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Maybe being discerning isn't that good for us?

A topic I touch on now and then, I think about what the average person hears, what I hear, and what it means to be discerning. What good is it for us, our community, and the industry?

I’ll touch on a couple of clear examples. I was at a mass DAC shoot out and spoke with one of the few ladies there. To paraphrase her, she said this:

Only with DACs made in the the last few years can I listen to digital music without getting a headache.

I never had that problem, but we both experienced a significant improvement in sound quality at about the same time. Lets take her statement as 100% true for this argument.

On the other hand, I am completely insensitive to absolute phase issues which some claim to be. I’m also VERY sensitive to room acoustics, which many fellow audiophiles can completely ignore.

Lets assume the following:

  • The lady really did get headaches due to some issue with older DACs
  • There really are people very sensitive to absolute phase.

I’ve also found the concept of machine learning, and neural networks in particular truly fascinating. In areas of medical imaging, in specific areas such as breast cancer detection, neural networks can be more accurate than trained pathologists. In the case of detecting early cancer, discernment has an obvious advantage: More accuracy equals fewer unnecessary procedures, and longer lives, with less cost. Outstanding!!

Now what if, like the trained neural networks, I could teach myself to be sensitive to absolute phase? This is really an analog for a lot of other things like room acoustics, cables, capacitors, frequency response, etc, but lets stick to this.

Am I better off? Did I not in fact just go down a rabbit hole which will cause me more grief and suffering? Was I not better before I could tell positive vs. negative recording polarity?

How do you, fellow a’gonner stop yourself, or choose which rabbit holes to go through? Ever wonder if you went down one too many and have to step back?
erik_squires
jbrrp1
423 posts
 
Allow me to stand this on its head:  for many, things not being too good for us made us aurally discerning.  

I learned this from a very good psychologist that my wife and I saw for marriage counseling (worked very well, by the way - - taught me so much about relationships, and saved our marriage, made it better than ever).  In our sessions it was noted just how finely tuned to verbal nuance my ears are, and how this extends to music and just plain noise realms.  She noted that studies show very hightened listening capability among those who grow up in highly stressful households, because you learn to listen veeerrry carefully for nuance in tone before someone explodes.  These are the people who are annoyed by that damned sound in the room that no one else hears, and they use their localization skills to root it out and stop it.  It sure fit my childhood, and my life experience.  And it has made me wonder how many other audio nuts might not see themselves in that mirror.

Absolute phase is interesting.  To me it is stunningly obvious, and it boggles my mind to think that others cannot hear it.  And cables.  Yes, capacitors.  And component break in.  There's a reason I like to cultivate this hobby.  Thank goodness music is one of the purest joys in life!

And, yes, get some Ohm's and zen out is a good path, too.  (Ooohhmmm!)
erik_squires OP
16,126 posts
 
Absolute phase is interesting. To me it is stunningly obvious, and it boggles my mind to think that others cannot hear it.


I can’t hear it. At all. From experts I've read, it's all about how the ear mechanically works. It is of course possible some people are sensitive to it, the brain and neural learning are capable of detecting non-obvious signals and using them in ways we don't fully understand.

But ... from all the reading, I'm in the majority.
gdnrbob
4,447 posts
 
Now this is a great thread!

Some say 'Ignorance is Bliss'.
Some say 'Knowledge is Power'

There are some people who have pitch perfect hearing. So, hearing a song can either be enjoyable or painful.-Something that the vast majority of humans would be unable to detect. The same song could bring joy to them but not the one with pitch perfect hearing.

The only way I could learn to discern either absolute phase or room acoustic deficiencies is to have someone who is sensitive to those issues provide a comparative demo.
I probably wouldn't be happy listening to many systems after getting to be able to discern such subtle differences, but I would be more informed.
Bob
cd318
2,636 posts
 
jbrrp1,

"She noted that studies show very hightened listening capability among those who grow up in highly stressful households, because you learn to listen veeerrry carefully for nuance in tone before someone explodes. These are the people who are annoyed by that damned sound in the room that no one else hears, and they use their localization skills to root it out and stop it. It sure fit my childhood, and my life experience."


Excellent illustration, one that goes for me too. In my case although the tone of a voice might not always be an infallible means of determining someone's nature - so far it's easily been the best one that I know of.
erik_squires OP
16,126 posts
 
She noted that studies show very hightened listening capability among those who grow up in highly stressful households, because you learn to listen veeerrry carefully for nuance in tone before someone explodes.

I do this to, for the same reasons, in my case, the advice was that I was too sensitive to get the message. That my sensitivity to tone prevented me from hearing the words too. I find that this varies for me depending on how stressed I am, and have to be extra careful when stressed or tired that I'm not misunderstanding.

A good analog, in the positive and negative sense, of us hearing audio equipment. Listening to the foibles may make it hard for us to hear the emotion in the notes.
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