How Science Got Sound Wrong


I don't believe I've posted this before or if it has been posted before but I found it quite interesting despite its technical aspect. I didn't post this for a digital vs analog discussion. We've beat that horse to death several times. I play 90% vinyl. But I still can enjoy my CD's.  

https://www.fairobserver.com/more/science/neil-young-vinyl-lp-records-digital-audio-science-news-wil...
artemus_5

atdavid
"
That 324 is an erroneous interpretation of if we scanned our eyes over a field of view but out brains do not really work that way."

This claim reflects a simple, basic, fundamental misunderstanding or ignorance of the very essential nature of vision but the pronouncement and declaration is consistent with this poster's habit and practice of issuing proclamations intended to be received with an air of authority but which in actual fact and practice are no more than misguided conclusions derived from a few slivers of fact gleaned from Google searches.
I’m afraid things are much worse than audiophiles think they are. Are sensory perceptions are influenced by not only the obvious physical conscious reality around us but also by the subconscious physical reality, that over which we have no control. It is what it is, it’s the way we developed over hundreds of thousands of years, how humans selectively evolved to be able to survive in a world fraught with danger. Danger all around. Danger from above 🦅 danger from below 🐊 danger from all manner of man eating beasts 🐅. His senses of hearing and vision are especially alert 🚨 to any hint of danger. And his adrenaline starts pumping and his legs start moving as soon as he detects a threat. Feets don’t fail me now! 🏃‍♂️

Man has very evolved extremely complex and clever threat detection and threat avoidance systems. You could say the brain is like a transceiver, operating consciously and subconsciously. You can’t just turn them off. You could even go so far as to say it’s akin to Mind-Matter Interaction. Or even ESP. In this modern world with all manner of potential threats colors, some “unnatural” shapes, our personal communications devices 📱 connected to an uncertain and dangerous world 😬 and many other things too numerous to list here can affect our perception of sound.

As fate would have it, humans are in virtually CONSTANT stress because there are so many “triggers” in our local environment. Thus, Mr. Audiophile sitting in the comfort of his Lazy Boy cannot distinguish between the conscious physical reality and the subconscious mental reality. He can’t blame the sound entirely on the integrity of the acoustic waves.
Mahgister,
I think I get where you are coming from, but the author of the article was attacking digital audio at the signal level, not at the "sound getting to the ear" level. Sound is complex. Recorded signals ... not so much.
It seems we understand each other at least, a little bit....

Let me be clearer, the writer is not attacking digital audio technology " per se" … At the end of his article his remarks are very clear about the direction that it will be necessary to take to improve digital technology....Then this writer is not a "goofy" lover of vinyl denying the value of digital audio like some in this thread suggest him to be... This writer is not attacking digital audio at all, he think about the necessary linkage between the digital audio imperatives, and like you just express it in your words the "sound getting to the ear" level...Then your reading of this article fixating on an technical point does not do justice to this man ...

This guy credentials are linked to tech innovation but he was also a theorist in neuro physical sound perception... Listen to him :

« The Coming Microtime Technologies

I predict the emergence of three new technologies that could change the world by reconnecting people.

1) Devices that quantify sound the right way. It shouldn’t be hard to create a multi-function “tricorder.” It could measure someone’s sonic environment in all kinds of ways: decibels (min, max, median, average), frequency distribution, suddenness, repetition and any other signal parameters that matter to ears and brains. Better yet, when paired via a data channel with a matching tricorder on the other end of a phone line, it could track sensory metrics of the call itself, such as latency, latency jitter, hotspots and dead spots in pattern-space and (with stereo) 3D reconstruction resolution. This device would provide sensory-nutrition information, akin to the nutrition labels on foods, enabling healthy decisions.

2) Microtime recording and stereo. A video technology called an “event camera” already exists, which uses pulses much like the nervous system does. Audio pulse-tracking could underlie a whole new form of analog recording, tossing amplitude and keeping microtime instead. When that recording scheme is used for stereo, played back through well-placed speakers, listeners will experience the sharpest, fullest 3D sonic field possible short of real live sound.

3) Micropresence = microtime telepresence. Imagine marrying microtime stereo with remote-video “telepresence” for the best interpersonal connection possible over distances. One very good arrangement would be an augmented-reality system (connecting matched rooms) that superimposes your conversation partner’s face consistently and coherently atop your own visual space. Microtime visual cues like micro-expressions will be partly visible even on a 3D face scanned by normal video. When combined with microtime sound properly aligned with the speaker’s mouth and throat, you will experience the most coherent sensori-motor experience possible remotely.

The sooner technology restores the microtime connections that humans need to thrive, the sooner we will thrive again, leaving loneliness behind for good »


Now I must go for the day, I wish the best to you and to all....



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