Audiophile Test!

[E-Stat]

I think you are confusing interest with skill.

I was unable to discern fine differences among various audio components when I was a teenager when my hearing was more extended. At the hi-fi shop where I worked in college, we had an alarm that emitted a piercing supersonic whistle (at least to me at the time) through a piezo driver (maybe that's why I hate them!). I was the only one who it bothered. Anyway, It took training by my mentors as to what to listen for and lots of practice. I guess what you're saying is that I also possessed some innate, yet untapped skill. Perhaps. There is always music running in my head.

The best example I can come up with right now are the people on "American Idol" that think they are singing beautifully and we all know better. What do you think their problem is???

Extreme optimism or tone deafness.

rw

[IBSTORMIN]

I was unable to discern fine differences among various audio components when I was a teenager when my hearing was more extended. At the hi-fi shop where I worked in college, we had an alarm that emitted a piercing supersonic whistle (at least to me at the time) through a piezo driver (maybe that's why I hate them!). I was the only one who it bothered. Anyway, It took training by my mentors as to what to listen for and lots of practice. I guess what you're saying is that I also possessed some innate, yet untapped skill. Perhaps. There is always music running in my head.

You have the skill AND the interest to persue it.
I can hear the direction of bass, something others say is impossible but I have proven to many non-believers. A skill that required no training. A curse because sub placement is critical.

Extreme optimism or tone deafness.
rw

NO skill, only interest?

[E-Stat]

I can hear the direction of bass, something others say is impossible but I have proven to many non-believers. A skill that required no training. A curse because sub placement is critical.

Point taken. I have never been a fan of single subs for the same reason, seemingly no matter what the crossover setting. Back in '76 or so, a reviewer friend used a single 18" Cerwin-Vega sub in a huge cabinet to supplement his Dayton-Wrights. The organ pedal at the end of "Saturn" from The Planets always seemed to come from the right corner.

NO skill, only interest?

How many of them have any musical training? Here's an example of a female voice that I find difficulty listening to when she speaks - but when she sings, her formal training comes out! My wife turned me onto Wicked a while back. When I first saw Chenoweth in the movie "RV", I never imagined she would be singing with the Metropolitan Opera.

The Good Witch of the North

rw

[IBSTORMIN]

Point taken. I have never been a fan of single subs for the same reason, seemingly no matter what the crossover setting. Back in '76 or so, a reviewer friend used a single 18" Cerwin-Vega sub in a huge cabinet to supplement his Dayton-Wrights. The organ pedal at the end of "Saturn" from The Planets always seemed to come from the right corner.

Just as the Audiophile test showed, your hearing is above average. From what I have been told, most people could not hear the bass coming from the corner.

[IBSTORMIN]

How many of them have any musical training? Here's an example of a female voice that I find difficulty listening to when she speaks - but when she sings, her formal training comes out! My wife turned me onto Wicked a while back. When I first saw Chenoweth in the movie "RV", I never imagined she would be singing with the Metropolitan Opera.

So you think the people that scored a + 12dB on the test have the same ears as you? Sounded horrible ! ! ! !

[E-Stat]

So you think the people that scored a + 12dB on the test have the same ears as you? Sounded horrible ! ! ! !

Not necessarily, but I maintain that training can improve the outcome. It did with me since my first take wasn't much better. Over the course of a day, I took the test about ten times. Since most of the cut was sonically unexceptional, the first job was finding a section that would be most affected. I focused on a very short guitar harmonic / squeak in my final assessments.

rw

[IBSTORMIN]

Not necessarily, but I maintain that training can improve the outcome. It did with me since my first take wasn't much better. Over the course of a day, I took the test about ten times. Since most of the cut was sonically unexceptional, the first job was finding a section that would be most affected. I focused on a very short guitar harmonic / squeak in my final assessments.

I agree, anyone can be trained to do better. I do not think you can train everyone to make it all the way to -36dB, where you tested. I maintain again, you have to have good ears (GOLDEN EARS seems to be the term everyone dislikes) to score higher with or without training. A good ear will start higher without training and finish higher with training on the scale. It is a physical difference between people. The equipment is different. Don't know if it's better ears or a better interconnect :-) to the brain but there are differences.

[RGA]

I agree, anyone can be trained to do better. I do not think you can train everyone to make it all the way to -36dB, where you tested. I maintain again, you have to have good ears (GOLDEN EARS seems to be the term everyone dislikes) to score higher with or without training. A good ear will start higher without training and finish higher with training on the scale. It is a physical difference between people. The equipment is different. Don't know if it's better ears or a better interconnect :-) to the brain but there are differences.

I think there is some merit to what you say. I scored -36db on this test and while I agree with E-Stat that people can be trained to hear better perhaps he is also being overly modest not wanting to toot his own horn as it were. Neither do I and as he pointed out people do in fact score better than either of us. I will try it again when I have time but my job right now makes this secondary.

I also agree with you that some people simply have a better ear for this. At a younger age I needed glasses because I could not read road signs - others go their entire life without the need for glasses - they have far superior vision - and they were born with that ability and I was perhaps born with poor eyes or didn't eat enough carrots.

All the training in the world does not make one Wayne Gretzky or Michael Jordan. But you can still be very very good at these sports.

I look at it like a line where every ability (or in my field multiple intelligences) reside. We ALL have abilities in every one of Gardner's intelligences but each of us is stronger and weaker in any given area. Some of us have perfect listening pitch - we instantly know when a singer or pianist is off key - someone else may only detect it if one instrument is playing but not when 3-4 instruments are playing and some rarely if ever notice it. Judging by American Idol - I am not sure if Paula Abdul can really tell - while SImon is considerably better.

Training can improve your abilities only so far. You can study math and study math but there is a limit that most people simply cannot get past, as with sports, as with music playing or listening.

This test might have been harder for me for example had I not read the thread before I did the test. For instance, E-Stat mentioned what he listened for. Normally when I listen to music to relax I listen to the singer and the instruments for me are the background or accompaniment - in other words I listen to lyrics and singer centrally, when they're there, more than the instruments. Chapman's voice for me is far less distorted at the lower levels and if I listened to her voice I would not have scored nearly as well. But listen for bass and instruments and try to get her voice out of the equation then it was much easier to detect some issues at the two frequency extremes.

I think you can tell maybe what kind of music listener you are by how your toes tap to the music. I usually snap my fingers to the syllables of the song, while others keep time with the drum beat. I can do both but the syllables for me are generally easier. My ear is drawn to the voice.