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When audiophiles start discussing high frequency reproduction and the need for it to go to 20 kHz or even way higher it seems that there are those who believe that humans can and do perceive frequencies clearly beyond the generally accepted outside auditory limit of 20 kHz based on a limited number of researches and those who opine that maybe the fundamental can't be heard but the harmonics can.
I believed, maybe wrongly I readily admit, that harmonics were overtones higher than the fundamental.
Is there not some confusion in discussions such as the earlier one here on what harmonics are?
If there are sub-harmonics to a note that is pitched very very high in terms of frequency response in hi-fi that is in the real range of human hearing by men (generally) of a certain age (generally) I could accept the harmonics answer for the need for speakers to reproduce frequencies beyond audibility as there would be an effect on audibility within the hearing range.
If not I would tend to continue thinking that what we can't hear can't really hurt us, which is not to say that amplifiers should not operate with supersonic response for electronic reasons of their own.
Maybe someone will bring up the topic of bone conductivity at this time, it almost never fails to show up.
So my last question is the following: if the new acid test is now measuring brain activity when will direct brain stimulus replace what we now use to enjoy music bypassing all that messy hi-fi equipment what with speakers and such and that imperfect system generally referred to as the ear?
Follow Ups:
I don't have answers to your questions but just some thoughts....
I built an ultrasonic rodent repeller many years ago using a high frequency tweeter and NE555 chip set up as an astable multivibrator. Fancy lingo for a particular style of oscillator. ;-)
I set the square wave frequency well above 30KHz and even though I couldn't hear it, I could sense when it was turned ON. It was an irritating feeling in my ear and around my skull, like a pressure.
I couldn't hear it but I could sense it.
Reminds me of when I was in college and worked part time at a hi fi shop. I hated the closing process because that meant the other guys and I had to gather around the front door while Julian set the burglar alarm.
Don't know the frequency (the Motorola driver used was good for 27k), but it was way up there such that I could only sense it. Screaming ultrasonic piezos are no fun.
Many times, however, it was worth the bother when we gathered afterwards at his home and listened to the Dayton-Wrights and enjoyed music along with some adult libations. :)
. . . are right at the scary cutting edge of what is currently "almost" possible. Intel Corp. figures will be available by 2020. Initially will be marketed for work (control your computer directly with your thoughts), convenience (web surfing, shopping), health (to regulate metabolic functions), and of course entertainment (movies, games, and music inside your head).
The implications for thought monitoring (by NSA or private corporations) or even thought CONTROL (by whoever) are terrifying to those of us who actually think or care about such things. But the technology will likely be regarded as the next step in "cool" by kids already into tattoos, body piercing, and wearable tech.
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