Sound

[patton422 10+ year member]

Ok guys you might yell at me because this has to do more with sound the subwoofers but bare with me... For those people who know physics, We only hear a certain range of sounds with that in mind I have 2 questions. Do the lower notes we don't hear do they still create spl? I'm not sure because they move air but we don't hear them and my second question is can the lower notes that we don't hear like 0hz can they still cause hearing damage. The only reason I ask because I have heard alot about hearing loss in my psych class and I saw a thing on tv about mp3 players causing hearing loss. Can anyone help

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[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Do the lower notes we don't hear do they still create spl?

Yes. That's why you can still feel the rumbling of the "sound" even though you can't physically hear it.

You can take an SPL meter and measure the "sound pressure level" of a 10hz note (assuming the SPL meter was designed to register a note that low).

I'm not sure because they move air but we don't hear them

It's just that the sound is below the human's audible threshold of hearing. But that doesn't mean that a "sound" is not existant. You just can't hear it.

Same with extremely high frequencies...like dog whistles. You can't hear it, but it still makes sound. And that sound is within the audible range for dogs, and hence it invokes a reaction from them.

and my second question is can the lower notes that we don't hear like 0hz can they still cause hearing damage.

0hz means that the speaker cone is moving at zero cycles per second. Or, in other words....standing still. And obviously if the speaker's cone is standing still, it is not making any sound at all.

and I saw a thing on tv about mp3 players causing hearing loss.

Hearing loss related too..... ? Any specific reason that they mentioned as to why MP3 players cause hearing loss ?

 

[patton422 10+ year member]

well my psych class we talked about hearing loss and alot about frequency and I wanted to ask him but I doubt he would know then I saw a thing on tv about it so it sparked my interest and I figured someone had to know. Squeak the 0hz was a bad example but what about other in-audible freq can they cause hearing damage?

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Squeak the 0hz was a bad example but what about other in-audible freq can they cause hearing damage?

Well, I'm no physicist or doctor....but my initial inclination would be to say yes, they can if the sound pressure levels are high enough. While the tone is low enough that you can't physically hear them, it is still applying sound pressure to the ear...and it's the sound pressure that is damaging to hearing.