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Why the obsession with the lowest octave

From what is written in these forums and elsewhere see the following for instance.

Scroll down to the chart showing the even lowest instruments in this example recording rolling off very steeply at 40 Hz.

http://www.homerecordingconnection.com/news.php?action=view_story&id=154

It would appear that there is really very little to be heard between 20 and 40 Hz. Yet having true "full range" speakers is often the test of a great speaker. Does anyone beside me think that there is little to be gained by stretching the speakers bass performance below 30-40 cycles?
My own speakers make no apologies for going down to only 28 Hz and they are big floor standers JM Lab Electra 936s.
mechans

Showing 6 responses by eldartford

eldartford
4,262 posts
 
I really can't hear the lowest notes of an organ recording, but I sure as hell can feel them in my stomach. That makes it real.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
It is commonly said that a large driver, say 15", is "slow" because its cone is so heavy. Nonsense! My 15" drivers have huge magnets and 4" voice coils, and the strength of that "motor" greatly exceeds the effect of increased cone mass.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
A device called a "Subharmonic Synthesizer" can be used to create tones which are not there but which "ought to be" based on what is there. It can sound better than trying to record real tones in the extreme low range.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
I have learned a lot from my Behringer DEQ2496 which has a spectrum analizer function, 61 frequency bands, 1/3 octave. The internal wide bandwidth noise signal is a good representation of music, but you can also look at externally generated signals like a sine sweep.

And, after you understand your problem you can fix it with the EQ function. $350 including mic. What a deal!
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Onhwy61... Two signals, one at 30 Hz and the other at 20 Hz will yield a "beat" at 10 Hz.
eldartford
4,262 posts
 
Dan_ed... I don't believe that you can call modulation below the fundamental a "harmonic".

Consider a violin string. It is fixed at each end. and sounds a fundamental tone. But, by soft placement of a finger in the middle of the string you can immobilize that point of the string so that each section (end-to-middle and middle-to-other-end vibrate at a higher frequency because the length of sting is shorter. I don't see any way to make the string vibrate at a lower frequency (other than by loosening it up).
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