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Listener fatigue: what does it really mean?

Okay, so I used to think that listener fatigue meant that your ears just kind of got tired from listening to speakers that were overly bright. I don't have a good understanding of the make up of an ear, but I believe there are muscles in an ear that, I guess, expand and contract while we listen to music and I figured that's what it meant to have listener fatigue. Now, I'm thinking that listener fatigue is maybe more than your ears just getting tired but actually, your whole body getting tired and feeling drained. I experienced this time and time again listening to my paradigm studio's. They are somewhat bright and provide quite a bit of detail in my oppinion, so I'm wondering if, since there was such a great amount of detail coming through, that it was physically draining because I'm sitting there analyzing everything that's coming through the speakers. I would wake up and first thing in the morning, grab a cup of coffee and start listening to music (my daily routine) and 20-30 minutes later start nodding off and I couldn't figure out what was going on. I've been sitting here this morning listening to my new vandersteen's for two hours and can't get enough. I feel like I could listen all day and that I'm almost energized from listening vs. drained.

Soooo, what are your oppinions about what listener fatigue is and why it's caused?
b_limo
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,746 posts
 
"It means its time to upgrade."

Good one!

But upgrade implies better or more expensive accordingly. Maybe practically its simply just time to fix things. It may cost more or less in the end than what you started with. Practically, spending more is probably part of what makes us feel better in the end, but I would not assume that.
schubert
7,386 posts
 
Listener Fatigue is just your brain trying to translate something it knows is not real into something that sounds real. The hareder this is for gray matter the harder this on you. When you get to 3-4 hrs of listening still feeling good, stop spending money.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,746 posts
 
"When you get to 3-4 hrs of listening still feeling good, stop spending money."

That's pretty good advice!
bifwynne
2,206 posts
 
I'm not going to read the prior responses because I think the issue of so-called listener fatigue is too complicated to answer with a simple post. Possible sources could start with the quality of input materials (e.g. CDs or LPs), could be tonearm and carty imcompatibility, and work its way to the speakers. Even simple downstream component incompatibility could be the culpret. Of course the easy answer may be the speakers.

As regards the issue of compatibility, there are a number of threads currently running about so called tube friendly and SS friendly speakers. The consensus seems to be that a mismatch between speakers and amps could cause an ear-ache.

Bottom lione: I wish there was a simple answer. I don't believe there is, but if one quickly trips on the solution, the problem could be easily resolved. Unfortunately, the solution may require switching out components, even though as a stand alone, the offending component may be an excellent piece of gear.

FWIW
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,746 posts
 
"Possible sources could start with the quality of input materials (e.g. CDs or LPs)"

I used to think this was more of a factor in the past than I do these days. I really think system related issues are a much bigger factor, though I know a lot of people find modern "louder" recordings to be a source of fatigue. That is a likely category of recordings to cause listening fatigue, but I find many modern "louder" recordings to actually be quite good, only a small % blatantly fatiguing. I wonder if some are actually designed to grate on your nerves rather than happen to come out that way.
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