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Hearing Tests

I am wondering about the accuracy of online hearing tests. As we get older our ability to hear high frequency sounds is supposed to gradually decline. I imagine this is true for the vast majority of people. But my mother was nearly 100 when she passed away and her hearing was so acute that the nurses in the hospital were dumbfounded when my mother recounted the content of a conversation nearly-whispered between two nurses in the next room.

Since I am well into my 60s now I was concerned whether I have lost a significant amount of my hearing capacity. It seems to me that I can still hear the finest nuances from my system but you don't know what you are not hearing. But since I have always protected my ears from loud sounds of any kind I thought that maybe I could dodge the bullet. So, I took 3 online hearing tests and they came out just about smack on with the same results, which I was happy to see. The results said I have excellent hearing.

Here are the links to the 3 tests I used to test my hearing:

http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2009/03/can-you-hear-this-hearing-test/

http://www.talkclassical.com/17309-extreme-frequencies-hearing-test.html

http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/hearing.html

Of course, online tests are not the same as having your hearing tested in a doctor's office. But do they have validity? And, if so, to what extent are they valid? I wish I could find the recent Audiogon thread where someone stated with authority that no one over a certain age (I can't remember the age mentioned) can actually hear above a frequency of 10,000 or 12,000 Hertz (I cannot remember which frequency was quoted).

Do you have any experience with hearing change as we get older and with the validity of hearing tests?
sabai

Showing 7 responses by kr4

kr4's avatar
kr4
3,649 posts
 
Actually, using speakers is not a generally good method unless you are working in an anechoic chamber. The best one can do domestically is to use sealed headphones and, even then, one needs a very quiet environment. I have used sealed, calibrated Sennheisers for such tests but found that my Manhattan apartment or office was too noisy except in the dead of night. Testing in my CT house demonstrated a more than 20dB lower noise threshold and resulted in better sensitivity curves.

My testing was/is done with Audio-CD software. See:
http://www.digital-recordings.com/audiocd/audio.html
http://www.stereophile.com/reference/100digital/index.html
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,649 posts
 
What is the reference for your dB measurements and under what conditions? Usually, it is referred to a standard at 1kHz. If you show -86dB at 1kHz, then your sensitivity at 8kHz is down 17dB and you are down 62dB at 12kHz. In fact, from those numbers your hearing is sloping off beginning somewhere between 2 and 3kHz.
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,649 posts
 
OK but the standard way to list thresholds is to assign 0dB to the 1kHz level and express the others in relationship to that.

Can you tell me where you are getting "1Khz@-86db?"
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,649 posts
 
Nonoise, I was asking what program you were using and how you got your dB numbers.
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,649 posts
 
The test that Nonoise lists from http://www.phys.unsw.edu.au/jw/hearing.html is flawed in a number of ways, particularly since it calls on the subjects ability to assess similar loudness levels at different frequencies. It also fails to minimize expectation bias. I would not rely on its results.

Kal
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,649 posts
 
The audiocheck site has limited FR and, in that way, does seem closer to what an audiologist actually does.

Expectation bias can be eliminated and I did that by copying and randomizing the tracks from the Audio-CD disc. So far, that is the best available to the layman with limited instrumentation.

Kal

kr4's avatar
kr4
3,649 posts
 
I apologize for saying that the audiocheck site had limited FR. I didn't see that the extended ranges were on other pages.

Still, knowing the frequency and level when being a subject is a bias. Better to have someone else administer the test to you.
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