Random thought: Hearing loss and frequency range

Since I was doing a frequency sweep might as well check my hearing.

Reliable detection - 18kHz. Don't know at how many dB down. Not bad considering my ailment. Might have dropped I dunno, I can't remember my 18kHz loudness from last time, and it can be due to equipment. (The Atom's 18kHz is rather high compared to the Diamond 8.2's)

Just to make sure I also did all the way till 14kHz in 1kHz intervals. I'll never understand how the ear interprets these high frequencies.

But one thing in common as I listened to all those tones.

They all sound like ****.

They are meant to be a screech alright. But the similarity...

That is when this struck me. A basic concept in music and acoustics that had escaped me. (Well because nobody mentions this during discussions involving hearing range, because hearing range translates into phallus size.)

The octave.

The ear differentiates tones by their relative differences.

An octave = doubling of frequency
A semitone - 1.059463 times frequency

So, if we take 15kHz as the reference,

A person with an over-perfect upper limit of 22.5kHz can hear 7 semitones higher, also equals to a fifth (e.g., C to G), or 1.5x frequency
+6 semitones = 21.2kHz
+5 = 20.0
+4 = 18.9
+3 = 17.8
+2 = 16.8
+1 = 15.9
0 = 15.0
-1 = 14.2
-2 = 13.4
-3 = 12.6
-4 = 11.9
-5 = 11.2
-6 = 10.6 = 1 octave lower than 21.2

So even if your hearing range has deteriorated until the seemingly bad 10.6kHz, you have only lost 1 octave compared to a small child.

And human hearing range has 20 to 20.5kHz = 11 octaves to start with.

So you would've lost 1 octave out of the original 11.

Big deal.

This argument supports the phenomenon that musicians and old listeners, although their hearing range could have deteriorated to below 10kHz, it is a relatively minor handicap and their experience more than makes up for it to make them better listeners.

(Note: This is partial bullsh!t. Yes the maths make sense, but you can try the effect of a high-pass filter via a parametric equalizer and cut the highs at different frequencies and see the result. It is not unnoticeable.)