Test persons were asked about their subjective hearing experience, and these (also quantitative) statements were then compared by means of imaging procedures, namely by magnetoencephalography (MEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
#Inaudible audible converter 2016 free
But what exactly is an "audible" sound? And what does a human being really hear? In order to find out more, an infrasonic source which is able to generate sounds that are completely free from harmonics (which is not as trivial as it may sound!) was constructed within the scope of this project.
"In all these areas, we have to deal with considerable levels of loudness in some cases," Christian Koch adds.Īn audible loud sound may damage hearing - as well as getting on your nerves. These devices, which produce very high-pitched sounds that can only be heard by children and young people, are sometimes used by adults who want to enjoy some peace and quiet. A particular variant of such devices has been developed to keep young people away from certain places - an internationally controversial topic from an ethical viewpoint.
It can also be generated by a device used as a deterrent against martens (to keep them from gnawing on the wiring of cars). Ultrasound can, for example, originate from commercial ultrasonic cleaning baths that are sometimes used, e.g., to thoroughly clean a pair of glasses.
#Inaudible audible converter 2016 generator
16,000 hertz) occur in numerous situations of daily life: infrasound is not only produced by wind turbines, but also sometimes when a truck thunders past a house, or when a home owner installs a power generator in his basement. Instead, we must try to find out more about how sounds in the limit range of hearing are perceived." This expert in acoustics from PTB is the manager of the international project in which metrology experts from several metrology institutes and scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin investigated the fundamentals of the hearing of "inaudible" sounds for 3 years. The wind energy sector and the authorities often try to appease the situation, declaring that the sounds generated are inaudible and much too weak to be the source of health problems.Ĭhristian Koch knows for sure, "Neither scaremongering nor refuting everything is of any help in this situation. Infrasound designates very low sounds, below the limit of hearing, which is around 16 hertz. Many people living in the vicinity of such wind farms do indeed experience sleep disturbances, a decline in performance, and other negative effects. Fear soon starts spreading: the infrasound generated by the rotor blades and by the wind flow might make someone ill. If there is a plan to erect a wind turbine in front of someone's property, many an eager supporter of the "energy transition" quickly turns into a wind energy opponent.
And there is definitely a need for further research. Another vast field of research opens up here in which psychology also has to be taken into account. And the mechanisms of sound perception are much more complex than previously thought. They have found out that humans can hear sounds lower than had previously been assumed. At PTB, not only acoustics experts, but also experts from the fields of biomagnetism (MEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) were involved in the research activities. The project, which is part of the European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP), was coordinated by the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB). infrasound), but also in the upper limit range (i.e. To give the debate more objectivity, an international team of experts dealt with the fundamentals of hearing in the lower limit range of the audible frequency range (i.e. Are wind farms harmful to humans? Some believe so, others refute this this controversial topic makes emotions run high.