I can only say that each person will perceive anything different from another, however I think there is probably a commonality in some instances and cultural significance in others. For instance, I do not like African music, I don't care for the system that produces it, it is horrible banging a stick on a tree trunk, just noise. What I am saying is that we have almost perfected the chain electronically, but difference beyond the electronic medium and not that easily defined.
Logon, don't be surprised but we are from the same time zone and mostly a similar cultural background. My ancestors are from Schleswig-Holstein
Yes, it's a tranducer just like a pick-up: I think the same way.
However, my goal is not to give an absolute value to listening, but to give listening a true value.
And if it already has one, to increase it.
Because I'm sure that it is not impossible and it can be done.
Starting from a single piece of equipment and maybe arriving at a pairing of pieces.
Starting to do it, without fear of being laughed at.
Human beings have powerful tools in this regard, but the mind of some is unconsciously led to use itself to create a cage.
I do not accept this fact, but everyone is free to choose what they expect from themselves.
Nor mine really 😉 I don't have much of a purpose anymore, just killing time to be honest. You can sit and do nothing for only so long, then you need to at least find someone to speak with. I hardly listen to anything anymore, the interest and fun has eroded over the past three or four years. Gave much of my stuff away to anybody that may appreciate it. I am still hanging on the three pairs of speakers because no one I know is deserving of them. Although collectors pieces, no one else would really care because they are not that enthusiastic audiophiles.
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My current system is meagre and unimpressive consisting of a stand-alone topping DAC plugged into the PC, one of my last remaining amps designed and built in 2007/8 and a pair of Rogers LS3/5a bought new in the seventies.
Not quite. 😉
I come from a (beautiful) seaside town in southern Italy and we have been here for generations. 🙂
One of the extraordinary abilities of human beings is to immerse themselves in that situation and still get satisfaction from it.
Under my PC monitor I have a soundbar the same length as the monitor connected to my smartphone via Bluetooth.
On the sides of the monitor I have two two-way bass reflex speakers driven by a small Topping in class D.
Sometimes listening to the soundbar (paid 25 bucks from China) I am impressed by how good it sounds.
This does not exclude the fact that on other occasions I show great discriminatory skills when listening to enormously more "demanding" systems.
🤣
You won't believe it, but I love WWII movies and every time I come across one of those black and white movies I stay and watch them without distractions.
A rare thing for me... 😍
We can use a colourimeter to establish a baseline red and then reproduce identical swatches of that red, and ask people...
But, on the other hand, we can show them a Jackson Pollack and get contradictory statements.
My mum didn't like music. For her it was just a noise. Live or recorded, system independent. There was nothing wrong with her hearing. I cannot imagine being without music, I gain pleasure from listening to it via my phone speakers or headphones or HiFi. Communication with my mum on the matter was impossible because our frames of reference diverged so much. I am like my father, my brother like my mum.
Variability is massive, but is there something genetic lurking in the background?
I clarified my previous comment that there was no such thing as an impartial evaluation in the post that followed the original. There I said " Yes, you can have an impartial evaluation on such things as a set of facts, such as a legal case or a specific scientific result."
But in the case of sound quality emanating from a reproduction system it is entirely a different situation.
Here is the definition of impartial evaluation.
"Impartial evaluation is a process of examining a situation or problem without being influenced by personal opinions or biases."
And I submit that is virtually impossible to do that with regard to sound quality. What sounds good to one person will not necessarily sound good to another.
When I listen to my favorite music through my system, various situations follow one another, sometimes I listen involved, sometimes distracted, sometimes background, sometimes attentively, sometimes to judge.
I guess the same thing happens to many others.
Now imagine that I listen to a system instead of music to judge the system.
I also listen to music, obviously, but if I want to judge the system I turn my attention to the system and use music as a means.
If I was young, at first experiences, so inexperienced, accustomed to listening only to the portable radio, my experiences would have a very relative weight.
But if I were an expert listener, endowed and healthy, and I knew the recorded music well and the recording itself that the system is reproducing, and I was calm and not busy with other matters, and I wanted to judge what I hear, I could do so.
I don't mean to say it would have an absolute value, I mean it would have a value.
Since listening to a new device inserted in a system is comparative then it is possible and doable and I can draw my own assessments, as if I were a sworn expert and I could talk about the highs and their characteristics, the mids and lows and their characteristics.
Even the soundstage and its width and depth, at the end of the day in first instance one great part of the sound judging is just there.
I would never say it's good, I would say what characteristics they have.
It wouldn't have an absolute value, but as a sworn and signed expert opinion without bias and without personal opinions regarding whether I like it or not, it would have value in court.
And it should have that same value in any other place.
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There is no tool or proven method for measuring sound quality.
You can certainly measure the output of a system and compare it to the input. That enables you to see how much change the system makes to things such as frequency response, distortion, noise, etc.
But there is no scale or instrument to measure sound quality. It is entirely a subjective characteristic of the system and different people are likely to come to different opinions about it.
You can certainly measure the output of a system and compare it to the input. That enables you to see how much change the system makes to things such as frequency response, distortion, noise, etc.
But there is no scale or instrument to measure sound quality. It is entirely a subjective characteristic of the system and different people are likely to come to different opinions about it.
I put together a garage system this summer. 25 x 35 garage that's insulated, smells like oil a bit too.
I picked up some old Yamaha bins and put an old set of Klipsch k43's I have in them. Top end uses an 8 inch 18 sound driver and 1 inch compression driver. I use a 15 inch sub as well. Electronics currently include an old 6 channel amp, cheap processor, xover, preamp, and dac. This gives volume control on all channels and parametric eq's as well. So far the conversation is about what we like in sound. One of the things I like is the option to change the sound when I want.
I have a mic and have measured using REW. Source is Spotify through the computer which adds more adjustments to play with. All speakers are on wheels which makes it easy to adjust angle and position.
Sound stage is very good. Hiss is louder than I like so I might pick up some class d amps to quiet it down in the future. Sound is enjoyable and if I want I can listen as loud as I want at 4 in the morning. The "stuff" stored in the garage doesn't mind 🙂.
I agree if we confine ourselves to 'sounds good' - that's very subjective. But what if we aim for 'sounds clearer' ? Is 'clearer sound' something very subjective? If so we can make it more 'objective' by asking the listener to describe what they hear.
Suppose on one system a person cannot make out the lyrics of a song. But on another they can do a better job of that. That would be a way to remove 'subjectivity' from the process would it not? After all we can compare the scripted lyrics with what the listener says they heard.
Here you are talking about one person listening to different systems. And of course, those systems will not likely to sound the same to him. They are fundamentally different.
But the discussion up to now has been about a person listening to a single system and making judgements regarding its sound quality. An entirely different matter.
But the discussion up to now has been about a person listening to a single system and making judgements regarding its sound quality. An entirely different matter.
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