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different people may hear the same sound differently...

This is quite interesting....

https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/b28f6090-980c-4a4c-883e14005921bd91/#:~:text=Neurons%20in%20the%20brain%27s%20hearing,Cynthia%20Graber%20reports.
 

"Neurons in the brain’s hearing center reacted differently to the same sounds in different test subjects--so different people may hear the same sound differently. Cynthia Graber reports.

 

Our ears are highly attuned to sounds in the world around us. It’s not just the frequency of the sound itself. There are also subtle differences and shifts in loudness and pitch. That’s what tells us, for instance, whether that baby crying belongs to us and just where it’s located. But according to a recent study, what you and I hear may not sound the same.

Scientists at the University of Oxford are trying to understand how the ears and the brain work together. They fit ferrets with auditory implants, trained them to respond to sound, and then looked at the way their neurons reacted. It turns out that each ferret’s neurons in the auditory cortex responded to changes in gradual differences in sound ­ but each ferret responded differently.

The researchers say this is applicable to humans. They say this means that our brains are wired to process sounds depending on how our ears deliver that sound. So if you suddenly heard the world through my ears, it might sound quite different. The scientists say this research could help in the quest to design better hearing aids and speech recognition systems

Neurons in the brain’s hearing center reacted differently to the same sounds in different test subjects--so different people may hear the same sound differently. Cynthia Graber reports.

 

Our ears are highly attuned to sounds in the world around us. It’s not just the frequency of the sound itself. There are also subtle differences and shifts in loudness and pitch. That’s what tells us, for instance, whether that baby crying belongs to us and just where it’s located. But according to a recent study, what you and I hear may not sound the same.

Scientists at the University of Oxford are trying to understand how the ears and the brain work together. They fit ferrets with auditory implants, trained them to respond to sound, and then looked at the way their neurons reacted. It turns out that each ferret’s neurons in the auditory cortex responded to changes in gradual differences in sound ­ but each ferret responded differently.

The researchers say this is applicable to humans. They say this means that our brains are wired to process sounds depending on how our ears deliver that sound. So if you suddenly heard the world through my ears, it might sound quite different. The scientists say this research could help in the quest to design better hearing aids and speech recognition systems."

—Cynthia Graber

kuribo
pcrhkr's avatar
pcrhkr
261 posts
 

Ha,ha! It's not only the ears that matter, but what's between them.

holmz's avatar
holmz
2,328 posts
 

It is getting a bit metaphysical.
There is only one piano, regardless if 1 person or 100 are in the audience.

if the reproduced piano sounds like the real one, then it is “job done.” If it doesn’t then the EQ or equipment changes to make it more like a real piano should be universal across the 100 people.

juanmanuelfangioii
958 posts
 

Yep I never hear my wife or kids when they ask for money..LOL little levity seeing how we are all wound so tight. 

4krowme's avatar
4krowme
542 posts
 

Even before music, sound was extremely important to me. I learned at an early age, that much of what I heard was noise to me. This included language. Unfortunately, most sound in general was overwhelming and nearly intolerable. Especially shrill to me were girls screaming, dogs barking, and any traffic was confounding to me. You bet it affected my schooling. It seemed that a lot of it had to be figured out by myself in a way. 

 When I first heard much of the music that was in church or elsewhere, a lot of it sounded bad, and I was right. Finally, professional recordings of the day changed my mind, and though a choir was not understood by my hearing, the pitches, definition and more was still beautiful. This eventually led to me to learning to play trumpet, and band was a big thing when the music became more advanced. 

 A little later audio became enjoyable through equipment that I bought in high school. Never knew the lyrics to songs, but the melody, or counter melody along with other musical factors drew me further into audio. I suppose that it was a sort of natural choice. To this day, I sometimes wear ear plugs at a restaurant so I can read a book. Much the same reason that I will sit outside just to distance myself from the clucking.

 Most people don't have much of a reaction to a spoon dropping on the floor. I envy that.

4krowme's avatar
4krowme
542 posts
 

Wasn't trying to derail the thread, just being honest about how my ear/brain works. It has been sort of fascinating for me to know what it is like for 'normal' people.

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