"I Trust My Ears"
Do you? Can you? Should you?
I don’t. The darn things try to trick me all the time!
Seriously, our ears are passive sensors. They forward sonic data to our brains. Ears don’t know if the data in question represents a child crying, a Chopin prelude, or a cow dropping a cowpie. That’s our brains’ job to figure out.
Similarly, our brains decide whether A sounds better than B, whether a component sounds phenomenal, etc.
So, "I trust my ears" should really be "I trust my brains".
And that has a different ring to it, doesn’t it?
Per 'training' and preference. One can choose to be self taught or base their choices on various external forces/influences. The self taught will listen to many systems and develop their preferences through experiential learning process.
One can't deny measurements are critical for audio component design. For the end user measurements can be important in properly matching individual components to make for a synergistic whole. |
Regarding the discussion pertaining to the value of trained listening in the evaluation of audio equipment, much now foundational research has been published on this topic, especially by the honored and well-known audio engineers Floyd Toole and Sean Olive. Here is a great summary article by Sean Olive that appears on his blog: Toole and Olive are both retired now from their research careers at the laboratories of Canada's National Research Council and Harman International. FYI, Toole has a forthcoming fourth edition of his seminal work, Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers, Rooms, and Headphones, that will be published in October. It will include contributions by Olive and other distinguished researchers. Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers,
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@mashif ..."I trust my feelings. If I listen to music I love and it doesn't feel right, SOMETHING is wrong. I can use my ears and brain to analyze why." I'd just like to point out what a great answer that is. It is so easy to get stuck on the analytical side, and have it start leading. Ultimately it is your subconscious that is soothed and satisfied by music.. which is why it is so universally appreciated. Listening to your inner self is probably the most important aspect of putting together a great sounding system. |
I took a quick look at the Sean Olive article @sargonicuse references. It’s well-known that Harman uses focus groups in its design process. Olive is / was involved in setting up a training program for listeners participating in those focus groups. As is the norm with Harman / Lansing research, Olive’s piece is well-documented, thorough, and accessible to the non-engineer. Interestingly a training software was developed. It is named How to Listen. It can be downloaded here. I intend to take a delve when time permits. Thank you for this interesting link.
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