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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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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,
csontos
1,311 posts
 
The system is stupid. It doesn't know how to do anything but play back the recording. Ralph was referring to an apparent sonic enhancement caused by the gear.
learsfool
1,215 posts
 
Charles1dad does have a point here. While I fully understand Atmasphere's point he makes about substituting distortion for dynamics (I agree that what many people call brightness is actually distortion), Charles is right that this is oversimplification. Any musician does not naturally associate those two terms at all. Different types of systems reproduce amplitude differently, some much better than others, and I don't mean just on the loud end, but also the very soft end, which is especially important when listening to acoustically produced music, whether orchestral or jazz. This is an entirely separate thing from distortion. This is one big reason, for instance, why many professional musicians still prefer lower powered amps coupled with very high efficiency speakers - this combo, generally speaking of course, reproduces the entire dynamic spectrum more easily and more naturally sounding. That's getting pretty old school nowadays, with all the higher powered amps and lower efficiency speaker designs out there, but that's how most of us musicians who play acoustic instruments feel.
petepappp
37 posts
 
Definitely agree with Atmasphere detail/brightness comments. Good or improved detail, upgrading a system component for example, to me is when you are able to hear things that were more hinted at but not defined before and relaxed presentation would also apply unless the recording calls for some thing different. Brightness definitely adds to fatigue. I guess what I am calling dynamics would be the ability for the system to reproduce accurately subtle as well as very energetic or loud musical passages. Accurately being the key phrase. This ability should make the music more interesting and less fatiguing IMO. I realize increased SPLs caused can cause amp clipping, speaker inablilty to reproduce, etc. and there must be a "noise" threshold for fatigue. Dynamic range might also be part of this discussion and seems strange to me. I think that a good analogy would be overly compressed mp3 files compared to HD FLAC files (well recorded and mixed ones). I say strange because 15ips reel to reel recordings do not have the dynamic range of say DSD, but there is something to them beyond their increased level of detail that makes them special. Maybe dynamics?
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,
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