I think that we over worry about age and hearing. It is reality that we had better ears when we were young, BUT they were not well trained enough to be as discerning as we tend to get over years of listening to music. I could say the same thing about my taste buds, but I certainly consumed wine in my college days that I would not drink today, BLAH! It is often the same with musical fidelity. As most of us can afford it, we can invest in something more than commercial broadcast or MP-3 and we find it worthwhile, just like most of us can afford a moderate cost bottle of wine, without drinking the dregs, and find that also worthwhile. Yet, IF we were winemakers, we might find that it is a great challenge to make good wines, that it can be fairly costly to produce, can only be produced in certain ways, etc, and in the end a relatively expensive purchase for the consumer.
It is the the same with audio.
Some here can be content with the GALO (American wine) equivalent in wine, which is usually a serious step above the worst wine, yet others want to strive to imbibe the very best (to their taste buds) and are willing to invest in the extra cash and perhaps personal investment to get the best.
In audio, some people will buy a $100 dollar CD player and be pretty darn happy with the overall sound, and perhaps listen a significant percentage of their time through it. Yet others, even after years of similar exposure, get more interested in listening to the very best sources, you know ($30-$100 vinyl records) or 24-96K or better digital with $5K amps and $3K digital playback, etc. Usually you don't waste this sort of investment on a 16 year old. They can live with the cheap stuff, EVEN IF their ears measure better at that age. They just have not developed enough experience to know any better, unless directly exposed to better audio quality.
What I have just stated, started out as a simple comments, but I find that I have to structure my words so that I will not be as easily attacked, as if I just said it quickly and plainly. This is really a drag on communication, but somebody out there will now bring up double blind listening tests for both wine and audio, 'proving' that we are all wasting our time, including commenting here. Oh well! '-)
It is the the same with audio.
Some here can be content with the GALO (American wine) equivalent in wine, which is usually a serious step above the worst wine, yet others want to strive to imbibe the very best (to their taste buds) and are willing to invest in the extra cash and perhaps personal investment to get the best.
In audio, some people will buy a $100 dollar CD player and be pretty darn happy with the overall sound, and perhaps listen a significant percentage of their time through it. Yet others, even after years of similar exposure, get more interested in listening to the very best sources, you know ($30-$100 vinyl records) or 24-96K or better digital with $5K amps and $3K digital playback, etc. Usually you don't waste this sort of investment on a 16 year old. They can live with the cheap stuff, EVEN IF their ears measure better at that age. They just have not developed enough experience to know any better, unless directly exposed to better audio quality.
What I have just stated, started out as a simple comments, but I find that I have to structure my words so that I will not be as easily attacked, as if I just said it quickly and plainly. This is really a drag on communication, but somebody out there will now bring up double blind listening tests for both wine and audio, 'proving' that we are all wasting our time, including commenting here. Oh well! '-)
Yes, agree with JohnC - there's a mistaken over-emphasis on degeneration of HF acuity in ageing while at the same time overlooking the more important aspect of timing acuity & the role it plays in listening to & appreciating music. Although there is/can be some degeneration in this area too, it is a brain function (auditory processing) rather than a loss/damage to cilia in the inner ear
You're welcome to try and see if you can caress it enough to make it go farther.
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTxJant4Ilbd0Z5ZnFmCIyrG8NyCXsGeFi0Zb5djt74ZAKhp1mx
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTxJant4Ilbd0Z5ZnFmCIyrG8NyCXsGeFi0Zb5djt74ZAKhp1mx
Modern life also gives too many distractions, and the loss of attention is maybe even worse. Learning to focus attention takes a lifetime.
All good fortune,
Chris
You've made a good faith effort to ascertain this? I expect left in the New Guinea outback with nothing but a knife and thong you would not be making any new audio designs soon.
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