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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
22,742 posts
 
Mihorn,

That's a unique way of breaking things down that I had not heard or thought of before applied to home audio. I have some background in geology (though it s been awhile) and the concept of P and S waves as they relate to seismic waves rings a bell.

Are you a seismologist?

It's an interesting perspective on sound that at first take rings true to me.
learsfool
1,215 posts
 
I also agree with Mihorn - loud volume itself has a physical impact on the listener. I experience it every day on stage at work, though it does help somehow to be causing some of it as well, blowing back at it, if you will. This is definitely a contributing factor to listener fatigue, if one plays one's home system too loudly.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
If one follows some of the principles of Feng Shui, the ancient art of organization and energy control, you know, things like getting rid of old newspapers and old magazines and books, he should notice an audible decrease of distortion, especially when the volume is turned up. The distortion I'm referring to when the volume is turned up has nothing whatsoever to do with amplifier clipping, nothing so mundane, but everything to do with information fields, Audio's dirty little secret.
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csontos
1,311 posts
 
What technique? All you've done so far is ruminate about loudspeaker dynamics. Are you aware that what you refer to as sonic energy is what is "caused" by the physical energy of a speaker driver? And that the level of sonic energy present is commensurate with the level of physical movement/energy the driver is directly tasked with? It's a well known fact that speakers vary in speed and efficiency. The faster the better which is the most important aspect of sensitivity imo. Getting loud quickly is a skewed perception that doesn't speak to performance at all. So what are you telling us we don't already know?
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