2. misc-audio
  3. 1149021886

This should be controversial....hearing tests...

How many audiophiles out there have had their ears tested for hearing loss? Even partial loss? I bet the fearless would be surprised by the results. Has anyone tested their hearing with their own rigs to hear tones above 12,000 hz? 15,000 hz? 16,000 hz? I won't even ask about frequencies above 16-17,000 hz since most adults can not hear these high frequencies.

A hearing test will indicated if you have partial loss. This is the most important factor when evaluating systems since the selective hearing which occurs from a loss/drop in certain frequencies will most undoubtedly have an effect on one's ability to perceive neutrality and hence the benchmark from which all components are evaluated...

I.e.... for someone with damage to hearing in the 6-8000 hz. range, sparkle in a tube amp may be too hard or bright to the person with no hearing loss or damage in those frequencies......

Just an aside, hearing loss statistics are quite high for the general population. 10 million americans have suffered from noise induced hearing loss and 30 million americans are exposed to dangerous noise levels everyday. 12 million americans or more have tinnitus.

Does everyone think their hearing is perfect? Has anyone checked?

Just curious.

J
nudaddy
thedautch
329 posts
 
My hearing used to be kind of veiled, but then I moved eight inches farther out from the wall and now everything is perfect.
pabelson
344 posts
 
Rcprince, implicit in my comment is that I don't pay much attention to other people's descriptions of sound, no matter how good their hearing is. If you do, I would suggest that the quality of their hearing should be the least of your worries.
virtualimage
11 posts
 
This subject shouldn't be controversial at all if you approach it with logic. Every time you hear anything, you hear it with your own ears, warts and all (this is why the idea that seems to surface every few years about "ear equalization" is a crock. Such a sound would be the least natural thing anybody ever heard). A perfect reproduction of an event (if we could achieve it) will sound perfect to EVERYBODY so long as they listen to live music on a regular basis (so that they can adapt to the fact that their hearing has changed).
This also applies to unequal sensitivity of one's ears: one gets used to the fact that a sound directly in front of you is louder in one ear (I don't think there's one "normal" person in the universe whose ears are equal, yet we have no difficulty identifying that a sound is originating directly in front of us).
Equally obvious is the fact that people with no ability to hear certain ranges of frequencies cannot evaluate performance in those frequency ranges.
There's no controversy at all to this issue.
sol322
426 posts
 
If I can extend the joy of listening to music more time by checking SPL levels and if required (which is not now )adjust my listening environment to my listening condition I think it's worth checking.
The experience of been in the booth for the tests is interesting because you can really check how noisy our normal listening environment and world is. IT kind of remind me of a time I went snorkeling in a quiet river pond after some seconds going underwater I started to realize how out of my normal environment I was and was surprised when I started listening to my heart......

Tvad I liked the Clever clock use!!!

Danlib1 interesting, my says I suffer from your same listening condition......
newmanoc
295 posts
 
The original post not so subtly implies that the differences of opinion on Audiogon are related to varying degrees of hearing loss in its members. If that is what you meant to say, Nudaddy, you are obviously wrong. People with equally good hearing are by no means going to agree on what equipment sounds good to them. You don't have to be around the audio world more that a few weeks to clearly recognize this. It is the classically arrogant position of the worst sort of audiophile to say, "if you don't agree with me, it is because you can't hear."

There is more to hearing at the level of hi-fidelity audio than simple frequency detection, though that is of course where it all starts. Considerable processing by higher brain functions is required before sounds are even registered in consciousness. How they are then fully experienced is influenced by a huge number of factors that I suppose can loosely be thought of to ultimately produce a person's taste in audio. For differences in perceptions about hi-fi equipment, you would be much better off looking to these higher functions than the most rudimentary.
More to discover