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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
peter_s
1,313 posts
 
My hearing is pretty flat up to 10khz and then falls drastically upwards. I can't hear 12khz at all. Would have never guessed that. Lower frequencies are also impaired. I figure my Sennheiser 580's can reach the extremes.
sabai OP
2,027 posts
 
Thanks to all for these informative posts. At the phys.com site I am down 78dB at 12kHz and down 63 dB at 16 kHz. This seems to indicate good hearing for someone in their 60s. I am using my USB headset for this since I don't have headphones.
kr4's avatar
kr4
3,650 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
audiosampling
2 posts
 
You may be interested in checking the following test too :

http://www.audiocheck.net/testtones_hearingtestaudiogram.php

Which is closer to what an audiologist actually does.
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
10,568 posts
 
Kr4,

I'm the first to admit that there is some expectation bias. This is where a blind test is the only real way to assess hearing ability, but it does give one an indication of just how lousy one's hearing can be....:-)

All the best,
Nonoise
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