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My brother always sets his sampling rate to the maximum that his speakers are rated by their manufacturer to support. However, defaults are usually chosen for good reasons, and the default sampling rate is usually an order of magnitude lower.

Consequently, I want to be certain that he is not inadvertently damaging his speaker (or reducing the quality of their output, if you're willing to inform me of that too).

Context

The default sampling rate in pipewire-1.2.7-1.fc41.x86_64 is 48 KHz. I've not yet located a GUI for it which attempts to ascertain suitable alternative sampling rates, but Windows 11 provides options up to 192 KHz when the Z200s are connected. This surprises me, because Logitech states that they can solely support up to 88 KHz.

As gearspace.com/board/showpost.php?p=8090836 demonstrates, I have read that sample rates higher than what the manufacturer intends can damage the driver, albeit usually in a gradual manner:

Speakers fail for two basic reasons: mechanical and heat. Frequencies below the usable range for a speaker can cause damage either of these ways. They can, as mentioned, cause excessive excursion of the voice coil resulting in delamination or cracking, or they can produce excessive current flow thru the voice coil resulting in heat that can cause delamination or deformation. Too high a frequency generally doesn't cause problems, but clipped waveforms, because of the excessive rate on the front and back ends of cone movement, can also cause mechanical damage or overheating.

The thread that it comprises does elaborate, but in a fragmented manner, and not one which I understand.

Irrespective, reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/1d5awm/comment/c9n1g97 appears to contradict it:

When the system is set to a different sample rate than the audio file, the audio that goes through your system undergoes sample rate conversion (Often also referred to as resampling). What happens in this process is that a new waveform is computed at the "destination sample rate" from the original audio stream.

Available Hardware

To provide examples (because I presume that some facet shall differ from speaker to speaker):

Who Count Model Connection
My brother 2 Logitech Z200 Via 2 or 3.5mm audio jacks to his motherboard.
My self 2 Creative T60 Via TB5 USB-C to my PC's MB's IO ports.

Note: Relevance to Super User

I didn't ask this at sound.stackexchange.com or music.stackexchange.com because superuser.com/help/on-topic appears to advise that Super User is the best place to ask this.

Giacomo1968
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RokeJulianLockhart
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1 Answers1

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Having a higher sample rate would theoretically allow you to send ultrasonic (> 20KHz) frequencies to the speakers.

I am not audiophile, but a bit of googling indicates that sending a frequency that is outside the range (high or low) a speaker is designed to handle could damage the speaker.

However the speakers you list are powered speakers (contain an amp/electronics) it is possible that the amp either has a low pass filter (to block higher frequencies) or simply is unable to amplify the signal outside a given frequency range.

TL;DR if you:

  • Set a higher sample rate.
  • Play a sample/music with ultrasonic frequencies.
  • The computer is able to output that frequency (doesn't have a filter).
  • The amp is able to amply that frequency - doesn't have a filter.
  • The speaker is susceptible to out of range frequencies.

Then yes if all of that is true, then you might damage the speakers.

However they are $70 speakers, if the sound quality is not as good as you would like, I doubt it has anything to do with ultrasonic frequencies.

DavidT
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