The Hearing Museum
How humans hear — from the vibrating eardrum to the firing auditory nerve. Cochlea mechanics, psychoacoustics, equal loudness, and the science of sound perception.
The Human Ear
A cross-section of the auditory system. Sound pressure waves move the eardrum, the ossicles amplify them, the cochlea decomposes them into frequencies along the basilar membrane, and hair cells turn motion into nerve impulses. Hover or click a structure to learn what it does.
The Collection
Click any artifact to copy its name. Filter by category to explore different aspects of hearing science.
A Brief History of Hearing Science
Milestones in understanding how we hear — from Helmholtz's resonance theory to the cochlear implant.
Equal Loudness Contours
ISO 226:2003 curves showing how perceived loudness varies with frequency. The ear is most sensitive around 2–5 kHz — the frequency band of human speech consonants. Click anywhere on the chart to inspect a point.
Hands-on Instruments
Test your hearing range across the audible spectrum, measure your just-noticeable frequency difference, or calculate noise dose by NIOSH criteria.
Two tones play in quick succession. Is the second tone higher or lower? This tests your just-noticeable difference (JND) for frequency — typically ~1Hz at 1kHz for trained listeners.
Calculate daily noise dose by NIOSH criteria: 85 dB for 8 hours, halving permitted time for each 3 dB increase.