Who determines what sounds good?

[Theli]

I`ve wondered about who sets the standard?
Isn`t it somewhat subjective???
Everybody's hearing is different, I know I`ve messed up my hearing by listening to too much loud music when I was younger, so when will I know when I have a great sounding system?

Just curious.

[amo]

Listending to very loud music when you are young is a great investment, and saves you a lot of money later, on high end audio equipment!

[Steve Eddy]

Originally posted by Theli
I`ve wondered about who sets the standard?
Isn`t it somewhat subjective???
Everybody's hearing is different, I know I`ve messed up my hearing by listening to too much loud music when I was younger, so when will I know when I have a great sounding system?

When you have a system that sounds great to you. No one else can set your standards for you.

se

[catapult]

The standard is live music, preferably recorded by you. You listen to the real thing and then listen to the recording played back over your speakers. If they sound the same, you've got a great system. Your hearing (we all have different hearing) is cancelled out as a factor when you A/B that way. You don't need an orchestra to do the test. Record a friend speaking, clapping hands, etc. Play it back and see if it sounds the same. It can be quite revealing of problems with your system.

[Peter Daniel]

Originally posted by Steve Eddy


When you have a system that sounds great to you. No one else can set your standards for you.

se

But the experience changes and this is one area when you can improve things. If you listen to only one system it may sound great to you, until you try something better and then it makes your new reference. For me, the reference is in my head. My image or the memory of the best reproduction I've heard.

Originally posted by catapult
The standard is live music, preferably recorded by you. You listen to the real thing and then listen to the recording played back over your speakers. If they sound the same, you've got a great system. Your hearing (we all have different hearing) is cancelled out as a factor when you A/B that way. You don't need an orchestra to do the test. Record a friend speaking, clapping hands, etc. Play it back and see if it sounds the same. It can be quite revealing of problems with your system.

The playback is only as good as your recorder. If the recorder is not up to the task it can't be used to evaluate the rest of your system (as it becomes a weak link). Your record player or CDP, might be a much better source to start with.

[Steve Eddy]

Originally posted by catapult
The standard is live music, preferably recorded by you. You listen to the real thing and then listen to the recording played back over your speakers. If they sound the same, you've got a great system.

That'd be great if all you listen to were recordings you make yourself. What about the recordings made by others which will constitute virtually all of the recordings a typical individual will be listening to?

Record a friend speaking, clapping hands, etc. Play it back and see if it sounds the same. It can be quite revealing of problems with your system.

Hmmm. That rather assumes the recording side is perfect doesn't it? If the recording side isn't perfect, how do you separate which problems are on the recording side and which are on the playback side?

se

[Steve Eddy]

Originally posted by Peter Daniel
But the experience changes and this is one area when you can improve things. If you listen to only one system it may sound great to you, until you try something better and then it makes your new reference. For me, the reference is in my head. My image or the memory of the best reproduction I've heard.

Certainly.

I didn't mean to imply that when a system sounds great to you that that's the end of the line and nothing can sound better.

My point was simply that you're the only one who can set the standard for what sounds great to you.

se

[catapult]

Hmmm. That rather assumes the recording side is perfect doesn't it? If the recording side isn't perfect, how do you separate which problems are on the recording side and which are on the playback side?

Certainly, the recording side affects things. But it's really quite remarkable how people can convince themselves they have a "good" playback system when it sounds nothing at all like the original, even with a perfect recording. I find small single-driver systems particularly susceptible to this. They may sound "pleasant" in some ways - some micro aspects of the sound people are looking for - but, in the big macro picture, they aren't much like the original.

[Steve Eddy]

Originally posted by catapult
Certainly, the recording side affects things. But it's really quite remarkable how people can convince themselves they have a "good" playback system when it sounds nothing at all like the original, even with a perfect recording.

What perfect recording are you talking about?

And why do you say they are "convincing themselves" that they have a "good" playback system?

Looks to me as if you're just looking down your nose at those who get their enjoyment of reproduced music in ways other than yours.

I find small single-driver systems particularly susceptible to this. They may sound "pleasant" in some ways - some micro aspects of the sound people are looking for - but, in the big macro picture, they aren't much like the original.

Well, the way I look at it, the sole purpose of an audio system is the enjoyment of the person listening to it. Period.

If someone gets greater enjoyment out of a system that's more objectively accurate, great. If someone gets greater enjoyment out of a system that's less objectively accurate, that's great too.

se

[Timn8ter]

Having the standard be live music can be problematic. I've been in many live situations where the sound was terrible. A recording made in a professional studio/controlled environment by talented recording engineers will always sound better unless your paying $100+ to attend a quality performance in an acoustically correct environment. If you can arrange it, go to a high-end audio show and listen to everything you can. You'll find many starting to sound alike with a few stand-outs. Then listen to your system. You may be surprised at what you've been missing. A more direct answer to your question would be; You do.