When are people going to wake up and realize listening is a skill?


Thirty years ago I realized my lifelong dream of owning a 911. This is a fast car and so first thing I did was join PCA to get some track experience in order to be able to drive safely at speed. Of course I already knew how to drive. I was a "good driver" much better than most, etc, etc. 

PCA Driver Ed begins with several hours of classroom study. Track rules, safety, and some car control skills- braking, steering, throttle control. Yeah, yeah, whatever let's go!    

Then at the track they put you in your car with an instructor and you head out onto the track driving so freaking slow, actually normal freeway driving speed but it seems slow because, race track. So we play follow the leader with the instructor pointing out cones. Braking cones, turn-in cone, apex cone, track out cone. Each turn is numbered 1 thru 9, and there's turn worker stations, and they have flags, and you need to be watching and know what they mean, because you screw up and that is it your day is done. One full 20 min session, all the excitement of a tour bus.  

Bear with me. There's a connection here. Trust me. 

It goes on like this all day until finally we are signed off to drive solo but then there is an accident, flat bed, that's it for the day. 

Next time out I am so super confident instead of novice I sign up for Intermediate. Same cars, only the Intermediate drivers are supposed to somehow be better. Whatever.   

So out I go and Holy Crap everyone is passing me! I am driving as fast as I possibly can and being passed by everyone! Not only that, if you have ever driven as fast as you possibly can then you know this means braking as late as you possibly can, cornering as fast as you can, all of it. Which without fear of police is pretty damn fast! So fast I am not at all used to it, and so by the end of 20 min am literally sweating and exhausted!  

But I keep at it. Turns out all that classroom talk is about driving skills that are absolutely essential, not only to know but to be able to do. Threshold braking is braking right at the edge of lockup. Right at the very edge. Those cones are there for reference, to help you delay braking as long as possible. The turn-in cones are where you start turning, apex cone where you are right at the inside edge of the turn, track-out where you come out the other side. Do all this while at the very limit of traction and you are going very fast indeed. Without- and this is the essential part- without really trying to go fast.  

Learn the skills, practice the techniques until you are able to execute smoothly, efficiently, and consistently, and you will be fast. Without ever really trying to go fast.   

The connection here is, everyone thinks they hear just fine. Just like they think they drive just fine. In the classroom they talk about threshold braking, the late apex line, and controlling weight transfer with throttle. Just like here we talk about grain, glare, imaging and sound stage.   

I left one part out. All the track rats, they all start out talking about horsepower, springs and spoilers, thinking these are what makes the car fast. They are, sort of. But really it is the driver. By the time I was an instructor myself it was easy to go out with those same Intermediate drivers and it was like the commute to work it was so easy. My car was the same. Only my skills were greater.  

So when are people gonna wake up and realize listening is just like this? Nobody expects to become a really good golfer, tennis player or rock climber just by going out and doing it. Why are so many stuck talking watts? When are they gonna realize that is just like track rats talking hp?


128x128millercarbon
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did the kid lap ya in the Lotus ?

My solo 2 buddy, national champion gave me my first taste of what a Lotus in capable hands can do….intoxicating….
barts-
Hey MC,
I think the track analogy works rather well inasmuch as its a description of how anyone can get better at a skill. Many years ago JA in Stereophile (I believe it was JA) posted a similar analogy using the learning curve of a radiologist reading x-rays. Starts out as blobs of black and white and as the radiologists skill set increases it eventually turns into a definitive picture.

Robert Harley uses this same x-ray metaphor in his The Complete Guide to High End Audio. Being an x-ray tech myself it definitely applies.  

An x-ray is a 2D image of 3D anatomy. At first it is nothing but shades of gray. Then you learn anatomy and physics and the shades take on meaning. Now hardly a day goes by I'm not explaining to some MD how to interpret, which calls for understanding not only the underlying anatomy but the physics of the imaging system including the x-ray beam itself.

This experience blows out of the water the claim that all you have to do is listen a lot. It does no good to practice, unless you know what it is you are practicing. It is the very nature of improvement to not know what it is that you need to know! Every single student I ever had not only did not know how to drive, they literally did not know what it was they were doing wrong, or how to do it right, or have even the slightest idea what it is they need to learn. When I say every single one, I mean every single one- including myself!

That is why it would be so nice if the haters would drop the act. But wish in one hand hope in the other.....
Millercarbon, great post, great analogy!
Lots of very diverse answers in the thread...
To enjoy the music, to gain instant gratification you do not need any special training. That's the same as being the PASSENGER in the car. The driver position in audio is for IMPROVING, steering your system. When you don't know how to listen, what to listen for - then your ride will be quite bumpy and expensive - flatbedding and stuck in the kiddie lane, and you will be making wrong and costly choices that end up in audio burn out.
Zero effort gets zero results. You want to step to next level in audio? Take up your audio-helmet and work on your hearing skills.

Sure, there are plenty of pretend guys. That's why we call them pretend guys to make the distinction from the REAL ones. If you are fixated on just the pretend guys... it's like seeking out the worst surgeons and then complaining that your surgery went all wrong.
You are heading where your compass is set. Choose your setting, and follow your path.

If, dear reader, you feel you have the capacity to improve, then you will surely do so and reach your goal!If your comfort zone is in whining and staying negative - no problemo. Buy the cheapest stereo gear, and presto - you have hacked the system!