To hear the true fidelity of the sounds in this Community, follow the suggestions below to fine tune your computer's audio system.

Auscultatory sounds can be very demanding on your sound system. Heart sounds contain low frequencies in the 20Hz - 100Hz range, beyond the capability of most computer speakers. So if you're trying to listen to these sounds via your computer speakers, you may be disappointed. Here are some suggestions for obtaining the best sound:

Headphones - We advise that you use headphones, and in particular, headphones that have sealed eartips, such as those sealed-eartip types available for the iPod. We recommend the Griffin TuneBuds since they provide the required ear seal and do a good job of reproducing those low frequency heart sounds. TuneBuds are available at most large electronic retailers such as Apple, Best Buy and others. They are $25, and provide superior sound to headphones costing much more. So don't assume that more money buys more sound quality. Griffin also makes sealed eartips for standard iPod heapdhones. These are called Earjams, and simply provide sealed eartips for iPod heapdhones. They are about $12, and the results are excellent.

The best way to listen to the sounds, is to connect a Thinklabs stethoscope to your headphone jack and listen via the stethoscope, since it is designed to produce heart murmurs and other pathological sounds.

We also need to point out that sound quality depends on the sound card in your computer. Some sound cards generate distortion and artifact, while others produce these sounds with excellent fidelity.