3  The Hearing Process

image

Figure 6  The structure of the ear (after Kessel and Kardon (1979))

The Response of the Ear to Different Frequencies

This is best shown graphically, as in Figure 8. Each line is an equal loudness curve. See below for an explanation of Phons.

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Figure 8  Equal loudness curves (from Robinson and Dadson (1956))

The reference zero, a sound pressure level (SPL) of 0 dB, is taken to be a pressure of 20 μPa (0.000 02 N/m2).

Frequency Discrimination

The smallest change in frequency that can be detected is known as the frequency ...

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