did I waste ALL my time?

[tristan]

Hello,

I use these speakers with ultrasonics: http://www.hercules.com/us/Speakers/bdd/...arc-white/

I thought that everything was ok until I noticed something strange.

I'm in ASC 5G for 4 weeks now, I've run the speaker test audio and everything seemed to be fine. I kept using ultrasonic with these speakers and I did hear ultrasonic sounds, I have a very good hearing, I can hear them with headphones also (16hz to 22,5khz) so I thought it was normal.

BUT today I had the idea to put my ear right on the speaker and I heard some kind of staticky speech below, that was at very low volume.

Is it normal? did I waste 4 weeks? help.

[Yuri]

Hello,

I use this speakers with ultrasonics: http://www.hercules.com/us/Speakers/bdd/...arc-white/

I thought that everything was ok until I noticed something strange.

I'm in ASC 5G for 4 weeks now, I've run the speaker test audio and everything seemed to be fine. I kept using ultrasonic with these speakers and I did hear ultrasonic sounds, I have a very good hearing, I can hear them with headphones also (16hz to 22,5khz) so I thought it was normal.

BUT today I had the idea to put my ear right on the speaker and I heard some kind of staticky speech below, that was at very low volume.

Is it normal? did I waste 4 weeks? help.

im scared of basicly the same thing right now i was doing the same thing with AM 5 stage 2 for 15 days and also did the same thing put my ear next to the speakers on very low volume and heard staticky sounds (i can hear ultra sonics since i have good hearing too i guess) and so now i switched to the normal masked version, but i dont know what i should do now.

EDIT: i use Winamp player.

[tristan]

UPDATE: the effect I've described above is obtained by using VLC.

I repeated the experiment with audacity and I didn't hear the same kind of staticky speech I used to in the background, I sometimes hear crackling (a fraction of second) instead.

kind of confused :S

[Shannon]

What you're hearing, gentlemen, is actually proof that the program is working as intended.

The voices so low in volume to audible hearing are in fact staticky because they are speaker distortion. Speaker distortion resulting from ultrasonic audio beginning to break the ability of the speaker to play properly because it is of a high volume.

If you turn the program down until that is gone, but not to zero, the speaker will still be outputting audio. Speaker distortion happens when the audio is playing at or above the volume limits for that specific speaker to handle properly for that pitch range. It means the program is playing as loudly as is useful... not, as you fear, that it is playing too quietly.

[tristan]

but it's strange that I have one effect with vlc and another one with audacity. however, to be sure, I will use audacity for the future expositions. I want the maximum benefits.

[Shannon]

Different players are using different code to do the job, and sometimes accessing different DLLs and drivers.

[ShanghaiKiwi]

Every day I check my mp3 player to make sure it wasn't unplugged or anything during the day by sticking it to my ear as I walk past it to see if I can hear the staticky muttering noise. Its become part of my daily routine, just to make sure its still playing.

[redragon]

I checked the link you provided and I saw

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Frequency response: 100 Hz - 20 kHz

Try to use speakers that have have a FR above 20 kHz as they will better work with Ultrasonics.

[redragon]

Just to add:

The benefits of having more than 20kHz:
The speaker/headphone will reproduce the ultrasonics more cleanly, and they will actually become quieter to conscious hearing. Second, you'll be able to benefit from the audio in the subliminal that goes above 20 kHz. It's not really terribly important, but it will help improve clarity slightly. There is audio up to 23 kHz in the ultrasonic programs.

20 kHz is the minimum for properly reproducing the ultrasonics, as they use a frequency band that tops out there. If you cannot find the frequency response rating, there's a simple test you can do to know if your speakers work.

[tristan]

Just to add:

The benefits of having more than 20kHz:
The speaker/headphone will reproduce the ultrasonics more cleanly, and they will actually become quieter to conscious hearing. Second, you'll be able to benefit from the audio in the subliminal that goes above 20 kHz. It's not really terribly important, but it will help improve clarity slightly. There is audio up to 23 kHz in the ultrasonic programs.

20 kHz is the minimum for properly reproducing the ultrasonics, as they use a frequency band that tops out there. If you cannot find the frequency response rating, there's a simple test you can do to know if your speakers work.

honestly, it's almost impossible to find speakers with such response range (unless they're very expensive)

[Shannon]

The programs are only recently being produced with a frequency response range above 20 kHz, which is where I usually clip them because that's the upper limit that a CD can record, and because humans can't effectively use frequencies much higher than this. It turns out that the FFT filter I use to notch filter the frequency range I use had been somehow reset, causing it to allow a top frequency of 23 kHz. It really doesn't make much difference either way, but that's the story behind that happening.

[gragger]

hey just wondering, i almost halfway through stage 2 of AM 5.0 and I still don't really notice/feel anything different. Is this normal?

[Shannon]

It is not usual, but definitely possible under certain circumstances. Just keep going.