Biological Effects of High Frequency Sound

“…results suggest the existence of a previously unrecognized response to complex sound containing particular types of high frequencies above the audible range. We term this phenomenon the ‘hypersonic effect.” May explain why most listeners can hear a supposedly impossibly high-frequency difference between a 12 kilo Hertz square wave versus a 12 kilo Hertz sine wave. … Read more

If human hearing upper limit is 20 kHz then how does a 15 kHz sine-wave sound so remarkably different from 15 kHz square-wave ?

The first (even, sine-wave) harmonic of 15 kHz is, by definition, 30 kHz, more than the supposed ‘upper limit’ of human hearing. The first (odd, square-wave) harmonic of 15 kHz is, by definition, 45 kHz, also more than the supposed ‘upper limit’ of human hearing. The 15 kHz fundamental of both sine and square is … Read more