20 Hz Tone - The Bottom of Hearing

Listen to 20 Hz - the textbook lower limit of human hearing, where pitch dissolves into pressure and most playback gear has already given up. If you feel this more than hear it, that is not a malfunction; that is 20 Hz.

20Hz
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Where hearing ends and feeling begins

20 Hz is the conventional floor of the audible range, but the boundary is soft: at this frequency the sensation of pitch largely disappears, and what remains is felt as a flutter or pressure - in the chest as much as the ears. Play it loud enough and anyone perceives it; the question is whether it registers as a tone. Below 20 Hz lies infrasound, which is perceived (when at all) as vibration and unease rather than sound.

Equal-loudness curves are brutal down here: to sound as loud as a comfortable 1 kHz tone, 20 Hz needs roughly a thousand times more acoustic power. That is why the deepest octave is the most expensive one in any speaker system - and why most gear simply does not attempt it.

What can actually play 20 Hz

Almost nothing in a typical home. Laptop speakers give up around 150-200 Hz, bookshelf speakers around 50-60 Hz, and most budget subwoofers roll off by 30-35 Hz. Genuine, clean 20 Hz output takes a serious sealed or ported subwoofer, big drivers, and real amplifier power - or good over-ear headphones, which reach it quietly but audibly because they only need to pressurize the tiny volume at your eardrum.

What you hear through small speakers on this page is almost certainly harmonic distortion at 40 and 60 Hz, not the fundamental. The honest check: step down through the subwoofer test one hertz at a time and note where output truly dies, or sweep the whole bass region on the bass test.

20 Hz FAQ

Can humans hear 20 Hz?

Yes, at sufficient level - it is the traditional lower limit of the audible range. But perception changes character down here: pitch sensation fades, and the tone is felt as flutter and pressure as much as heard. Sensitivity is so low at 20 Hz that it takes enormous acoustic power to reach comfortable loudness.

Why can't I hear anything on this page?

Most likely your playback gear cannot reproduce 20 Hz - that includes nearly all laptop speakers, phone speakers, and small Bluetooth boxes. Try good over-ear headphones at moderate volume. If you hear a higher-pitched hum instead of a deep pressure, you are hearing your speaker's distortion, not 20 Hz.

What is below 20 Hz?

Infrasound - frequencies your ears no longer resolve as tone but your body still registers as vibration at high levels. Pipe organs (the 32-foot stops reach 16 Hz), earthquakes, and large machinery produce it. Research on infrasound-induced unease is mixed; what is certain is that it takes very high levels to perceive at all.

Is 20 Hz dangerous?

At normal playback levels, no - and most systems cannot produce dangerous levels down here anyway. The practical risk is mechanical: sustained high-level 20 Hz can bottom out a subwoofer driver (an audible clack) and overheat small drivers pushed far below their range. Start quiet.

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