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[tech] frequency response range
 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2004-08-07 13:53 [#01298063]
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eh.. ok.. I know what a frequency response-range is, but
what does it mean when it, in the technical specs of a
headset, says the following:

Frequency response (headphones):
5.....40000 Hz (-10 dB)
10.....25000 (-3 dB)

I've seen the -10 and -3 db thingies before, but only on
mics, but I've never really figured out what it is for.. why
would I want to take off 10 db on the mic when I can do it
on the mixer? anyway.. why would I want to do it on a
headset, and why is the frequency-range higher/wider if I do
it?


 

offline elusive from detroit (United States) on 2004-08-07 13:54 [#01298066]
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-3dB is a corner freq. (i.e. F3 point of a xfer function)

1/sqrt(2) = .707


 

offline elusive from detroit (United States) on 2004-08-07 13:55 [#01298067]
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thus, sine707 ;)


 

offline elusive from detroit (United States) on 2004-08-07 13:58 [#01298072]
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It's a touch difficult to explain, I'll try googlin' some
better explanations and papers before I start typing up my
notes....google links might be easier to understand than my
scribbles.



 

offline mappatazee from ¨y¨z¨| (Burkina Faso) on 2004-08-07 14:00 [#01298074]
Points: 14294 Status: Lurker | Followup to elusive: #01298072



cool, i would like to know too


 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2004-08-07 14:00 [#01298075]
Points: 35867 Status: Lurker | Followup to elusive: #01298072 | Show recordbag



possibly.. I don't get what you wrote AT ALL!!!

remember: I am but a philosophy-student... equations and
mathematical stuff flies in one ear, and falls out of my
mouth as an existencial question...


 

offline mappatazee from ¨y¨z¨| (Burkina Faso) on 2004-08-07 14:01 [#01298076]
Points: 14294 Status: Lurker



i always imagined it had something to do with how steep the
response 'falls off' on each end


 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2004-08-07 14:04 [#01298081]
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as I said:

1/sqrt(2) = .707 ----> (my ear) ----> (mouth) ---> How come
it is impossible for me to understand what another person is
saying when he means the same thing as I do? Why does
language interfer with thought if thought is the only free
thing we still have?


 

offline mappatazee from ¨y¨z¨| (Burkina Faso) on 2004-08-07 14:07 [#01298083]
Points: 14294 Status: Lurker | Followup to elusive: #01298066



-3dB is a corner freq. (i.e. F3 point of a xfer
function)

1/sqrt(2) = .707


let's see, corner frequency, I don't know what that is.
F3 point of a transfer function. well I don't know what an
xfer function is, but F3 is the 3rd derivative?.

I don't know what this .707 stuff is either.


 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2004-08-07 14:15 [#01298093]
Points: 35867 Status: Lurker | Followup to mappatazee: #01298083 | Show recordbag



it's quite possible that he's having a laugh... hahaha!


 

offline elusive from detroit (United States) on 2004-08-07 14:25 [#01298113]
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No. Give me some time (got a lot going on today )and I'll
throw some explanations at you.

I'll go dig up my notes when I get a chance here. It's
quite difficult to explain if you're not familiar with
circuit analysis and math.



 

offline mappatazee from ¨y¨z¨| (Burkina Faso) on 2004-08-07 14:29 [#01298120]
Points: 14294 Status: Lurker | Followup to elusive: #01298113



Well how about this much: Which is better? -10 dB, or -3
dB?


 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2004-08-07 14:32 [#01298123]
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ok.. I found something, but I'm not even sure I understand
it correctly (it's in english, It's late here, and it's VERY
hot here!).

Understanding Frequency Response.

The way I understand it from that article, the specs on
those headphones mean that when the headphones play back
frequencies within the 10 - 25 000 hz range, they play it
back with -3 db, and when they play back sounds that exceed
that range to the 5 and 40 000 hz range, they play the
sounds back at -10 db... I could be wrong, though...


 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2004-08-07 14:42 [#01298133]
Points: 35867 Status: Lurker | Followup to Drunken Mastah: #01298123 | Show recordbag



ok.. read it more closely.. it means that within the range
of 5-40 000, every sound is played within a +/-10
decibel-range-thingie.. some sounds may be noticeably louder
or quieter than other sounds at times... or something like
that... eh..? I'm norwegian.. 28 degrees celsius fucks me
up!

..or maybe I should eat something?


 

offline mappatazee from ¨y¨z¨| (Burkina Faso) on 2004-08-07 14:48 [#01298142]
Points: 14294 Status: Lurker | Followup to Drunken Mastah: #01298063



Just to know,
the threshold of hearing is about 18-22000 hz,
you won't be able to hear a perfect sine below 18hz with
headphones, though you might be able to feel it with room
speakers. Anyhow, those headphones sound pretty good, what
are they?


 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2004-08-07 14:50 [#01298144]
Points: 35867 Status: Lurker | Followup to mappatazee: #01298142 | Show recordbag



Yeah.. In some cases people are able to pick up on sounds
above or below that range, and it is an
approximation, but it would only be useful with vinyl.. and
since that's what I'm planning on using it for (it's a
studio/dj headset) that's just perfect for me.

Sennheiser HD 250-II


 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2004-08-07 14:55 [#01298147]
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..and I still don't get what that switch on the microphone
is for...


 

offline axion from planet rock (Sweden) on 2004-08-07 15:02 [#01298150]
Points: 3114 Status: Addict



when on the subject

do you own or have listened to akg k270 studio head phones

I have read in hi-fi articles that thay should be good but i
think they suck they have to little bass

would someone recomend me to buy an headphone amplifier or
do they suck


 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2004-08-07 15:08 [#01298156]
Points: 35867 Status: Lurker | Followup to axion: #01298150 | Show recordbag



never tried them, but I'm checking into it now...


 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2004-08-07 15:15 [#01298166]
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it seems that a amp is recommended to drive the bass, but I
think you should just get new ones if you're not satisfied..
buy some that are more bass-heavy and still easy-driven...
an amp is too expensive because you may not need it for
future headsets, and thus it'll just collect dust in the
future..


 

offline elusive from detroit (United States) on 2004-08-07 15:17 [#01298168]
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human freq is 20hz - 20khz

although only babies can hear that high ;)

the older you get, the smaller the spectrum becomes.

I cannot hear below 22-23Hz. I am quite sure most if not
all can really hear 20KHz.


 

offline elusive from detroit (United States) on 2004-08-07 15:18 [#01298175]
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and that article is not what you are looking for.


 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2004-08-07 15:20 [#01298176]
Points: 35867 Status: Lurker | Followup to elusive: #01298168 | Show recordbag



are my assumptions based on that article correct, by the
way?


 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2004-08-07 15:21 [#01298177]
Points: 35867 Status: Lurker | Followup to elusive: #01298175 | Show recordbag



ok.



 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2004-08-07 15:47 [#01298212]
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It's not even close?


 

offline elusive from detroit (United States) on 2004-08-07 20:38 [#01298489]
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at work bump (for when i get home)


 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2004-08-08 10:53 [#01298792]
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b-b-bump!


 

offline elusive from detroit (United States) on 2004-08-08 11:13 [#01298797]
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Ok...cutoff frequencies are essentially the freq. at which
the transfer function drops in magnitude to 70.71% of its
max value. this is also the freq at which power dissapted
in a circuit is 1/2 of its max value.

a cutoff or rolloff freq (F3 point in some loudspeaker
terms, as i'm mostly talking circuit analysis) will show you
on the plot of your xfer function where the freqs wlil be
cut off.

for example,

a highpass filter is a filter designed to pass all freq.
about its cutoff frequency. so this would be @ the 0.707
value on the plot of the transfer function



 

offline elusive from detroit (United States) on 2004-08-08 11:14 [#01298798]
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whether yuo will need all this info or not for buying
headphones, is quite up to you. As I wouldn't expect or
imagine anyone to just "walk into" this kind of information
and understand it.


 

offline elusive from detroit (United States) on 2004-08-08 11:15 [#01298800]
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href="http://www.ece.unh.edu/courses/ece707_3/Docs/DSP/IIR/


now draw a horizontal line from the y-axis at the value
0.707

That will show you the cutoff frequency for the highpass
filter.


 

offline elusive from detroit (United States) on 2004-08-08 11:17 [#01298802]
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usually, a waveform at +3dB is generally twice as
"powerful".....but when it comes to humans it is more around
+/- 10dB to become "twice as loud" to the human ears.



 

offline elusive from detroit (United States) on 2004-08-08 11:18 [#01298803]
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now with the tones and the +/- dB ratings, we could get into
resonance and harmonics with that, but I don't believe that
is necessary with digital equipment in this case.


 

offline elusive from detroit (United States) on 2004-08-08 11:20 [#01298804]
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oops, that link above was

http://www.ece.unh.edu/courses/ece707_3/Docs/DSP/IIR/Imag...


 

offline elusive from detroit (United States) on 2004-08-08 11:23 [#01298805]
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Here is a bandpass filter.

You can see that when 1/2 of the power is dissapated,

http://whatis.techtarget.com/WhatIs/images/bandpass.gif

that that is the 2 cutoff frequencies.

In this case, with this bandpass filter, it will only pass
frequencies in the f1 - f2 range, and bypass the rest.



 

offline elusive from detroit (United States) on 2004-08-08 11:24 [#01298806]
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bandpasses are the same

hopefully tihs wil give u decent enuff explanation on what a
cutoff freq is, the -3dB, and how it is related to freq.
response / transfer function plot.


 

offline elusive from detroit (United States) on 2004-08-08 11:27 [#01298809]
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if you really want to start to understand this, BODE PLOTS
are a must to understand.

really not that hard to work out, either

20log(base 10) sqrt(2) = 3dB


 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2004-08-08 11:34 [#01298810]
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whoah!

I'll try to keep the existencial question out of this, but I
don't think I understand it...

soo... essentially, this means that while these headphones
cut the frequencies outside of the 10 - 25000 hz range by
3db, they cut what is outside of the 5-44000hz area by 10db?


 

offline elusive from detroit (United States) on 2004-08-08 11:37 [#01298814]
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yes, because of the curve plot

link to headphones?


 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2004-08-08 11:42 [#01298817]
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Headphones


 

offline elusive from detroit (United States) on 2004-08-08 11:48 [#01298822]
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Cool,

I got the wireless RS65s and wired HD570.

<3 my sennies.


 

offline elusive from detroit (United States) on 2004-08-08 11:48 [#01298823]
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although now I need a nice portable / compact set for my
pocket pc (for mp3s and whatnot).

My PPC doesn't have enuff juice to move the speakers on the
HD570s. :(


 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2004-08-08 12:02 [#01298835]
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yeah, sennheiser are fucking great! I've got some old,
old ones (HD 480 II) from before, but I need some
that are closed and that have more accurate
sound-reproduction... that's why I thought a wider
freq-range would be good (and I still haven't seen any
headphones with wider range than 5-44000hz.. but.. since my
ears won't be able to pick up on those frequencies, I don't
get why they have such a wide range... anyway.. they seem
good, and they fit the price-range I'd thought I'd use for
headphones...)


 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2004-08-08 12:04 [#01298836]
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..and the fact that they write two different freq-ranges in
the specs also confused me.. therefore I asked here...


 

offline elusive from detroit (United States) on 2004-08-08 12:11 [#01298846]
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well they are two diff freq ranges showing you the dB loss
at different points.....


 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2004-08-08 12:15 [#01298852]
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yeah, I got that now, but at first it just confused me...

I'd like to get some Electrostatic headphones, but for the
price of such equipment I could just as well get my room
plated with acoustic plates, buy that vestax vinyl-cutter,
and start recording all my stuff directly to vinyl!


 

offline elusive from detroit (United States) on 2004-08-08 19:58 [#01299203]
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i want some wood speakers ;)


 

offline ChiasticSlide from Brisbane (Australia) on 2004-08-08 20:53 [#01299304]
Points: 93 Status: Lurker



Short term, it's probably more useful for you to use a page
like this this that will let you plot the
frequency response curves of most of the more popular mid to
high fidelity headphones against each other to give you an
idea of some of there characteristics.

Oh, and I wouldn't expect closed headphones to give accurate
sound reproduction (compared to opens) because of how much
harmonic distortion occurs due to sound reflection inside
the cups. And they all sound muffled anyways. Opens are the
way to go for accurate sound reproduction.

I recommend the Sennheiser HD600 or preferably the HD650 as
it has smoother bass with out the infamous HD600 mid-bass
hump. They are both headphones that will benefit from the
use of a good class A amp as well. I can drive my HD600s
directly from most sources (and that is the way they are
designed to be used) but using an amp from line level output
will give better sound as all but high end sources have
shite amps.


 

offline ChiasticSlide from Brisbane (Australia) on 2004-08-08 20:58 [#01299316]
Points: 93 Status: Lurker



Erm, try here instead.


 

offline Drunken Mastah from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2004-08-09 02:24 [#01299432]
Points: 35867 Status: Lurker | Followup to ChiasticSlide: #01299304 | Show recordbag



yeah, they're not for hi-fi listening.. they're for
dj'ing/monitoring... and the specs say that relative
harmonic distortion = 0,1%


 

offline elusive from detroit (United States) on 2004-08-09 07:03 [#01299567]
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yeah i would say you'd prolly want closed then.


 


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