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Re: Human ear as a tool

To: JAMES_S_WALLACE@HP-Canada-om1.om.hp.com
Subject: Re: Human ear as a tool
From: Joe Curry <spitlist@gte.net>
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 09:26:44 -0800
Cc: A.Nugent@unsw.edu.au, triumphs@Autox.Team.Net
Organization: Curry Enterprises
References: <H000047205f0c182@MHS>
What you say is true, except that if you were actually on stage and
developed the hearing loss, The selective loss is in the extreme upper
ranges and lower ranges.  This prevents the musicians from actually
hearing the Hisses and Boos emitted by the audience.

Joe Curry

JAMES_S_WALLACE@HP-Canada-om1.om.hp.com wrote:
> 
>      Allen,
>      When adjusting carbs (trying to be a human Uni-Syn), are we listening
>      to volume or pitch? My understanding is that hearing loss due to
>      exposure to rock concerts (or other loud things) always occurs in the
>      mid-frequencies, which is where consonants are in speech. Thus, a
>      former rock-and-roll devotee would hear only vowels in speech, and
>      presumably not hear lots of sharp clunks or hisses in their cars
>      either (might be a relief, actually). On the other hand, if an SU or
>      Stromberg at idle normally sounds like a vowel, we're still at least
>      able to balance our twin carbs.
>      Regards,
>      Jim Wallace
>      >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>      Date: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 11:23:30 +1100 (EST)
>      From: Allen Nugent <A.Nugent@unsw.edu.au>
> 
>      Hearing (and, to a lesser extent, vision) has a logarithmic, not
>      linear response to input power. This is so that we can detect sound
>      over a huge range. I would estimate the difference in power (the
>      square of volume) between a mosquito at 2 metres and a live band at 20
>      metres to be about 100 deciBels (a power ratio of 10,000).
> 
>      Therefore, if you expect to balance carbs by ear to within, say, 10%,
>      you had better not have been to too many rock concerts (like me ...
>      bzzzzzzzzzzzz).
> 
>      Allen Nugent
>      Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering
>      University of New South Wales
>      Sydney  2052  Australia

-- 
"Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible
 to travel across the country coast to coast without seeing
 anything." -- Charles Kuralt

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