[Noisebridge-discuss] why a sine wave?

Michael Shiloh michaelshiloh1010 at gmail.com
Wed Jan 13 22:38:51 UTC 2010


So we have a pretty good understanding of the physics, but I realize now 
that I didn't pose my original question well.

Why do we prefer a single tone to one that contains harmonics? What is 
it about a pure tone that sounds better to us?

M

Gian Pablo Villamil wrote:
> Probably due to the lack of harmonics.
> 
> It's relatively simple to build a simple oscillator and record its
> output with a computer, and then look at it through a spectrum
> analyzer.
> 
> Then try sticking capacitors on the output side, as a kind of rough
> and ready filter, and see what that does the perceived "purity" of the
> sound.
> 
> I did this a while ago, I documented some (but not all) of the results here:
> 
> http://itp.nyu.edu/~gpv206/2007/11/replacing_pots_and_caps_for_be.html
> 
> On Tue, Jan 12, 2010 at 10:59 AM, Michael Shiloh
> <michaelshiloh1010 at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Why do we perceive a sine audio wave as a "pure" tone? Does it have to
>> do with the mechanical vibrations in our ear? Does any non-sine wave
>> introduce harmonics, vibrations other than the fundamental, which our
>> brain perceives as non-pure?
>>
>> Regardless of mechanics, what is the perceptive reason a sine wave
>> sounds pure?
>>
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> 



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