[jon]

Hello,

I'm new to audio pro recording and I'm trying to understand these
average frequency response charts... I don't understand why 1K is the
middle when the human hearing can hear from 20 to 20K hertz. Shouldn't
the middle be 10K? Or is this another logarithmic function thing?

Thanks,
Jonathan

[Arny Krueger]

"jon" wrote in message
oups.com
Hello,

I'm new to audio pro recording and I'm trying to
understand these average frequency response charts... I
don't understand why 1K is the middle when the human
hearing can hear from 20 to 20K hertz. Shouldn't the
middle be 10K? Or is this another logarithmic function
thing?

It's another logarithmic function thing.

[Bill]

Arny Krueger wrote:
"jon" wrote in message
oups.com
Hello,

I'm new to audio pro recording and I'm trying to
understand these average frequency response charts... I
don't understand why 1K is the middle when the human
hearing can hear from 20 to 20K hertz. Shouldn't the
middle be 10K? Or is this another logarithmic function
thing?

It's another logarithmic function thing.


That and the fact that most voice (the most important) is centered
around 1KHz. Even a squeaky woman only hits about 5KHz.
Bill Baka

[Laurence Payne]

On 21 Nov 2006 16:32:38 -0800, "jon" wrote:

I'm new to audio pro recording and I'm trying to understand these
average frequency response charts... I don't understand why 1K is the
middle when the human hearing can hear from 20 to 20K hertz. Shouldn't
the middle be 10K? Or is this another logarithmic function thing?

Yup.

[Arny Krueger]

"Bill" wrote in message
. net
Arny Krueger wrote:
"jon" wrote in message
oups.com
Hello,

I'm new to audio pro recording and I'm trying to
understand these average frequency response charts... I
don't understand why 1K is the middle when the human
hearing can hear from 20 to 20K hertz. Shouldn't the
middle be 10K? Or is this another logarithmic function
thing?

It's another logarithmic function thing.

That and the fact that most voice (the most important) is
centered around 1KHz. Even a squeaky woman only hits
about 5KHz.

Since FR plots are often done on a logarithmic scale, it has more directly
to do with the fact that the audio band has equal numbers of octaves above
and below about 1 KHz.

[Scott Dorsey]

jon wrote:

I'm new to audio pro recording and I'm trying to understand these
average frequency response charts... I don't understand why 1K is the
middle when the human hearing can hear from 20 to 20K hertz. Shouldn't
the middle be 10K? Or is this another logarithmic function thing?

It is a log function. Notice the horizontal axis... every time a fixed
length interval goes by, the value increases by a factor of ten.

Also note that most of the response plots that you see out there come from
the marketing department and bear very little resemblance to reality.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

[Roy W. Rising]

"jon" wrote:
Hello,

I'm new to audio pro recording and I'm trying to understand these
average frequency response charts... I don't understand why 1K is the
middle when the human hearing can hear from 20 to 20K hertz. Shouldn't
the middle be 10K? Or is this another logarithmic function thing?

Thanks,
Jonathan

Welcome, Jon, to the weird and wonderful world of audio!

The log (base 10) is a highly useful tool for making sense of otherwise
unwieldly relationships. The Decibel lets us compress the range from
microvolts to tens of volts into a manageable distance. Consider ... the
power of dynamic mic level (-60dBm) is a TEN BILLION times less than
loudspeaker power level (+40dBm = 10 watts). Logs let us express this as a
100dB range.

Perceived frequency is similar. If you listen to 100Hz, 1KHz and 10KHz,
the distance between them seems similar. Also, the amount of energy for
full spectrum sound ... perhaps an orchestra or pipe organ, is more similar
if we measure by decades (powers of 10).

EQ designers long have used 1KHz as a center point for "tone" controls that
have their effects measured at 100Hz and 10KHz. [I know, the Brits use
80Hz and 12KHz ... big difference! ;-)] In practice, bass-treble balance
adjusted by shelving controls centered around the 1KHz hinge point take
care of about 95% of what is sought.

--
~ Roy
"If you notice the sound, it's wrong!"

[Skler]

Hi,

The energy of the human voice coincides with the spectral response of human
ear, which also corresponds to the fashion in which frequency response is
depicted with regard to audio devices.

Also note that most of the response plots that you see out there come from
the marketing department and bear very little resemblance to reality.
--scott


I'm not even convinced that the typical frequency response plot offered by
manufacturer's & marketing departments bear but a little resemblance to a
"very little resemblance to reality". ;-)

In spite of obvious problems and apparent silliness of totally subjective
speaker reviews, sometimes the opinion of one who's more experienced is all
one has to go on besides listening to the speakers oneself. It's especially
enlightening and fun to listen to speakers using material that one is
familiar with and also being able to AB switch between multiple speakers.
But even given that kind of luxury, sometimes it's hard to make up one's
mind. Like subjective interpretation of tone with violins: In the end,
I'll always pick the Guarnarius... Well, maybe the Stradavarius.... But
damn, that Guarneri sounds sweet, and so dynamic!



Skler

[jon]

Thank you everyone for your replies! It has helped me understand
frequency charts and why the EQ is arranged the way it is.

Jonathan