2. misc-audio
  3. 155314-20253

Maybe being discerning isn't that good for us?

A topic I touch on now and then, I think about what the average person hears, what I hear, and what it means to be discerning. What good is it for us, our community, and the industry?

I’ll touch on a couple of clear examples. I was at a mass DAC shoot out and spoke with one of the few ladies there. To paraphrase her, she said this:

Only with DACs made in the the last few years can I listen to digital music without getting a headache.

I never had that problem, but we both experienced a significant improvement in sound quality at about the same time. Lets take her statement as 100% true for this argument.

On the other hand, I am completely insensitive to absolute phase issues which some claim to be. I’m also VERY sensitive to room acoustics, which many fellow audiophiles can completely ignore.

Lets assume the following:

  • The lady really did get headaches due to some issue with older DACs
  • There really are people very sensitive to absolute phase.

I’ve also found the concept of machine learning, and neural networks in particular truly fascinating. In areas of medical imaging, in specific areas such as breast cancer detection, neural networks can be more accurate than trained pathologists. In the case of detecting early cancer, discernment has an obvious advantage: More accuracy equals fewer unnecessary procedures, and longer lives, with less cost. Outstanding!!

Now what if, like the trained neural networks, I could teach myself to be sensitive to absolute phase? This is really an analog for a lot of other things like room acoustics, cables, capacitors, frequency response, etc, but lets stick to this.

Am I better off? Did I not in fact just go down a rabbit hole which will cause me more grief and suffering? Was I not better before I could tell positive vs. negative recording polarity?

How do you, fellow a’gonner stop yourself, or choose which rabbit holes to go through? Ever wonder if you went down one too many and have to step back?
erik_squires

Showing 1 response by high12pm

high12pm
1 posts
 

Great topic, one that I have inquired about and explored.


About 15 years ago I did a demo with a well known band in the Tampa Bay area at a night club.  As an experiment, at the half time break, I replaced all the power chords and cables with audiophile grade chords and cables.  In addition, I put sand filled bases under the mike stands.  The band members were skeptical and the audience was not informed of the changes being made.   The objective was to see if the improvements made a difference in the performance and the reception by the audience.


Prior to the break, the audience was not paying attention.  They weren’t engaged. and were more interested in their table side conversations.  After the break with the changes in place, there was a dramatic difference.   One lady in the audience, who saw me on the stage, asked  me what I had done.   I asked her what she noticed.  Clarity, was her response.  Upon further inquiry, she was a piano teacher and had a trained ear.  To her, there was a dramatic difference in sound quality.   


It didn’t take long for the audience to become fully engaged with the band.  In addition, the band members fed off the energy of the audience.   With this knowledge, I became an audio advisor for a major cultural center in the Tampa Bay area and improved upon their audio situation.


Here is what I learned:

-The quality of the music and the quality of sound presentation both have emotional connections.

-Listening fatigue can occur when there is imbalance within the presentation of sound, as in a muddled bass juxtaposed to a clear horn section.  It creates strain in the same way as a clear eye and a blurred eye will create strain.  This is true of soundstage as well.

-The audience may not know what the changes are from, but they can feel it.

-Audiophiles are more sensitive and more aware of the improvements to sound presentation and therefore willing to spend more. 

-However, we all have potentials to addiction. and the addictive potential to the emotional connection  of music and sound presentation is relatively high.

-Music performers can benefit from the experience of audiophiles.

More to discover