

"Whereas a person in their twenties will be able to hear up to 17,000Hz or more, by their thirties this will have declined to about 16,000Hz. By the time an individual is in their 50s, their hearing range will usually have declined to around 12,000Hz."

This is often seen with the "cocktail party effect" when you can't hear conversations very well in a busy room.

Are you sure about that?
I think any 'cocktail party effect' would be more down to a lack of lower frequencies for those affected.
True, sibilants give speech its intelligibility, but 12kHz more than covers all speech.

 

[12th Monkey]

This is often seen with the "cocktail party effect" when you can't hear conversations very well in a busy room.

Definitely get that, though I'd call it the 'busy pub' effect! I read that it means you've lost the frequency range that allows easy differentiation of the sounds that make up important parts of speech.

 

[nopiano]

Definitely get that, though I'd call it the 'busy pub' effect! I read that it means you've lost the frequency range that allows easy differentiation of the sounds that make up important parts of speech.

That’s my problem, especially with my wife! But seriously, I’ve a dip above about 2kHz and that’s where intelligibly suffers, according to my audiologist. Trying to resist hearing aids as I don’t want to imagine the sound from all my kit squeezed through an Aspirin sized digital device, as I may as well just switch to a table top radio.

 

[plastic penguin]

Hearing can be influenced by many things: Mood, tiredness, colds or flu, alcohol....

 

[Gray]

I’ve a dip above about 2kHz and that’s where intelligibly suffers, according to my audiologist.

That's more the like the frequency I'd expect to cause trouble.

If losing only above 12kHz affected speech, many more people would have a problem.

 

[12th Monkey]

That's more the like the frequency I'd expect to cause trouble.

If losing only above 12kHz affected speech, many more people would have a problem.

Could you speak up a bit?

 

[Covenanter]

Are you sure about that?
I think any 'cocktail party effect' would be more down to a lack of lower frequencies for those affected.
True, sibilants give speech its intelligibility, but 12kHz more than covers all speech.

Falling frequency range and the ability to discriminate between sounds seem to be linked. There is some evidence that stiffening of the enthesis in the ear (the material that links the bones) is a cause of both.

 

[AJM1981]

I am just over 40 and still be able to hear the tone for chasing cats away at a high pitch frequency. So I am not that worried.

I also think that even if the frequencies at that range slowly decline, I would not be worried. Most music doesn’t even touch these.

There is also a lot of headroom between what loudspeakers ‘can’ produce as in maximum treble and what is actually utilised in music.

 

[nopiano]

I am just over 40 and still be able to hear the tone for chasing cats away at a high pitch frequency. So I am not that worried.

I also think that even if the frequencies at that range slowly decline, I would not be worried. Most music doesn’t even touch these.

There is also a lot of headroom between what loudspeakers ‘can’ produce as in maximum treble and what is actually utilised in music.

Very true. Gradual decline above 10kHz is pretty immaterial, but sadly the losses lower down as we age start to detract from voices and instruments like cymbals and triangle.