Acoustic emission tests were performed using a split Hopkinson pressure bar system (SHPB) on 50-mm-diameter bars of granite, limestone, sandstone and skarn. The results show that the amplitude distribution of hits is not well centralized around 50 dB, and that some hits with large amplitudes, usually larger than 70 dB, occur in the early stages of each test, which is different from the findings from static and low-loading-rate tests. Furthermore, the dominant frequency range of the recorded acoustic emission waveforms is between 300 kHz and 500 kHz, and frequency components higher than 500 kHz...