distortion in audio signals and the human ear

[svensl]

I have read somewhere that the human ear is very insensitive to harmonic distortion that is close to the main signal, and increases in sensitivity to harmonic distortion further away from the main signal. Apparently, the second harmonic, is the hardest to hear. Can anyone give me some insight into this or cite some papers that do?

Thanks,
Sven

 

[electronics_kumar]

yes ofcourse human ear cannot tolerate once ur having higher harmonics.....no problem when ur having only only one harmonic ...ie more harmonic the more bitter experiance ..less harmonics better reproduction by ur speaker......

 

[svensl]

Thanks for your response. Could you (mathematically) explain which even order harmonics would distort the listening experience more. I was told the second order harmonics can only be heard to about 1-3%. I am just trying to get more insight into this topic. Of course, odd-hamonics will be an entirely different matter as they are not related to any octave overtones.

Regards,
Sven

 

[Kral]

svensl,
The reason that even harmonics are not noticed in music is that they are pleasing to the ear. Hit Middle C and C an octave above middle C on a piano, with the high C lower in amplitude. Compare with middle C alone. The 2 sounds are different, but most people would perceive the combination to be more pleasing than the single note. The human ear perceives as "pleasing" frequencies that are related by small integer ratios.
Regards,
Kral