What are high frequency sounds like?

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deafdude1

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Inquiring minds would like to know! Many of us can't hear high frequencies. I know that 125Hz sounds like "rrrrr"(like a low pitch growling/rumbling) 250Hz sounds like "nnnnn"(like a trumpet or flute) 500Hz sounds like "ooooo" 1000Hz sounds like "aaaaa" 2000Hz sounds like "eeeee" but what about the octive above that and the one above that? 4KHz, 8KHz, even 16KHz? Do they all sound like "eeeee" except a little different? My dad says it's a sharper, shriller "E" sound. I understand it's hard to describe to us, try to give the best analogy or spell out what itll sound like, such as "scheeeeeeeeee"

Also howcome most people find sounds above 2000Hz to be annoying or even painful? Is it too loud? Too shrill? What properties makes it annoying? Why do Pianos go to 4.2KHz for the highest key? Why do some musical instruments play high pitches? Why is the speech banana extending to 8KHz? If high frequency is so important, would it be logical that it shouldn't be unpleasent to hear? Even my parents say I am not really missing much(except not hearing S speech sounds) by not hearing above 2000Hz. Dad says high frequencies above 4000Hz are just useless, annoying noises that transmit no information.
 
deafdude1 said:
Inquiring minds would like to know! Many of us can't hear high frequencies. I know that 125Hz sounds like "rrrrr"(like a low pitch growling/rumbling) 250Hz sounds like "nnnnn"(like a trumpet or flute) 500Hz sounds like "ooooo" 1000Hz sounds like "aaaaa" 2000Hz sounds like "eeeee" but what about the octive above that and the one above that? 4KHz, 8KHz, even 16KHz? Do they all sound like "eeeee" except a little different? My dad says it's a sharper, shriller "E" sound. I understand it's hard to describe to us, try to give the best analogy or spell out what itll sound like, such as "scheeeeeeeeee"

Also howcome most people find sounds above 2000Hz to be annoying or even painful? Is it too loud? Too shrill? What properties makes it annoying? Why do Pianos go to 4.2KHz for the highest key? Why do some musical instruments play high pitches? Why is the speech banana extending to 8KHz? If high frequency is so important, would it be logical that it shouldn't be unpleasent to hear? Even my parents say I am not really missing much(except not hearing S speech sounds) by not hearing above 2000Hz. Dad says high frequencies above 4000Hz are just useless, annoying noises that transmit no information.
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To be honest - there's no "one" way to describe it. Having the ability to hear high frequencies does have it's benifits as to hear crickets, birds, speech, etc, but there are some high pitch sounds that are just useless annoying noises. Imagine what you're hearing now PLUS all the extra frequencies on top of that, that brings clarity. If you are just hearing the high frequencies and nothing midway or in the lows, it does get annoying quick. For me, it's not just the fact that only high frequencies bother me, but the ability to hear higher DB. I find the more higher the decibel of the high frequencies bothers me the most. Crickets doesn't bother me at all, but the all the extra sounds that I hear when the A.C. comes on, bothers me. If I listen to the highest note on the piano without any pause, it will bother me, but if I just hear it once, it doesn't.

Imagine if someone has a whistle in your ear, and there's no breaks...it will bother you.

High frequencies are the first to go as you age.
Again, it's hard to explain what it "sounds" like without you being able to hear it. It's like explaining a total blind person the color red. You can't explain it, until you see it.
 
LadySekhmet said:
High frequencies are the first to go as you age. Again, it's hard to explain what it "sounds" like without you being able to hear it. It's like explaining a total blind person the color red. You can't explain it, until you see it.
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This is exactly why I haven't responded to the OP. There are too many variations in high frequencies to be able to describe them. Even though I've had hearing most of my life, I can't explain what high frequencies sound like except to say that they differ according to pitch. Some sound extremely shrill while others do not (i.e. they are more comfortable to hear). Some sound weaker while others sound stronger, if that makes any sense. Frequencies from 1K-2K sound stronger while 3K, 4K, 6K and 8K sound weaker and are more bothersome to hear. The only other way I can describe it is when people talk about how annoying the sound of nails on a chalkboard are. It's an extremely high pitched screeching sound that travels right through you.
 
Explaining Colors!

LadySekhmet said in part..

LadySekhmet said:
It's like explaining to a total blind person the color red. You can't explain it, until you see it.
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I was asked that same question one time by a visually impaired person. Here's how I explained colors to them and what common objects I used.

Colors are like different temperatures and how one feels.

In advertising, one usually associates colors like red and pink with a HOT temperature.. thus the words HOT pink, Fire Engine red, etc. If you place your hand by a turned on light bulb one feels HEAT.. thus it can be interpreted as the color RED.

Yellow, on the other hand, is like the temperature of the warm sun on a nice day. It's not as HOT as the light bulb, yet it's temperature is more comfortable.

Orange, depending upon the shade (weight of its color, ie: heavy or light), can lie any where between being HOT to that of being comfortable.

Colors such as blue and green are a little bit cooler. It would be like standing out side on a November night where you don't really need to wear a jacket or sweater.. but if the temperature were to drop a few degrees you would. If one were to place their hand upon a object they would be able to tell the difference between their body temperature and that of the object they were touching.

One would feel very COLD when it comes to black and brown. Placing a ice cube in ones hand, or being out in the snow is a example of those two colors.

Hope this helps you to describe colors to someone who's never seen them before.

Shi-Ku Chishiki ShiKu.Chishiki@Gmail.com
 
Shi-Ku Chishiki said:
LadySekhmet said in part..



I was asked that same question one time by a visually impaired person. Here's how I explained colors to them and what common objects I used.

Colors are like different temperatures and how one feels.

In advertising, one usually associates colors like red and pink with a HOT temperature.. thus the words HOT pink, Fire Engine red, etc. If you place your hand by a turned on light bulb one feels HEAT.. thus it can be interpreted as the color RED.

Yellow, on the other hand, is like the temperature of the warm sun on a nice day. It's not as HOT as the light bulb, yet it's temperature is more comfortable.

Orange, depending upon the shade (weight of its color, ie: heavy or light), can lie any where between being HOT to that of being comfortable.

Colors such as blue and green are a little bit cooler. It would be like standing out side on a November night where you don't really need to wear a jacket or sweater.. but if the temperature were to drop a few degrees you would. If one were to place their hand upon a object they would be able to tell the difference between their body temperature and that of the object they were touching.

One would feel very COLD when it comes to black and brown. Placing a ice cube in ones hand, or being out in the snow is a example of those two colors.

Hope this helps you to describe colors to someone who's never seen them before.

Shi-Ku Chishiki ShiKu.Chishiki@Gmail.com
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I was born totally blind, so I have no idea what colors are.

A totally blind person will never understand what colors mean unless they are able to see.

Having said that, someone else here on AD gave an excellent description of what colors mean according to various emotions. It was one of the best descriptions of color that I've ever come across.
 
Like someone else said, there's no "one" way to really explain what high freq sounds like. My CI audis has always been able to tell that I can hear them and canNOT stand them! They can't help but laugh because of my face expression every time it gets too high, my head turns sideway on the side I'm hearing it and saying things like "ahh I hear it, but can't stand it!!!" :)
I have no idea how low/high I'm able to hear though, I don't really care to know since I don't like hearing them at all!!!! I do know that I am hearing the high freq noises much better with my CI's than I did with my hearing aids though. Not sure if this is common with other CI'ers?
 
deafmama,

I've been unable to hear high frequencies with my hearing aids since 1985.

I don't like the sound of high frequencies either. They make me dizzy and give me headaches.

I'm glad 6 high frequency electrodes were turned off on both of my CIs. I don't miss them at all.
 
So the concensus is high frequency(2000Hz+) sounds are nearly useless except for speech comphrension? Ive never been annoyed by high frequencies, even when I used to hear whistles(around 3000Hz) years ago. I guess im not missing as much as I thought by not hearing above 2000Hz. Hopefully transposition gives me access to more speech and environmental sounds.
 
Dog tags are high... i couldn't hear them pre CI, now i can hear my little dog easily up to about 30 feet outside with all those hustle bustle sounds, busy traffic, birds singing...

It's virtually difficult to describe the sound to person who never heard Highs before...

With CI I am being to understand/recongise the highs, esp birds, sh, ch, s, I haven't heard F yet...
I also plan to get my keyboards out of the roof/loft and start playing again...
 
deafdude1 said:
So the concensus is high frequency(2000Hz+) sounds are nearly useless except for speech comphrension? Ive never been annoyed by high frequencies, even when I used to hear whistles(around 3000Hz) years ago. I guess im not missing as much as I thought by not hearing above 2000Hz. Hopefully transposition gives me access to more speech and environmental sounds.
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There is no consensus. It's all an opinion. How do I know that what my mother hears is the same thing as what my wife hears? (They both have normal hearing.) They probably hear the same thing, but they may describe it differently. Just like green...we all agree on what green looks like, but we may actually see it as different things.

Everything is really just a shared hallucination. Perception is very individualized, and we agree on different things.

However, I am SO glad I can't hear fingernails on a blackboard anymore. If only I could forget the sound too! That one is pretty universally annoying. :)
 
I'd like to shed some light between "bad high frequencies" and high frequencies you will hear from musical instruments. My friend who plays a lot of instruments explained it well to me. Certain frequencies "sound good" to the human ear, but if you slightly increase or decrease the frequency it sounds bad, which is why a lot of string instruments need to be "tuned" to a very specific frequency. It has something to do with octaves, but I forgot this part.
 
I hear high frequencies all day long, this annoying tinnitus!

I can barely hear 15.000hz now, no idea why... I don't listen to loud music etc... it's pretty annoying.
 
laffer35 said:
I hear high frequencies all day long, this annoying tinnitus!

I can barely hear 15.000hz now, no idea why... I don't listen to loud music etc... it's pretty annoying.
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How old are you? If you are over 30 and have normal hearing (ie, not HOH or deaf) then it's pretty normal that you can't hear 15kHz I believe...

I don't think I have ever heard it!
 
I'm 28. I'm not sure it's normal in my case, I have this pretty bad tinnitus and it seems to gradually get worse. I have no idea why, I'm not listening to any loud noises etc.
I smoke a lot of cigarettes, but should that make my hearing worse.. but I can't think of anything else I'm doing.

Going to see my doc about it again soon since it's gotten worse lately.
 
overthepond said:
Dog tags are high... i couldn't hear them pre CI, now i can hear my little dog easily up to about 30 feet outside with all those hustle bustle sounds, busy traffic, birds singing...

It's virtually difficult to describe the sound to person who never heard Highs before...

With CI I am being to understand/recongise the highs, esp birds, sh, ch, s, I haven't heard F yet...
I also plan to get my keyboards out of the roof/loft and start playing again...
Click to expand...


That's amazing :) does the tag sound like a ringing sound or a clicking sound? The small bells sound like a clicking sound while the larger bells have a lower frequency ring, very large bells have a deep bassy ring.

All the high frequency speech sounds are like a hissing sound, nearly impossible to differnate them. I do hear them, although probably not the same as you.

Got a piano? Hope you can hear the highs now. I have a huge piano and can't hear the last 12 or so highest keys. I do hear all of the lowest keys, would be curious if you can.

laffer35 said:
I hear high frequencies all day long, this annoying tinnitus!

I can barely hear 15.000hz now, no idea why... I don't listen to loud music etc... it's pretty annoying.
Click to expand...

You are a hearing person if you still hear above 8000Hz.
 
In between, like jingling, bit like cat bell.

Heard huge bell in Venice back in October. Quite deep and bassy.

My damn Keyboards is missing its adaptor... so would need to go into town to get new adaptor. But might get new keyboards as i haven't used this for 15 years. Will keep you updated.

Thank you for your kind words on other post about my grandfather. He was lovely grandad.
 
The bells remind me of a CI moment. I have this little stick thingie that I use to play with my cat. It has a little bell at the end. Pre-CI, I heard little clicks from the ball inside the bell moving around. Post-CI, I heard the clicks plus some sort of echo-y jiggling sound. It was so drastically different. I took it off because I was just so not used to it (and was a bit annoyed by it!). :)
 
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