Probing the temporal resolution and bandwidth of human hearing by Dr. Kunkur

[steve]

Saw this link to interesting papers pertaining to
"Psychophysics, auditory neurophysiology, and high-fidelity audio"

http://www.physics.sc.edu/kunchur/Acoustics-papers.htm

written by Dr. Kunkur from the University of South Carolina.
I then contacted Dr. Kunkur and learned the rigors of getting papers published.

What I found interesting is that Dr. Kunkur states:

"Furthermore the present work shows that typical instrumentation
used in psychoacoustic research may, for some purposes, have insufficient
temporal speed and bandwidth. Also this work proves that that digital sampling rates used in consumer audio are insufficient for fully preserving transparency."

So 16/44 etc is not high enough sampling rate. I found that in my own experiments years ago.

Next is an email I received on the procedures envolved in the 5 years it took from conception to publication.

For those who have no idea what science and the (incredibly rigorous) scientific process is, let me explain what went into publishing the two above mentioned papers that have apparently generated controversy among lay readers (but no controversy whatsoever in all the professional circles, which include audiolists, otolaryngologists, acousticians, engineers, and physicists ).

An experiment has to be carefully thought out and then submitted as a proposal to an Institutional Review Board (IRB) and approved by them before it can even begin. Then optimum equipment, methods, and a multitude of cross checks has to be developed (if you read my papers in their entirety, you will appreciated what went in). The results, analysis, and conclusions are then carefully considered and discussed with colleagues who are experts in their related interdiscplinary fields; for this I went in person to various universities and research institutes and met with people in departments of physics, engineering, psychology, neuroscience, music, communications sciences, physiology, and materials science.

After that the results and conclusions were presented at conferences of

the Acoustical Society of America (ASA),

Association of Research in Otolaryngology (ARO),

and American Physical Society (APS).

Seminars were also made at numerous universities and research/industrial institutions (please see the list on my web site). After each presentation, the audience is free to tear apart the conclusions and ask all possible questions. Eminent people such as presidents of the above mentioned societies and corporations (ASA, ARO, Bose corporation, etc.) have been present during my presentations.

After passing through this grueling oral presentation process, written manuscripts were then submitted to journals. There, anonymous referees are free to attack the submission in any way they want. More than a dozen referees and editors have been involved in this journal refereeing process. Only after everyone is satisfied with the accuracy of the results and all statements made in the manuscript, are the papers published in the journals. The entire process took around 5 years from initial concept to refereed publications.

So Dr. Kunchur presented to three national mainstream organizations.

Below is a link which does accurately represent the reproduction of an analog
3us pulse. Notice how poorly the 48khz pulse is to the original. The added width compared to the original is added "signals" present that are not in the original. Comparison courtesy of Pyramix.

http://www.sasaudiolabs.com/dsd.gif

Below are listed Conference presentations and abstracts as well as Colloquia and seminars:

Conference presentations and abstracts:

Temporal Resolution and the High-Frequency Limit of Hearing, at the 31st Annual
Midwinter Research Meeting of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology
(ARO), February 16-21, 2008, Phoenix, Arizona, USA.
(M. N. Kunchur, Bulletin and Abstract Book of the 31st Annual Midwinter Research
Meeting of the ARO, edited by Peter A. Santi, vol. 31, pg. 318, February 2008.)

Probing the temporal resolution and bandwidth of human hearing in "Session 2aPP:
Psychological and Physiological Acoustics: Potpourri" at the 154th annual ASA
meeting in New Orleans, November 28, 2007.
(2aPP1: M. N. Kunchur, J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vol. 122, No. 5, Pt. 2, pg. 2967
November 2007.)

An upper bound on the temporal resolution of human hearing in "Session 2aPP:
Psychological and Physiological Acoustics – Spatial Hearing and Temporal
Processing" at the Fourth Joint Meeting: ASA (Acoustical Society of America) and
ASJ (Acoustical Society of Japan) in Honolulu, HI, on November 29, 2006.
(2aPP29: M. N. Kunchur, J. Acoust. Soc. Am., Vol. 120, No. 5, Pt. 2, Pg. 3085,
November 2006.)

The perception and high-fidelity reproduction of music, special one-hour invited
tutorial talk given in "Session T1: Acoustics and the Perception and
Reproduction of Music" at the Annual March Meeting of the American Physical
Society (APS), Los Angeles, CA, March 20, 2005. (M. N. K. was also the organizer
and chair of this symposium.)

Music perception and reproduction, presented at the 2003 Annual Meeting of the
Southeastern Section of the American Physical Society (SESAPS), Wilmington, NC,
October 2003.


Here are his Colloquia and seminars listed:

Colloquia and seminars:

High-fidelity audio and the resolution of time in human hearing, colloquium at
Indira Gandhi Center for Atomic Research, on December 23, 2008.

Temporal resolution and bandwidth of hearing, "Hearing and Donuts Seminar" given
at University of Wisconsin at Madison, on April 11, 2008.

High-fidelity audio and the resolution of time in human hearing, seminar given
at Argonne National Laboratory, on April 15, 2008.

High-fidelity audio and the resolution of time in human hearing, colloquium
given at Northern Illinois University, on April 18, 2008.

Temporal resolution and bandwidth of hearing, presentation to the Bose
Corporation in the USC Nanocenter, Jan. 23, 2008.

High-fidelity audio and the resolution of time in human hearing, colloquium
given at University of Pune, Department of Physics, on January 5, 2007.

High-fidelity audio and the resolution of time in human hearing, colloquium
given at University of South Carolina, Department of Physics and Astronomy, on
February 15, 2007.

High-fidelity audio and the resolution of time in human hearing, colloquium
given at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, on August 21, 2007.

High-fidelity audio and the resolution of time in human hearing, colloquium
given at Instituto de Fisica, Universidad San Louis Potosi, San Louis Potosi,
Mexico, on August 29, 2007.

High-fidelity audio and the resolution of time in human hearing, colloquium
given at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre on December 18, 2006.

High-fidelity audio and the resolution of time in human hearing, institute-wide
ASET (Advances in Science, Engineering, and Technology) colloquium given at Tata
Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) on December 22, 2006.

The perception and high-fidelity reproduction of music, seminar given at
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Irvine, March
22, 2005.

Hi-fidelity music reproduction and the human audibility of ultrasonic
frequencies, colloquium given at University of South Carolina, September 22,
2005.

Guest lecturer at the Columbia Student Chapter of the Audio Engineering Society
(AES).

The perception and reproduction of music, Iowa State University, Ames, December
6, 2004.

The perception and reproduction of music, University of Georgia, Athens, October
14, 2004.

Music perception and reproduction, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research,
Mumbai, August 11, 2004.

Music perception and reproduction, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, August
9, 2004.

The perception and electronic reproduction of music, University of Pune, Pune,
August 6, 2004.

Music perception and reproduction — time is not always one over frequency,
Rutgers University, Physics colloquium, October 29, 2003

The Science of Hearing, Music Preception and Music Reproduction, University of South Carolina, Department of Physics and Astronomy, March 20, 2003.

Dr. Kunchur is also third party, so no conflict of interest.

Hope this helps.
Steve

[steve]

Also a quote from Stereophile Magazine, August 2010, "Data Density Eats Tweaks for Breakfast"

"The Audio Engineering Society agrees, and recommends 24/96 as the standard for digital master recordings."

Another Japanese study also concurs.

Cheers.