Well, lookee who we have here. The Dan Rather of pseudo skeptics. Haven’t they banned you yet, Costco?
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For those undecided whether colors of the room make a difference or whether darkness or light is best for SQ can I suggest using a variable strobe light, you know, like one of them 3 million candlepower disco jobs whilst playing music? Vary the frequency of the strobe to see if and how it impacts the sound. Who knows, you might notice the SQ change with each pulse. Good sound, bad sound, good sound. Keep a log. I would be very interested in your results. If you have any kind of history of epileptic episodes this experiment is probably not a good idea for you.
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If you’re a good boy now, Costco, what are you doing on this thread? Are we supposed to be blessed with your reformed, saintly presence? You can paint a donkey different colors, it’s still a donkey. 🦓
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As much as I dislike blowing my own horn 🎷can I mention no matter what color your walls are, even if they’re not the right color, you can still improve SQ with Blue Meanies, highly specialized blue 1” ceramic magnets, one per wall? A Green Meanie should be placed anywhere on the ceiling. As I recall there’s even a mini theory somewhere on my website why these Meanies work that I’m confident everyone will like. 😛
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I imagine it would sound rather wooden. Rim shot!
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What would you like to see in terms of discussion? You started it. 😬 We’re doin the best we can, boss. 😳
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Uh, better re-read what he said.
“The rate of change or compensation may be different when placing earplugs in your ears to stimulate vision. Both compensatory changes take time to occur. The longer the period of time, the more heightened the change.”
Which, as fate would have it, is what I said, not (rpt not) what you said. Hel-loo! What are the chances that someone can turn out the lights and hear better sound quality immediately or in the subsequent one hour, or the next 12 hours? Zero? If that is even true about “compensatory changes,” which I doubt. Sounds too high falutin’. They know how the brain works. Please! Case closed.
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This is starting to sound a lot like the guys at the racetrack who bet on horse races based solely on the jockeys’ colors. 🐎 At least that’s some basis for making a bet, I suppose, albeit neither a scientific one nor a particularly effective one. 😬
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Addendum: an even easier way to experiment with colors in the room is use various colored light bulbs, one color at a time, aimed at the walls. Keep a log. |
It would be ridiculously easy to find out what color for room walls is best for SQ. Simply buy enough poster paper to temporarily paper the walls. Try a restful shade of green, maybe frog green 🐸. Then try black. And white. A medium blue. 🦋 You can try orange 🍊or even peach. 🍑 That would be peachy. How hard could it be? Keep a log. Write it up and send to AES, Psychology Today or post it here, whatever.
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I worked for one of the guys that developed the computer on which your moniker, HAL 5000, is based. You wish have people associate you with HAL 5000. I am different. I am associated with HAL 5000. See the difference? You make a lot of assumptions. Most of them incorrect, as I’ve pointed out. When you can’t win the arguement the names start flying.
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Not so fast, Swee’ Pea. According to the Scientific American article you linked to, I am actually correct regarding people who are born deaf or who “adapt” to deafness over time. Unfortunately for your argument that article says nothing about whether sound is improved by turning out the lights. It certainly doesn’t suggest at all that compensation for lack of any sense is instantaneous or automatic. I assume your others links are equally non-responsive to the actual question - does the SQ improve simply by turning out the lights? There is obviously no time for “rewiring the brain.”
Excerpt from the Scientific American article,
“A new study provides evidence of this rewiring in the brains of deaf people. The study, published in The Journal of Neuroscience, shows people who are born deaf use areas of the brain typically devoted to processing sound to instead process touch and vision. Perhaps more interestingly, the researchers found this neural reorganization affects how deaf individuals perceive sensory stimuli, making them susceptible to a perceptual illusion that hearing people do not experience.”
There is nothing there to suggest even remotely that turning off the lights improves SQ. Well, maybe it does in the mind of the self hypnotized audiophile. 😳
The ball is in your court, cowboy. 🤠
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Addendum: Blind people reportedly have enhanced hearing but that enhanced ability would almost certainly be a learned skill, rather than an automatic response to loss of sight. Also, it’s possible that LIGHTS ON affects the sound in unexpected ways, such as dimmer lights or fluorescent lights, OR that LIGHTS ON actually improves the sound, such as the reports that shining lights on interconnects and speaker cables prior to play or during play improves the sound. Now that I think about it, the Intelligent Chip uses light to improve the sound and my product CD Reanimator uses a multicolored strobe light to improve CDs. If I’m not mistaken Purist Audio has some cables that employ light in the design. So perhaps it’s best left an open question as to whether light hurts or helps SQ.
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gdhal
Try watching tv with earplugs. Let me know if the picture is better.
Hi @geoffkait
I never stated or even implied that because hearing senses are heightened that much more when the visual senses are at bay, that visual senses would be heightened when hearing senses are at bay.
Yes, I know you didn’t. But your theory that hearing is improved when the sense of vision is kept at bay implies it. What could be your theory otherwise? If it doesn’t make sense it’s not true. If you can link to any Science Journal article supporting your theory I’d be much obliged. Or AES, NASA, MIT, Duke University, Psychology Today, New Scientist, whatever. I maintain the whole idea of turning the lights to get better sound out is nothing more than an old wives tale passed down by eager Audiophiles.
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Try watching tv with earplugs. Let me know if the picture is better.
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Re turning lights off when listening
“There is truth in this. The rationale is that the hearing senses are "heightened" that much more when the visual senses are at bay.”
I hate to judge too harshly but I’m pretty sure that’s actually an old wives tale. This is probably a good example of expectation bias, if anything, which I think it’s actually not. Your tv would look better with earplugs. You can even do a controlled blind test with blindfold or A-B test with blindfold? I’d be interested in the results. Of course, someone will say blind people have better hearing than normal but that’s because they rely so much on their hearing. If thy eye offend thee pluck it out. 👀
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Institutional Green was the favorite color for rooms inside mental institutions, hospitals and prisons for like forever. Green, especially that particular dreary and putrid shade of green was assumed by almost everyone to have a calming effect on inmates, patients and prisoners. Unfortunately this whole industrial green movement was based on an old wives tale. The Victorian boom in asylum construction with it’s related color palettes and a belief in the curative effects of the color green. Green, the Victorians argued, is associated with springtime, grass, leaves, outdoors. Of course it should be noted real green, a green the color of grass and trees, would be a bit much for sensitive Victorian tastes so they opted for that rather irritating and putrid shade we call industrial green. 🤢 Victorians associated outdoor activities with health, you know, as opposed to working in coal mines and factories. So, if you want some sun and fresh air go outside and play in the park. But if you want better sound paint your walls blue.
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Even in the dark does the brain 🧠 know colors are there, you know, even when you can’t see them with your eyes? 👀 You know, like ESP. 😳 Let’s take the case of the colored magnets, does the effect go away when you turn out the lights? I think not.
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I don’t mean to be difficult but sound is the same thing as perception of sound. What you perceive to be the sound IS the sound. In other words, the sound you hear is not (rpt not) really completely determined by the enclosed system - the system comprised of speakers and components, room, cabling, the recording and House AC. I know what you’re thinking. And it’s not RFI/EMI or vibration.
What I’m referring to has more to do with placebo effect and expectation bias, yet it’s not psychological than the usual suspects like RFI/EMI or vibration or acoustic anomalies. The listener, even a very experienced and acute listener, can not distinguish between a change in cable or component or the effect of a new tweak, for example, and the effect on the sound by an external force or influence not associated with the closed system of the audio system.
The color of the walls is one such external influence, and one that’s not related to acoustics or vibration. Color of the walls subconsciously or consciously affects our perception of the sound. But that is only one example. The color of magnets is another example of what I’m referring to. For those who experiment with magnets in various locations, try using magnets painted different colors and see how color affects the sound. I.e., RED on aluminum, BLUE on steel, GREEN on glass, any or all colors on wood.
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As it turns out blue is best for walls whilst green is best for the ceiling. And, no, don’t try to pull the old controlled blind test thing on me. 🤠
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