Is it me or new audio gear is too perfect and give ear fatigue?

Ear fatigue is caused by higher ordered harmonic distortion that isn't masked by the music or lower ordered harmonics. 

My friend who is an audio hardware vendor told me the same thing yesterday. I was complaining about fatigue using a new product. 

Well yes high order harmonic distortion is in fact a thing to avoid for that reason but if someone really believes ear fatigue due to high order harmonics is truly an inherent problem still in in practice then just stick to tubes old or new and choose your distortions there because truly good modern SS amplification gear is better at that than ever before.

Its like saying fatty food is bad for your health. Yes it is so just find the foods that aren’t. Then make sure to avoid their downsides too. Bottom line is there is more good  quality food that is good for your health available today than ever before. Why? Because people now care about that and science provides the means to make things better.

For example,  take Atmasphere amps designed to explicitly not produce high order distortion.  Until recently these were all tube amps but now an Atmasphere SS Class D amp is a real thing.   So draw your own conclusion there about the capabilities of modern technology done well.  Done well is ALWAYS the key.  That just takes smart people who are good engineers. 

Also, just for the record I have heard some very expensive tube systems at shows designed explicitly to not produce ear fatigue deliver some of the most fatiguing sound in the show. Probably a system mismatch issue combined with challenging room acoustics. Again, doing it right and applying the best technology correctly is ALWAYS the key, not any specific one type of technology used. Guarandamteed! 😉

Also as a footnote if modern gear is producing degrading high order harmonics IT IS NOT TOO PERFECT…..in fact it is flawed. There will always be winners and loser in any product category. Again it’s all in the execution and the choices provided by modern technology. Those choices always continue to do nothing but improve. So choose wisely! 🦉