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Re: Which is more sensitive? - spectrogram software or human hearing

Subject: Re: Which is more sensitive? - spectrogram software or human hearing
From: "Dan Dugan" dandugan_1999
Date: Sat Aug 14, 2010 11:05 pm ((PDT))
>>> Just curious: Can a human hear and distinguish more acutely than a
>>> computer spectrogram can display or visualize?
>>
>> I would say yes and no--If you can hear something, you can adjust a
>> spectrogram software to show it, but there's no one setting that
>> would show everything you can hear.
>>
>> -Dan
>>
>
> None of the sonogram tools I've used have come very close. Maybe I'm
> not using them to their full abilities or using the right tools.  It
> not unusual for me to discern differences of 1/2 dB and 1/24th of an
> octave while making adjustments by ear. The sonogram apps I routinely
> use have a minimum amplitude range of 20dB.  Are there sonogram apps
> that can distinguish fractions of a dB while only examining a 1/4 of
> an octave? This would be a very useful tool if it could also display
> these factors in real time. Rob D.

When I talk about a sonogram, I mean the graphic display with time on the X=
 axis, frequency on the Y axis, and amplitude by image density or color ran=
ge. When you talk about measuring small differences in amplitude I think yo=
u're talking about a spectrum analysis graph, frequency on X and amplitude =
on Y. Agreed, you can't see fractions of a dB on those, at least the ones I=
 use.

-Dan





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