Audio Frequency Division of A Sound System - High&Medium&Bass Introduction

Frequency Range

The frequency range of a sound system is often divided based on the pitch range of musical instruments and common audio terminology. The goal is to help listeners use the range of musical instruments to better judge frequency bands. To accurately evaluate the frequency response of your sound system, you’ll need some testing software. Whether your sound system uses analog or digital sources, these tools are widely available on the market.

Here’s a breakdown of the frequency ranges.

Low Frequencies (Bass)

• 20 - 40 Hz (Sub-bass): Very few instruments can reach this range, and sounds in this frequency band have no clear directionality. It’s also one of the hardest ranges for audio equipment to reproduce.

• 40 - 80 Hz (Bass): An octave higher, this range gives a deeper sense of bass.

Mid Frequencies (Midrange) - The most important part

• 80 - 160 Hz (Low-mid): Another octave higher, this range is prone to room resonance and can be tricky to manage in certain environments.

• 160 - 1280 Hz (Midrange): Spanning three octaves---(320 Hz、640 Hz、1280 Hz), this range is where most musical instruments and vocals reside. It’s the heart and soul of music.

High Frequencies (Treble)

• 1280 - 2560 Hz (Upper-midrange): Yet another octave up, many two-way speakers set their crossover point around 2500-3000 Hz, handing off higher frequencies to the tweeter and lower frequencies to the midrange driver.

• 2560 - 5120 Hz (Treble): By this point, all the fundamental notes of instruments have ended. From here on, you’re hearing overtones, which are responsible for the unique tonal qualities of each instrument.

• 5120 Hz and above (Upper-treble): This range is where overtones dominate, contributing to terms like “sweetness” and “transparency” in sound. When you hear comments like "lacking transparency" or "harsh," it’s often due to insufficient energy in this upper treble region. This is why adding a super-tweeter can enhance the overall "luxury" and detail of the sound.

Conclusion

For a quick way to remember frequency and pitch relationships, start with the A note (A4), which is 440 Hz. An octave below is 220 Hz, and another octave down is 110 Hz. Going up from A4, you get 880 Hz, 1760 Hz, and so on. This is why audio reviewers can often pinpoint the approximate pitch of an instrument in terms of Hz.