AUDIO -HIGH FIDELITY
the last link
By NORMAN H. CROWHURST
IN the struggle toward high fidelity
we have heard much discussion about
equipment, from microphone through
amplifier to loudspeaker, the various
means of recording and the forms of
distortion that all these links in the
chain can introduce. Suitable acoustics
and enclosure design to reproduce what
is claimed as the original sound field
has also had its share of discussion.
But there is still considerable ignorance
about the behavior of the last and most
important link in the appreciation of
sound reproduction -the link between
the ear and the brain.
A considerable amount of work has
been done and published on just how
the ear transfers sound waves into
intelligence to be interpreted by the
brain. Most of it has revolved about
the behavior of the cochlea, the basilar
membrane, the organ of Corti, Reiss -
ner's membrane and the hair cells. Do
these behave as resonators and just
which part corresponds with what fre-
quency received?
Much attention from another angle
has been given to subjective analysis
of the behavior of the ear. Probably
the earliest information at all compre-
hensive in scope was that of Messrs.
Fletcher and Munson who originated
the now well known Fletcher Munson
curves and also studied the effect of
"masking," the manner in which the
intensity of one sound can mask a
sound of lesser intensity.
But the last link is really the one
that conveys the intelligence received
by the ear along the auditory nerve
to the brain. Regardless of the manner
in which this intelligence is converted
by the ear from sound waves to nerve
impulses, the fact remains that the
MAY, 1957
last link in the chain consists of a
system of impulses conveyed along the
auditory nerve.
A common fallacy is the belief that
the ear works very much like a
microphone, converting the various
vibrations constituting sound waves to
corresponding electrical impulses for
transmission along the auditory nerve
to the brain. Thus the "nerve cur-
rents" would have a "waveform" like
the electrical impulses produced by a
microphone.
If this similarity exists, it seems
difficult to understand why a musician
cannot recognize readily a piece of
music by a glance at the soundtrack
of a film or the groove on a phono-
graph disc. The fact remains that even
relatively skilled musicians are unable
to recognize music in this form. Related
questions that arise from this theory
are: Since all sounds use a similar
spectrum of frequencies, how is it, for
example, that by listening to a run-
ning motor which generates all kinds
of noises, a skilled mechanic is able
to locate the particular little tap that
to him indicates what is wrong? Or
how is it that a musician, listening to
an orchestra all of whose instruments
reproduce frequencies in the same gen-
eral spectrum, can locate the sound of
one instrument in the whole orchestra?
These questions can be answered by
considering how information is relayed
from the ear to the brain. I refer to
experiments based on the work of
Sherrington and Adrian on the electro-
physiology of nerves. These experi-
ments show that the nerve impulses
carried by the auditory nerve are
similar to all other nerve impulses in
the human nervous system and consist
An analysis of
the physiology
involved in
hearing
of a succession of unidirectional pulses
transmitted along each nerve fiber.
It appears from a further study of
the matter that the auditory nerve
consists of between 25,000 and 29,000
ganglion nerve cells and that each of
these transmits intelligence concerning
one particular frequency in the audible
spectrum. The intelligence is trans-
ferred in the form of a succession of
pulses. However, the pulse rate is
related not to frequency or pitch, but
to intensity. The threshold of hear-
ing for any particular frequency is
the amplitude of sound signal necessary
to initiate the first pulse or minimum
pulse rate. As intensity is increased,
the rate at which pulses are trans-
mitted along that particular nerve
fiber is increased.
Any particular sound that we listen
to does not arrive at the brain as a
synthesis of frequencies or as a specific
waveshape corresponding with the
pressure waveform of the acoustical
wave striking the ear, but rather as
a kind of Morse code signal received
over a multiconductor cable consisting
of between 25,000 and 29,000 nerve
fibers. Our recognition of sounds de-
pends on the recognition of the partic-
ular pattern received along this multi-
conductor cable.
Compare this reception of a message
by the ear with the reception of the
message you are now reading with the
eye. You are reading type in a series
of familiar forms known as the alpha-
bet. These letters are strung together
to form words and the words are
arranged to form sentences. Does your
brain take time out to realize that the
letter o is a circle, the letter 1 a straight
line, e part of a circle with a horizontal
43
AUDIO -HIGH FIDELITY
line in it and so on, critically analyzing
the geometrical structure of each letter
that composes each word? If your brain
did, you would spend a considerable
number of years reading just this one
article. The fact is, the brain recognizes
familiar patterns to the extent that it
doesn't even bother spelling out the
words in detail, but recognizes words
as a complete entity and builds up the
sentence and the associated thought
rapidly.
In a similar manner the brain inter-
prets the sound the ears hear. It is
familiarity of the patterns, like famil-
iarity of letters of the alphabet for
the eye, that provides the basis for
interpretation. When you listen to
someone talk, it is familiarity with
recognized language sounds that enables
you, without the least difficulty, to
listen to and interpret what the person
says. Also, the shades in a person's
voice, which give each individual voice
It is "because the ear can believe in NEGATIVE FEEDBACK
them," as one writer has put it, that CONTROLS SELECTIVITY
anything which is recognized can be
"believed." Anything unfamiliar re- THE HQ-100 Hammarlund communi-
quires further listening or analysis
for its interpretation. Thus, anything cations receiver has an unusual
set in the musical scale to which we negative feedback circuit as a part of
are accustomed sounds familiar where- its audio amplifier stages. This circuit
as the first time we hear Indian music provides negative feedback that varies
using a different musical scale, we have with the setting of the AUDIO GAIN
the impression of something odd. We control.
may, upon further listening, come to As the control is moved toward its
maximum position the feedback voltage,
the conclusion that we like or do not drawn from one side of the secondary
like it, but the first reaction is of some-
thing unfamiliar and perhaps slightly of the output transformer through R2,
is reduced as it must pass through the
un real. increasing resistance of Rl (Fig. 1).
The same is true of synthesized and,
to some extent, reproduced sound. It (FROM DET AND ANL
has certain characteristics which are
unfamiliar the first time they are heard. v2I2AX7 OAQ5
At the same time other characteristics .01
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of the sound may be familiar because
of resemblance to the sounds it is
HIGH
AUDIO
GAIN T
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intended to reproduce. Let us illustrate RIIMEG

a character distinctive from those of this with the old-fashioned phono- LOW
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other people, enable you to listen to graph. Although it reproduces a lot B+
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one particular person speaking among of extraneous sounds not present in W 25 5+ roen

a number of persons talking at once.
This is because the brain can dis-
criminate the difference in patterns
received in different ways by using
various methods of selection between
the complex arrangement of pulses
received down the auditory nerve. This
can be regarded as somewhat like the
manner in which an IBM machine can
go through a great many punched
cards and pick out just the particular
cards, among perhaps millions, that
have certain common characteristics.
In a similar way the brain can group
together impulses representing sounds
having any desired common charac-
teristics such as the sounds coming
from the same human voice or from
the same musical instrument.
Another character of sound that the
brain quickly spots is an expected
repetition of sound patterns heard.
This is what we call reverberation.
In any enclosed space there is a slight
echo effect following every sound. If
you don't believe this try carrying on
the original music by distorting it to
a considerable extent, a musician is
able by listening to its recorded music
to recognize the qualities of the orig-
inal performance.
Another application of this principle
is in the reaction to new kinds of
recording -for example, the kind made
by Les Paul who has exploited a com-
pletely new method of synthesizing
sound. The fact that the music ren-
dered is in the pattern of familiar
tunes leads the ear into accepting what
strikes it first as something unfamiliar
about the manner in which the harmony
is synthesized into a composite sound.
After a few hearings it becomes
accepted as a technique in its own
right.
Enough has been said, I think, in
this short review of the subject to show
some of the implications of the principle
that what is conveyed from the ear to
the brain is not an electrical equivalent
of the signal conveyed from a micro-
phone to an amplifier, but a pattern
430n 4'n
Fig. I
a PARTS OF PRINTED- CIRCUIT
As this feedback is reduced, the selec-
tivity of the stage increases, resulting
in a higher signal -to -noise ratio and
permitting reception of weak stations
which would otherwise be lost.
When the AUDIO GAIN control is
turned down, the feedback voltage rises
as R1 presents less resistance to it.
This causes a decrease in selectivity
and allows a wider range of frequencies
to be heard for quality reception of both
broadcast and powerful shortwave sta-
tions.
Fig. 2 shows two audio response
curves. Curve A, the solid line, repre-
sents the audio response of the HQ-100
when the gain control is in its maximum
4

4
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incs 1111111111111s:a1111

l_
I

DB
a conversation in an anechoic com- of pulses along the auditory nerve. FROM
IKC
pletely damped room where there is Here frequencies are identified by the
practically no reverberation whatever. individual nerve fibers excited and the 12

You will quickly realize how unnatural intensity at any instant is identified 15
the sounds of voices are under these by the frequency of pulses along that
circumstances. You will then realize particular fiber. And here whole sound 20
that under normal conditions we are patterns are recognized by the code 24
always conscious of a reflection, or combination of pulses received along so 100 500 INC 5 10

short -time echo, of all the sounds we
listen to. Further, this rapid repetition
of all the sound patterns to which we
listen is an aid to us in following and
interpreting these sounds, whether we
are listening to human speech and
interpreting the meaning of what is
being said to us or to a musical rendi-
tion, enjoying its beauty and inter-
preting what the composer wished to
convey to our minds.
There is yet another aspect about
this familiarity of auditory patterns
which our brains receive. It explains
why sounds often heard become more
readily accepted than unfamiliar ones.
certain combined groups in the auditory
nerve.
The reader undoubtedly is capable
of pursuing this line of thought in his
own mind and will see how this explains
many of the things that have been
difficult to understand about the char-
acter of human hearing.
If interest in the subject warrants
it, further articles will be written
applying this information to the manner
in which we have binaural perception
of direction and the importance or
otherwise of the various acoustic prob-
lems in that reproduction of sound
for normal broadcast listening.
FREQ
Fij.2
position. At this setting maximum gain
is present at 1,000 cycles. To either side
of this point gain drops sharply. For
example, at both 100 and 3,000 cycles
the signal output is 8 db lower than at
1,000 cycles. This type of response will
provide good reception of weak or dis-
tant stations and is particularly fine
for CW reception.
Response curve B (dashed line) re-
sults when the AUDIO GAIN control is
set at 25% above its minimum posi-
tion, approximately what it would be
END for normal broadcast listening. END

44 RADIO -ELECTRONICS