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A blessing? Or a curse?

We all know there’s people who seem to have no memory of or ability to recall anything they hear. We know because they tell us so. In no uncertain terms, either! They are quite certain the only way anything can be compared is to flip back and forth instantaneously, because no one can remember anything they have heard for more than like a microsecond.

So okay, they can’t hear, can’t remember, they are quite certain this is the case, what can we do but believe them?

We also know there are people who seem to be able to recall very well things they have heard, sometimes even quite a long time ago. We hear this one all the time too. They tell us how a certain speaker or whatever sounds, even though they heard it only maybe once at some show or whatever many months ago. Let’s not quibble was it the speakers or the amp or the room or whatever. Point is a definite acoustic memory formed and has stayed with them.

Which at long last brings us to what you already know its really all about: Me! I have this decades long ritual where whenever people are coming over I do something, and sometimes a lot of somethings, to make the system really shine. My favorite thing about this, if I’m totally honest, is at the end when its late at night and the system is truly peaking I get to relax back and take it all in.

So this last time with the guys from Portland coming up, and then on to Mike Lavigne’s, well guess what? Left the Herron and the table on from the night before, woke up early to get the Melody going, ran the XLO demagnetizing tracks about a zillion times, demagnetized, sprayed, and then played a few sides. What they heard when they got here was pretty good. Or as I am told the unanimous opinion was, "Fantastic!" Then off to Mike Lavigne’s. So by the time I get back and relax that night its all been running for like 24 hours.

Holy moly did that sound good! Did not even want to go to bed.

Okay so here’s the problem. Last night, system been off a week, usual 30 min warm up, nothing else, anyone wonder why I was kind of underwhelmed? Its that dang auditory memory. If only I could forget! But then, if I was one of those guys who can’t remember a ding dong thing, would I have the system I have?

So what say you? Is it a blessing? Or a curse?
millercarbon

Showing 4 responses by nonoise

nonoise's avatar
nonoise
11,226 posts
 
@mijostyn, Loved your post and point of view. It shows lots of overlaps with others and yet remains distinct and unique, which is what we all are and what we should all remember.

All the best,
Nonoise
nonoise's avatar
nonoise
11,226 posts
 
I think you mean people who think they hear better, but never really put that to the test should stop insulting others. All these people who claim they have "superior" hearing, rarely do but they certainly feel the need to tell everyone else they do and that others are inferior. Look how often it happens here.
Jealousy, thy name is audio2design. I’ve never claimed to have "superior" hearing. If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard that, I’d be able to buy you a hearing aid. Why is it that that old saw is brought up as representative of everyone who’s ever made the claim that they could hear the difference? For a fallback position after all else fails is sad.

And why the appeal to authority with all the engineers and pros who, mostly, are just churning out stuff? Yes, they’re trained to hear better but so does the lowly audiophile that you look down your nose at. It goes both ways. John Atkinson wrote a great article on how sound and recording engineers fall victim to their craft by being limited by it. I can’t find the article but it’s out there for the inquisitive.
Greater visual acuity does not confer greater ability to quickly find detail in a scene, nor to better understand the image being presented. It’s not like smells, or even taste, where the sensing is complex, but processing more simple.
And stop with the strawman arguments. No one stated that and it makes for a poor analogy. Better visual acuity would make it so much easier to train to see better, if that were one’s chosen path, compared to one who had poorer vision. No contest.

As for tasting and smelling we seem to agree that it is complex but where we diverge is that you feel no one hears better if not professionally engaged in it and I feel that hearing acuity varies greatly from person to person due to its complexity, just like any other sense, which you’re dancing around on, avoiding the topic, as one would have to admit that hearing acuity is strengthened through years of hearing.

All the best,
Nonoise

nonoise's avatar
nonoise
11,226 posts
 
I believe our hearing gets better as the night comes on. A combination of tiredness and an increased sensitivity survival mech?
No doubt. One can't erase 200K+ years of evolution since we've only been "civilized" for about the past 12K years when we began agricultural groupings.

I guarantee it that if you're walking in the wilderness alone for awhile and that twig snaps, all of that 200k+ years of conditioning will race to the forefront and surprise you. Heck, on my morning and evening walks I see it all the time as I sometime startle people when I come up on them as I tend to over pronate which quietens ones approach. My SEAL friend said they taught them to walk that way so as to be quieter. 

All the best,
Nonoise


nonoise's avatar
nonoise
11,226 posts
 
No two people see the same. I’ve had bad eyesight my entire life and after cataract surgery, I know see 20/20 in one eye and about 20/30 in the other (slight astigmatism). The blueprint in our DNA is not exact and varies greatly from person to person. I remember a father and son who could read the text on a magazine page affixed to a wall from about 10 feet away. It varies greatly.

Same goes for our sense of smell. We each have between 20-25K genes and we all use an average of 390 to smell, and they’re not all the same genes used from person to person. Change one gene and pooof!, there goes your ability to discern violets. One is born with the proper genes to be a great sommelier and all the practice in the world can’t make up for a loss or deficit of the genes needed to be one. We can smell up to 10K different odors, but not all of us can.

Why is hearing any different? Some of us do hear much better than others, and not as well as others. People have to stop insulting those who can hear better and just get used to it. It’s not the same from person to person and you’d be a jerk to think it is.

All the best,
Nonoise
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