Here’s my dedicated room front door panel phrase:
”You can listen all you mesure, but you can’t mesure all you listen”
Mainly, you can’t mesure sound perception.
Do you agree?
Pleasurably better, not measurably better
I have created a new phrase: pleasurably better.
I am giving it to the world. Too many technophiles are concerned with measurably better, but rarely talk about what sounds better. What gives us more pleasure. The two may lie at opposite ends of the spectrum.
I use and respect measurements all the time, but I will never let any one of them dictate to me what I actually like listening to.
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- 92 posts total
@pinotnoir Absolutely! I have a 27 page/20 1312 comment response forum on Audio Science Review = "The better the measurement, the better the sound" philosophy and an additional rebuttal forum (current) which debunks the absolutists who claim that measurements tell all. ASR/Amir eliminates all cables and tweaks as snake oil if they are not inexpensive (cables) or worthless (tweaks). |
This chase for neutrality (or accuracy or however you want to call it) makes me wonder. Audio setups with a strong sonic signature aside, it‘s like investing so much in finding something that has least personality. From the top of my hat I can‘t think of any hobby or whatever gives you pleasure where least personality is something widely accepted as the ultimate goal. “I went out dining, and let me tell you, that casserole was so accurate. I loved its linearity. I measured it.“ I‘m joking of course, but I think there‘s something to it. |
@pinotnoir , agreed, how can a "single" mic possibly capture the same thing a "pair" of ears does? Impossible. |
@chmaiwald Great! Food comparison. McDonald's burgers measure better than any other fast food burger for consistency. Despite that, I only eat Angus ground sirloin burgers at Le Petit French restaurant because they taste better to me. Amir's answer-Le Petit's burgers are too expensive so I am throwing away money when I could have purchased half a dozen McDonald's. Last night I enjoyed listening to a 1912 recording of Gounod's Romeo & Juliet. It wasn't hifi but it had dynamic sounding singing of high quality. Until I moved into my custom listening room 3 years ago, I did not enjoy the sound of these 78 rpm transfers to LP. Now, it's pleasurable and I am stunned at the transfer which had virtually noiseless 78 rpm surfaces. Then I heard the famous Mitropoulos Mahler 1st Symphony from 1941 on CD transfer. That was fabulous (I've made copies for friends who heard it at my home and were also astonished). These were single horn and mike recordings. |
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