Before I begin this thread, I want to clarify a few things. #1 I'm not a big expert on the study of hearing or music, so this is just from my perspective. #2, this has NOTHING to do with hearing loss. This is not about decibels, the intensity of sound, loudness, or softness, this is about PITCH or SEMITONES (also known as half steps). It's actually become a pet peeve of mine when every time I try to get people to understand this they think it immediately has to do with "hearing loss", no, this is about pitch or semitones. Now for EVERYONE who enters this thread. Follow these steps.

1. Make sure you have headphones or earbuds.

2. Download Audacity (it's clean and commonly used)

3. Choose any sound with music in it, it can be your favorite music, song, ringtone, theme, commercial ad with music in it, intro to a TV show, etc. ANY type of music sound, and make sure you convert it to mp3 and save it as a file. (YouTube to MP3 is very common)

4. Open Audacity and go to File > Import > Audio

5. Listen to the whole music.

6. Now imagine that you're 10 years younger than you are now. Highlight the music on the side. Go to Effect > Change Pitch > Semitones (half-steps): -0.5

7. Listen to the whole music, then make sure you press the back arrow button on the top right to go back to its original form.

8. Now this time imagine you're 10 years older than you are now. Highlight the music on the side. Go to Effect > Change Pitch > Semitones (half-steps): +0.5

9. Listen to the whole music.

Now here's my point. Am I the only one who notices is this? I bet I am, because I've been annoyed with it the past 5 years now. I don't know how other people can hear music, but one thing that's clear is that when I listen to my favorite music from the 2000's and earlier, my favorite ringtones that's been around since the old phones, my favorite intros or theme songs to certain shows, etc. It doesn't sound exactly the same as it did when I was younger, and it's frustrating. For example, Prince - Let's Go Crazy or the intro theme to Spongebob Squarepants, the pitch or semitone of my hearing was much lower hearing the song or music when I was a kid, but it started changing gradually throughout my teen years and now since I'm 22 it's sounds a lot higher now. It's the same song, but it's a different level of pitch. Every commercial, ringtone, music I hear, it doesn't sound the same as it used to when I was younger, and it's frustrating to me. I'll go to church and hear the exact same praise song from 10 years ago, but it sounds different listening to it at age 22 than I heard it when I was 8 years old when the pitch was a bit lower. Now most people don't think about it or don't care what pitch the music is at, they just adapt to it.

People are gonna come to this thread and be like "mqg, what the hell are you talking about, what you're saying doesn't make sense.", and I don't care. Once again, this has NOTHING TO DO with the loudness of hearing, softness of hearing, or hearing loss as you get older. I'm talking about the pitch or semitone of your hearing changing by about +0.5 to +1 gradually as you get older. I also wonder if the change of your pitch has to do with getting bigger as you grow up, such as your head growing, your hears growing, or gaining weight (serious talk here). The smaller you are, the lower or deeper sounds around you are, the bigger you are, the higher sounds around you are. We may not have noticed it as we transitioned from being a little kid to a full grown adult, but it was gradual. I've noticed it, because my 10 year old self hearing music, themes, or ringtones isn't the exact same as my 22 year old self hearing it.

I've kinda noticed that too, I think it has to do with repetition and what device you're listing it on. When I play music on my JVC headphones it sounds slightly different than it does without them. When I hear songs from my childhood it sounds the same way it did when I first heard them, for the most part, there were a few exceptions like T-pain U and Dat I thought he says "like that" the whole chorus but he changes the words like "you and that booty".

Mqg, what the hell are you talking about, what you're saying doesn't make sense.

I've kinda noticed that too, I think it has to do with repetition and what device you're listing it on. When I play music on my JVC headphones it sounds slightly different than it does without them. When I hear songs from my childhood it sounds the same way it did when I first heard them, for the most part, there were a few exceptions like T-pain U and Dat I thought he says "like that" the whole chorus but he changes the words like "you and that booty".


But do you truly know that? Maybe since the pitch gradually changed for you as you got older you probably haven't noticed it and adapted to the new pitch each year. Most people don't notice it because it's a gradual slow change as years go on. Like, if you go on Audacity and change the pitch of the music by +0.02 semitones, then you won't notice much of a difference, but if you change the music by +0.75 semitones you'll notice the solid difference. I would argue that from age 5 to age 6 the pitch of your hearing goes up by +0.04 semitones, but from age 6 to age 8 (2 years) it'll go by up +0.08, and so forth. By the time you're 15 years old the pitch of your hearing compared to when you were 5 is up by +0.4 semitones then you'll notice a slight difference. Again, take any music and edit it on Audacity and you'll see what I'm talking about. Once you hit age 18-22 and stop getting taller it slows down and stops right there. (my theory is that as your head and hears grow your pitch of hearing slightly goes up, or gaining weight might play a role in that too)

I guarantee you, if there's a song you've been hearing constantly for years and years in a row, you wouldn't notice the pitch change much because you've adapted to it, but if there's a song that you go 5 years or more without listening to, then you'll notice the difference.

Mqg, what the hell are you talking about, what you're saying doesn't make sense.

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Before I begin this thread, I want to clarify a few things. #1 I'm not a big expert on the study of hearing or music, so this is just from my perspective. #2, this has NOTHING to do with hearing loss. This is not about decibels, the intensity of sound, loudness, or softness, this is about PITCH or SEMITONES (also known as half steps). It's actually become a pet peeve of mine when every time I try to get people to understand this they think it immediately has to do with "hearing loss", no, this is about pitch or semitones. Now for EVERYONE who enters this thread. Follow these steps.

1. Make sure you have headphones or earbuds.

2. Download Audacity (it's clean and commonly used)

3. Choose any sound with music in it, it can be your favorite music, song, ringtone, theme, commercial ad with music in it, intro to a TV show, etc. ANY type of music sound, and make sure you convert it to mp3 and save it as a file. (YouTube to MP3 is very common)

4. Open Audacity and go to File > Import > Audio

5. Listen to the whole music.

6. Now imagine that you're 10 years younger than you are now. Highlight the music on the side. Go to Effect > Change Pitch > Semitones (half-steps): -0.5

7. Listen to the whole music, then make sure you press the back arrow button on the top right to go back to its original form.

8. Now this time imagine you're 10 years older than you are now. Highlight the music on the side. Go to Effect > Change Pitch > Semitones (half-steps): +0.5

9. Listen to the whole music.

Now here's my point. Am I the only one who notices is this? I bet I am, because I've been annoyed with it the past 5 years now. I don't know how other people can hear music, but one thing that's clear is that when I listen to my favorite music from the 2000's and earlier, my favorite ringtones that's been around since the old phones, my favorite intros or theme songs to certain shows, etc. It doesn't sound exactly the same as it did when I was younger, and it's frustrating. For example, Prince - Let's Go Crazy or the intro theme to Spongebob Squarepants, the pitch or semitone of my hearing was much lower hearing the song or music when I was a kid, but it started changing gradually throughout my teen years and now since I'm 22 it's sounds a lot higher now. It's the same song, but it's a different level of pitch. Every commercial, ringtone, music I hear, it doesn't sound the same as it used to when I was younger, and it's frustrating to me. I'll go to church and hear the exact same praise song from 10 years ago, but it sounds different listening to it at age 22 than I heard it when I was 8 years old when the pitch was a bit lower. Now most people don't think about it or don't care what pitch the music is at, they just adapt to it.

People are gonna come to this thread and be like "mqg, what the hell are you talking about, what you're saying doesn't make sense.", and I don't care. Once again, this has NOTHING TO DO with the loudness of hearing, softness of hearing, or hearing loss as you get older. I'm talking about the pitch or semitone of your hearing changing by about +0.5 to +1 gradually as you get older. I also wonder if the change of your pitch has to do with getting bigger as you grow up, such as your head growing, your hears growing, or gaining weight (serious talk here). The smaller you are, the lower or deeper sounds around you are, the bigger you are, the higher sounds around you are. We may not have noticed it as we transitioned from being a little kid to a full grown adult, but it was gradual. I've noticed it, because my 10 year old self hearing music, themes, or ringtones isn't the exact same as my 22 year old self hearing it.
Pardon?

Pardon?


If anyone on here just downloads Audacity and follows my steps (choose any music you'd like) then you'd understand what I'm trying to explain here. Just get any music off YouTube, convert it to mp3, and edit it on Audacity by the amount of semitones (or half steps) I have listed. 

Are you sure this isn't because the old practice of radio stations pitching up music?  This was common all the way into the early 2010s.  Typically songs were pitched up 2.5-3% on radio stations.  If you listened to the album after being used to hearing the song on the radio, they would always sound significantly lower and slower.  After a few listens to the album you would no longer notice it.

Are you sure this isn't because the old practice of radio stations pitching up music?  This was common all the way into the early 2010s.  Typically songs were pitched up 2.5-3% on radio stations.  If you listened to the album after being used to hearing the song on the radio, they would always sound significantly lower and slower.  After a few listens to the album you would no longer notice it.


Oh I'm fully aware of this. There are other radio stations in my area that will pitch up the commercials as well, but those are usually up by 0.5 semitones (half-step) or 1 semitone, meaning that the pitch being up is very noticeable. I'm talking about the pitch of your hearing naturally going up from a little kid to an adult. It's slow and gradual, but after many years you'll start noticing the difference. Summer 2013 is when my hearing went through a major pitch change and hearing songs and music haven't been the same ever since. I've known the intro to Spongebob since I was 5 or 6 years old, the pitch to my ears was much lower back then compared to now when I hear the intro where the pitch is much higher. I have to upload an mp3 of the Spongebob intro theme to Audacity, lower the pitch by -0.5 or -0.75 semitones in order to hear how it used to sound to me when I was little. I've known the theme song to the movie "Mission Impossible" since I was little as well, when I watch the same movie, the pitch no longer sounds the same to me as it used to when I was younger. Same goes for other songs such as "Who Let the Dogs Out". Michael Jackson "Thriller". Pink "Trouble", etc. Any music, theme, ringtone or song. Any music on YouTube that's been uploaded since 2007 or 2008, me hearing it now doesn't sound the same as I heard it when I was 11 or 12. Commercials that's been on TV for years, the pitch has gone UP to me. Maybe not you or other folks because you haven't noticed it. Some people just don't care. Music is just music to them regardless of how low or high the pitch is. I actually care.

Oh I'm fully aware of this. There are other radio stations in my area that will pitch up the commercials as well, but those are usually up by 0.5 semitones (half-step) or 1 semitone, meaning that the pitch being up is very noticeable. I'm talking about the pitch of your hearing naturally going up from a little kid to an adult. It's slow and gradual, but after many years you'll start noticing the difference. Summer 2013 is when my hearing went through a major pitch change and hearing songs and music haven't been the same ever since. I've known the intro to Spongebob since I was 5 or 6 years old, the pitch to my ears was much lower back then compared to now when I hear the intro where the pitch is much higher. I have to upload an mp3 of the Spongebob intro theme to Audacity, lower the pitch by -0.5 or -0.75 semitones in order to hear how it used to sound to me when I was little. I've known the theme song to the movie "Mission Impossible" since I was little as well, when I watch the same movie, the pitch no longer sounds the same to me as it used to when I was younger. Same goes for other songs such as "Who Let the Dogs Out". Michael Jackson "Thriller". Pink "Trouble", etc. Any music, theme, ringtone or song. Any music on YouTube that's been uploaded since 2007 or 2008, me hearing it now doesn't sound the same as I heard it when I was 11 or 12. Commercials that's been on TV for years, the pitch has gone UP to me. Maybe not you or other folks because you haven't noticed it. Some people just don't care. Music is just music to them regardless of how low or high the pitch is. I actually care.


Oh I agree with you.  I just tried it in Audacity using a song from 2008 that doesn't sound the same anymore (Colby O'Donis feat Akon - What You Got) and I can definitely hear what you are talking about.  I would say Summer 2013 was around the time for me as well.  I wonder if there is some other reason for it?  I am aware that people lose the ability to hear very high frequencies as they age but I've never heard that people hear pitch differently as they age.

Mqg, what the hell are you talking about, what you're saying doesn't make sense.

^^^

I know what you're talking about mqg96, but in my experience, it's actually the opposite. I can remember songs sounding slightly higher-pitched when I was a kid, rather than the other way around.

I know what you're talking about mqg96, but in my experience, it's actually the opposite. I can remember songs sounding slightly higher-pitched when I was a kid, rather than the other way around.


I can grasp what mqg is saying to. I'm familiar with the aspect. I like the sound quality better at the movies or through a stereo. The luxury seems to be usually in a studio.

well I'm late deaf, but when I'm not hearing things right, I can start singing them right and then my brain will start hearing them right.
  The brain does play a role in what and or how you hear

well I'm late deaf, but when I'm not hearing things right, I can start singing them right and then my brain will start hearing them right.
  The brain does play a role in what and or how you hear


This is so true. I'm about to upload a video and share it with y'all what's been going on with my hearing over the years. I think a visual (and listening) will make things more sense to what I'm trying to explain.

okay cool, I don't see how thinking ten years earlier or later is going to make much difference for me.

Oh I agree with you.  I just tried it in Audacity using a song from 2008 that doesn't sound the same anymore (Colby O'Donis feat Akon - What You Got) and I can definitely hear what you are talking about.  I would say Summer 2013 was around the time for me as well.  I wonder if there is some other reason for it?  I am aware that people lose the ability to hear very high frequencies as they age but I've never heard that people hear pitch differently as they age.


Well again, the reason most people don't notice the pitch change as they get older (if this is true for others instead of just me) is because the change is so gradual and slow month by month and year by year, and most people don't care to notice it. As for the Summer 2013 thing, I just don't know for sure if it happened to everybody or if it happened to me because my head or ears kept growing bigger. Even kids too who are shorter than us with smaller heads and smaller ears? I mean this could be science or common sense right here. If you were a really tiny person hearing music with a small head and small ears, would it sound very LOW pitched and deep to you, but if you were a really giant person hearing music with a big head and big hears, wouldn't it sound very HIGH pitched to you? I would even argue that from age 6 to age 11 the pitch of everything I heard went up by a little bit, but it wasn't that noticeable then, but it kept getting higher and higher as I got older until I was 17 when the major change happened, then I noticed it. It would be easy if I could listen to how music sound from everybody's bodies, but the problem is that we only know ourselves, and we will only ever know how ourselves hear things our entire lives (especially the pitch of it). I get nostalgic for songs from the 80's, 90's and 00's with the old pitch to my ears, but I hate the new pitch of it so much. There are a lot of songs, ringtones, and themes out there where changing the pitch by 1 semitone or 5.946% can change the attitude of it for me.

okay cool, I don't see how thinking ten years earlier or later is going to make much difference for me.


Here it is. Now here's how this works. The first song is Confident by Demi Lovato. Take note this is from my view point (or what's happened to my hearing over the years) so the pitch may not sound exactly the same as other people. You'll notice the change as the song goes on and as I get older. This is what's happened to me with everything I listen to, and it's permanent, I can never go back to how it used to sound when I was younger. The next two music are So Fresh So Clean by Outkast without the lyrics and the Thursday Night Football theme from NBC. Then once we get to the Spongebob intro, Simpsons intro, and iPhone ringtone I break up the pitches separately. The songs and themes I picked are about as random as it gets.

0mHy0KyP9Xo

I know what you're talking about mqg96, but in my experience, it's actually the opposite. I can remember songs sounding slightly higher-pitched when I was a kid, rather than the other way around.


The other way around? That's interesting and I believe you. Now that would be so weird AF if the pitch of my hearing went lower as I got older from the start of my life lol, I can only imagine how deep every music and theme would sound to me by now haha.

Cant say much here other then maybe I somehow remember what things sound like and can get mad at my hearing aid for not hearing the music right.

Just get any music off YouTube, convert it to mp3, and edit it on Audacity by the amount of semitones (or half steps) I have listed.


Out of curiosity, how much music do/did you listen to on YouTube versus other sources?

The reason I ask is that I've seen a fair number of YouTube videos uploaded where the pitch was shifted (and where I have originals on physical media) in order to avoid detection by the DMCA/content/copyright algorithms.

that might be why I don't seem to hear things right, because they're not.  Glad I still have a stereo and CD's

Out of curiosity, how much music do/did you listen to on YouTube versus other sources?


I'm aware of YouTube users doing pitch shifts on purpose. I have a very good memory of the pitch of music. If I listen to Prince - Let's Go Crazy or Drake - Hotline Bling, I'm not just going to remember how the music or lyrics go, but I'm gonna also remember how the pitch is exactly supposed to be as well. So if I go to YouTube and notice the pitch shift, I'll notice it. But if I listen to commercials on TV, intro theme songs to TV shows past & present, music on CD's or playlists my parents got years ago, etc. and I notice the pitch shift, then I know that the pitch of my hearing naturally changed. The same music videos (verified, official) that were uploaded to YouTube back in 2007 and 2008, listening to those back when I was 12 years old don't sound the same to me today as I'm listening to it right now as a 22 year old. Guys, this is no myth. It's not like all TV or radio companies pitch shifted everything WORLDWIDE. It's my ears that did it as I got older.

I did all of the directions and to be honest, it sounds lower pitched and I don't really remember hearing it like that as a kid.

I did all of the directions and to be honest, it sounds lower pitched and I don't really remember hearing it like that as a kid.


You're 15, and you probably have a lower percentile of height and weight than I do, so that's my best theory on why it might not sound much different for you, but I don't know how you've heard things over the years, so.... If you go to my video and hear the first song (Demi Lovato - Confident as the example) you'll notice how the pitch change is very gradual and slow and you don't notice it well, but once you jump to how I heard it at age 18 then go back to how I heard it at age 8 then you'll notice the change. For example, 25 MPH isn't much different than 30 MPH, 60 MPH isn't much different than 65 MPH, however 30 MPH is a HUGE difference from 60 MPH. Same thing with the pitch levels.

Great thread.  I posted my theory in another thread.  Your body slows down as you age, therefore the world seems to run faster in comparison.  That includes hearing pitches a bit higher.

I taught myself perfect pitch back in my teens when I started playing bass.  One of my cousins bought the David Burge's perfect pitch course.  I listened to the first tape.  It kinda worked and I could understand what he was saying, but I ended up figuring out my own way.  I did understand how different keys and notes evoked different moods.  And it explained why many songs are written in the keys they are.  And the moods are sporadic up the scale, not just a sweep of happy to sad across the scale.  For example B seems plain sad, where C seems bright happy.

So now I am 25 years older, my kid is grown up and I am alone again, and I am exploring perfect pitch again.  I remember how all the notes are supposed to feel to me.  But I am having a hard time with it, because part of perceiving the world as too fast, is perceiving frequencies too fast too.  An A is played and I hear it as a Bb and get the feelings of a Bb.  Or a B is played and I get the feelings of a C.  It messes with my mind because it's not just a half step higher, but the whole feeling changes.

Another thing is sound snippets.  For example the game Duck Hunt with the original NES.  The sound snippet when the dog held up the duck(s) sounded slow and bouncy when I was a kid.  Decades later I pulled out the old console and tried it again for old times sake.  That same snippet sounded like the speed was cranked up considerably.

Are we really doing this again  ;D

Well. When I was younger I listened to cassettes. Music from Cassettes always sounded more fast paced than a CD or digitally mastered track.

Well. When I was younger I listened to cassettes. Music from Cassettes always sounded more fast paced than a CD or digitally mastered track.



When I was growing up, music was being played on a Victrola.

When I was growing up, music was being played on a Victrola.


No it wasn't. A Victrola was a wind up phonograph with a horn speaker that went out of usage in the 1920s. You listened to music on a record player or stereo system with a turntable. Perhaps you or your family referred to it as a "victrola" as a nickname the way some older people in mid 20th century still referred to a refrigerator as an "icebox".

No it wasn't. A Victrola was a wind up phonograph with a horn speaker that went out of usage in the 1920s. You listened to music on a record player or stereo system with a turntable. Perhaps you or your family referred to it as a "victrola" as a nickname the way some older people in mid 20th century still referred to a refrigerator as an "icebox".


Victrola was (and is) a brand of record player.  No different than someone saying I need a Kleenex rather than a facial tissue.

Well. When I was younger I listened to cassettes. Music from Cassettes always sounded more fast paced than a CD or digitally mastered track.


Cassette players were notorius for having their speed off.  I think manufacturers erred on the high side, because if it was a little fast it was a little more energetic, rather than if it was a little slow it felt like it dragged and it was more wrong.

On every one of my cassette players, I drilled a hole in the case to access the motor speed potentiometer, and used a baby screwdriver to adjust the speed as needed.  I can't stand if a song is off pitch, especially when I'm trying to practice along with it.  Well before I do that I try squeezing the tape to try to flatten the reels and eliminate any drag.

Some songs were recorded out of tune though.  Like the original "Layla".  Then some songs like "Evil Woman" by ELO drive me nuts, on the radio it sounds like the pitch wavers like one side of the tape reel is dragging.

Cassette players were notorius for having their speed off.  I think manufacturers erred on the high side, because if it was a little fast it was a little more energetic, rather than if it was a little slow it felt like it dragged and it was more wrong.


I got something coming for you soon. I'm going to upload an unlisted YouTube video and demonstrate the differences between hearing various music and sounds at age 10 compared to hearing it at age 25 from my perspective (I'm turning 24 this year but the change is still significant to me). I'm demonstrating the immediate pitch change then the gradual pitch change my hearing has gone through over the years. This will be a better video than the one I put up a couple years ago when I first made this thread. It's going to have random music and sounds, some you may not like but I'm just sharing with you what's been going on with me and possibly you too.

Are we really doing this again  ;D


Oh yes we are! Better get ready.

Victrola was (and is) a brand of record player.  No different than someone saying I need a Kleenex rather than a facial tissue.


Yes and no. A Kleenex is a tissue is a Kleenex.  There's basically one basic type of tissue.  But saying "Victrola" conjures up a very specific type of very early 20th century device that is VERY different than the mid-late 20th century turntable or record player that people were listening to when Howard was growing up. That's why I said calling it a "Victrola" was likely a quaint nickname type thing like people saying "icebox" for a refrigerator.

Great thread.  I posted my theory in another thread.  Your body slows down as you age, therefore the world seems to run faster in comparison.  That includes hearing pitches a bit higher.


Here's my updated video from a couple years ago. You'll find this interesting. This is how the pitch of music and sounds have changed over the years from my perspective. Once again, you may not like the choices but I'm just demonstrating the history of my hearing. Even the way I set it up in audacity and edited it, may not sound exactly the same to me how it sounds to you or other folks here. First you'll have the immediate pitch change using a few theme musics & sound effects, then the gradual pitch change using 2 famous songs as an example.

AwNaPYI1tNs

An A is played and I hear it as a Bb and get the feelings of a Bb.  Or a B is played and I get the feelings of a C.  It messes with my mind because it's not just a half step higher, but the whole feeling changes.


Again, not a big expert on music notes or how the piano works, but I guess whenever you press a white key (A) on the piano, then the white key (or black key) next to it known as B is the next pitch. Back when I was let's say 12 years old, A on the keyboard sounded like pitch A. B on the keyboard sounded like pitch B, but at almost 24 years old now, A on the keyboard now sounds like pitch B, and B on the keyboard now sounds like pitch C, and so forth. That's what happened to my hearing, and it affects everything I listen to. (sad thing is, I predict years from now it'll only get higher, it'll never go back to the old pitch I love and miss). Some of my favorite songs and themes I loved as a little kid, sounds completely different to me because of the pitch of my hearing being shifted up, and I despise it. Changing the pitch 1 up, can change the whole tone for me in a positive or negative way.

No it wasn't. A Victrola was a wind up phonograph with a horn speaker that went out of usage in the 1920s. You listened to music on a record player or stereo system with a turntable. Perhaps you or your family referred to it as a "victrola" as a nickname the way some older people in mid 20th century still referred to a refrigerator as an "icebox".


So can I call it a record player?

Ok so I just did all the directions and when I set the semitones to -0.5, I could hear the difference, but then when I put +0.5, it sounded exactly like how I would normally hear it today.  ;D

So can I call it a record player?


That's what I would suggest.  ;)  :)

Ok so I just did all the directions and when I set the semitones to -0.5, I could hear the difference, but then when I put +0.5, it sounded exactly like how I would normally hear it today.  ;D


I get what you're saying. Sometimes +0.5 can mean that it sounds like a higher version of your current pitch, but late pitch, so +0.5 might be the late pitch, then your regular hearing might be the early pitch, then -0.5 might be a late version of the previous pitch. Hard to explain. This is how it is for me, let's say our current pitch by default is pitch A.

-1.00 Peak Pitch Z (exactly 1 pitch before my main pitch; probably my pitch as a little kid)
-0.75 Late Pitch Z
-0.50 Transition from Pitch Z to Pitch A (probably my pitch 7 years ago)
-0.25 Early Pitch A
0.00 Peak Pitch A (my main/current pitch)
+0.25 Late Pitch A
+0.50 Transition from Pitch A to Pitch B
+0.75 Early Pitch B
+1.00 Peak Pitch B (exactly 1 pitch after my current pitch)

So the reason +0.5 might not sound much different is because it might be a higher version or later from your main pitch, but this is how it is for me. You'd definitely hear the difference going backwards -0.5 for sure.