The current state of loudspeaker design puts a lot of emphasis on flat frequency response and other level measurements for sound reproduction. This methodology addresses the issue of precision since it allows for a measured comparison of different products and designs.
However, these measurements alone do NOT address the issue of accuracy. While it may appear that way, a speaker that measures flatter on the frequency response may not be more accurate than one that is not when used in the context that they are meant for: listening by people.
Why is this? When measured by a machine, the data is interpreted without prejudice and therefore can be precise and accurate at the same time.
When the data (sound from the speaker) is passed to the human and interpreted, physical prejudice is unavoidable. This is not speaking of preference for sound or music style but rather the physical differences between the hearing of individuals.
As an example let's take person A and person B. Person A has a theoretical "perfect" hearing or a level volume of hearing throughout each and every frequency. Person B has a realistic hearing with volume loss below 30htz and above 19khtz and various minor in scale volume losses in between. When the same exact frequency sweep is heard by these 2 people, the result is different. They interpreted data has the same precision but different accuracy. The same data is outputted but different data is received.
The relevance of this information is extremely useful to determine the future state of audio reproduction. With the increase ease and availability of active/digital crossovers and DSP, it isn't far until the day when each user of an audio system has their own "hearing profile" embedded into the design of the speaker. In this type of system, each individual listener will be able to hear the data (music, movies, etc) reproduced precisely AND accurately. Add this type of implementation to the recording and mastering phase and you will be able to experience the "art" of the artist as they intended. That isn't to say this type of system doesn't have challenges of it's own: aka when 2 or more people listen at the same time. Perhaps algorithms to balance the hearing of the 2 individuals?
I am actually working on such a system with my significant other. We have taken detailed hearing measurements of our hearing and my next DIY project will involve a digital crossover to account for these hearing differences. Once it's done, I'll post a full write up of the process and our interpreted results
However, these measurements alone do NOT address the issue of accuracy. While it may appear that way, a speaker that measures flatter on the frequency response may not be more accurate than one that is not when used in the context that they are meant for: listening by people.
Why is this? When measured by a machine, the data is interpreted without prejudice and therefore can be precise and accurate at the same time.
When the data (sound from the speaker) is passed to the human and interpreted, physical prejudice is unavoidable. This is not speaking of preference for sound or music style but rather the physical differences between the hearing of individuals.
As an example let's take person A and person B. Person A has a theoretical "perfect" hearing or a level volume of hearing throughout each and every frequency. Person B has a realistic hearing with volume loss below 30htz and above 19khtz and various minor in scale volume losses in between. When the same exact frequency sweep is heard by these 2 people, the result is different. They interpreted data has the same precision but different accuracy. The same data is outputted but different data is received.
The relevance of this information is extremely useful to determine the future state of audio reproduction. With the increase ease and availability of active/digital crossovers and DSP, it isn't far until the day when each user of an audio system has their own "hearing profile" embedded into the design of the speaker. In this type of system, each individual listener will be able to hear the data (music, movies, etc) reproduced precisely AND accurately. Add this type of implementation to the recording and mastering phase and you will be able to experience the "art" of the artist as they intended. That isn't to say this type of system doesn't have challenges of it's own: aka when 2 or more people listen at the same time. Perhaps algorithms to balance the hearing of the 2 individuals?
I am actually working on such a system with my significant other. We have taken detailed hearing measurements of our hearing and my next DIY project will involve a digital crossover to account for these hearing differences. Once it's done, I'll post a full write up of the process and our interpreted results
