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Whether to do anything about the limitations of our ears

In the thread 'How do you listen?' appears the following:

"We do not hear all frequencies equally well at all volume levels. Low bass and high treble in particular need to be at a fairly high level to be heard at all."

This asks a big question:

Should we listen as our ears hear, with their inability to apprehend all audio band frequencies at the same intensity? As we are of course compelled to do when listening to live music.

Or when listening to recorded music should we adjust the intensity of particular frequencies we don't hear so well?  This will of course give a different presentation from what we hear live.

Or, to put it a different way, should audio manufacturers design equipment to present the frequency range as flat as a microphone perceives it, or as our ears perceive it?

But a microphone is just another flawed ear, with its own imperfections as regards intensity across the audio frequency range (and others of course).

Or, again: a flat response can be flat only as the means of listening presents it.



clearthinker

Showing 2 responses by hilde45

hilde45's avatar
hilde45
5,261 posts
 
I neglected to consider their accumulated lifetime memory of how things sounded to them.

This is a powerful realization. Yes, there are certain frequencies which are gone, even by mid forties. But listening is different than hearing because listening involves attention and interpretation. There's a reason that we attend to what older scientists, physicians, chefs, etc. say about their area of expertise — because they have developed intelligence and habits which yield good judgment.

The same applies to experienced listeners, regardless of their physical hearing loss, as long as it's not dramatic or if it bears upon the very aspect of sound which is under analysis at the moment.
hilde45's avatar
hilde45
5,261 posts
 
This is tough I’ll just sell my system asap.

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