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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
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,570 posts
 
Women have smaller ear canals than we do. They are more sensitive to frequencies above 3000 Hz. They are also more sensitive to what they hear. At night the tiniest of noises will wake a woman up while we continue to snore on. I think in nature this has to do with their child protection instinct, their early warning system. This is also why they like being up higher (SUVs) They are uncomfortable with loud music because it defeats their early warning system. 
As for the DACs your example is anecdotal. In and of itself it does not mean much. Certainly, DACs have improved. The early CD players were annoying. 
As for phase you have to know what to listen for. It has to do with imaging and dynamics not sound quality(like brightness or bass heavy etc) Hook up one speaker out of phase and listen to what happens. Have somebody behind a speaker hold the leads in place and switch polarity immediately on your demand so you can quickly A+B. The punch disappears and the image collapses. All this can happen to varying degrees at certain frequencies. I think you have to have lived with a system that is phase correct for a while to know when something is off. My speakers are one way ESLs and the subwoofers are corrected in phase and time to match the ESLs (actually it is the ESLs that are delayed) You always tend to compare other system to your own. A big system is going to sound more extraordinary to a person with a small system than a person who already has a big system. If you do not have a system that is phase and time correct it will be hard to notice when other systems are phase and time correct. All of us learn over time how to listen as we gain experience. 
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
That would certainly explain why women can hear subtle changes to the system or controversial tweaks all the way from the kitchen whereas men have to resort to controlled double blind tests.

Smaller ear canals would also explain why the sound travels faster in women’s ears. Thank you Mr. Bernoulli!  😬
elliottbnewcombjr
5,640 posts
 
I knew women were more sensitive to high frequencies, never thought about why. Very good supposition I think. I definitely use a lower max vol when listening with Donna than myself or male friends. 

You would love our friend Fran, every time we had our annual big picnic (business and friends), she would position herself right in front of one of my big speakers and any time I passed into that room, she would ask me to turn it down. MOVE SOMEWHERE ELSE FRAN. She stayed right there.
jpwarren58
687 posts
 
Certain folks smell, taste differently.
Heck certain people train themselves to taste olive oil, wine, etc. 
So why not hearing?
Another factor in a Universe of factors.
glupson
7,842 posts
 
"Smaller ear canals would also explain why the sound travels faster in women’s ears. Thank you Mr. Bernoulli!"
It would also explain why those ear canals close more readily, preventing sound from going through.
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