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Listener fatigue: what does it really mean?

Okay, so I used to think that listener fatigue meant that your ears just kind of got tired from listening to speakers that were overly bright. I don't have a good understanding of the make up of an ear, but I believe there are muscles in an ear that, I guess, expand and contract while we listen to music and I figured that's what it meant to have listener fatigue. Now, I'm thinking that listener fatigue is maybe more than your ears just getting tired but actually, your whole body getting tired and feeling drained. I experienced this time and time again listening to my paradigm studio's. They are somewhat bright and provide quite a bit of detail in my oppinion, so I'm wondering if, since there was such a great amount of detail coming through, that it was physically draining because I'm sitting there analyzing everything that's coming through the speakers. I would wake up and first thing in the morning, grab a cup of coffee and start listening to music (my daily routine) and 20-30 minutes later start nodding off and I couldn't figure out what was going on. I've been sitting here this morning listening to my new vandersteen's for two hours and can't get enough. I feel like I could listen all day and that I'm almost energized from listening vs. drained.

Soooo, what are your oppinions about what listener fatigue is and why it's caused?
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Showing 4 responses by charles1dad

charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Ralph,Dynamic swings are heard continously in live music, this natural ebb and flow gives music the emotion I love. This dynamic character occurs at low, moderate and louder levels. This is so apparent when listening to musicians live.I can easily control dynamics when I play my trumpet. Are the dynamics that exist in nature a form of distortion? How is an audio component to reproduce dynamics without this distortion as you call it? How would a component convey dynamics without this identified distortion?
Regards
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
My point is that dynamics is an inherent part of music as is timing and the unique and individual tonal signature of a instrument. So how does a system reproduce(retain) music's dynamics yet avoid this distortion Ralph attributes? The ear/brain easily perceive gradients from soft to loud(dynamics) , so hearing a component portray this is due to distortion cues? Doesn't seem logical.
Regards,
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
Learsfool,
Yes, you certainly understand the point I'm expressing. I totally agree that too often brightness is mistaken for detail. Many components that go the ultra detail and ultra resolution route sound false and artificial. They tend to sacrifice the actual full body and tone that's present when instruments are heard in a live setting.When you strip or thin out the tonality the resulting sound is less natural.
Dynamics are just as crucial at low/softer levels of music as they are at higher levels to communicate the music's emotion and full expression(similar to a voice inflection).

Learsfool, I have also personally reached the conclusion that lower power amplifiers with higher efficiency speakers produce a more natural and believable presentation.I can relate to you and your fellow musicians on that choice.
Regards,
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 
SET amplifiers as a niche have finite limitations as do any other amplifier type, be it solid state, class D, OTL, push pull tube etc. Within a given amplifier category there's a hierarchy of quality and execution success. I find the limitations of SET or other lower power amps an acceptable tradeoff to get the superior sense of realism and naturalness they provide relative to other choices available (obviously YMMV)). There's compromise intrinsic to any and all amplifier topologies.Semantics, that's all it is. Call it impact or dynamics, the bottom line is this is a mandatory component of music.Without it, music is lifeless and unrealistic.
Regards,
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