Why Do Schumann Resonators Work?


Schumann Resonators are little boxes you plug into the wall that produce electromagnetic radiation tuned to 7.83 Hz. This is the frequency that the earth/atmosphere system “rings” at when the Earth is struck by lightning. It is also a common frequency your brain “ticks” at.

When employed in the listening room, many people claim it makes their audio sound better. If this is true, then what is the mechanism of action?

-Is it a matter of the resonator producing a more relaxed mental state?
-Does it help block or alter electromagnetic interference?
-Does it add its own electromagnetic interference to your system that just so happens to be pleasing?

I experimented with one recently and what I noticed is that it seemed to remove some of the high frequency nasties or what some might call “digital glare” (although digital glare can also show up in analog systems). When I made this observation, the resonator was placed right next to my power strip that my CD player, preamp and some other devices are plugged into.

My “proof” of the effect is that I could turn the volume up louder than usual without it sounding “too loud.” The sound levels of the system weren’t any quieter, it’s just that the digital glare was reduced so that I could go louder before thinking “this is too loud,” which usually isn’t a sound level thing per se but the point as which some frequency (often the highs) become irritating.

So who here has experience with these devices? Do you like them? Does anyone know why they work?
mkgus

Showing 3 responses by technohead

Everywhere I've read, the spacing between each "mode", from 14.3 Hz on up, is about 6.5 Hz in spacing.
It occurs to me that, since simple pulse generators based on oscillators like the 555 timer put out a square or rectangular pulse, their outputs cannot be correctly simulating the Schumann Resonances, because the discrepancy between the true harmonics of the pulse generator's 7.83 Hz, and the Schumann partials at 6.5 Hz spacing, keeps growing as you move up in frequency.
The only frequency the two have in common is the fundamental, of 7.83 Hz.  This problem has bothered me for a while, and suggests to me that we really don't understand the reasons for the discrepancy. Wikipedia and others say it's due to the spherical geometry involved, but that really doesn't explain things adequately. And the formula they give seems empirical and gives erroneous answers for the predicted frequencies of the upper modes or partials.
Just thought I'd post this question to see if anyone else had noticed that things don't quite add up.
Thanks for your response.
Has anyone noticed that the Schumann "fundamental" is approx. 7.83 Hz, but the "harmonics" are not harmonics of 7.83, but instead are harmonics of 6.5 Hz?  Anyone know the reason for that?