Measurements, Listening, and What Matters in Audio

[Chris]

Might be interesting reading for some:

Measurements, Listening, and What Matters in Audio

[speakertom]

Interesting that in some ways they are both correct. Because we listen with our brains and the way the brain interprets stimuli can change from minute to minute, you cannot rely on measurements alone to determine what you will "hear" from any system at a point in time. However, because we are hearing by means of our brain's interpretation, it is also not possible to determine actual physical effects caused by different equipment based solely on listening. The enjoyment of any musical performance whether live or reproduced depends on a large point on your mood. Gross distortions caused by bad reproduction equipment or bad spaces in live music can also cause your brain to reject the performance as unsatisfactory. The real risk is relying only on one or the other to determine what is "right" for you at any given time.

One thing that is very clear to me is that in a reproduced sound venue, the 800 pound gorilla in the room is the room itself. Over a long period of time listening in a room I rank the importance of things that can mess up the enjoyment in the following order:

1. The recording. From a sound quality standpoint, not the appreciation of artistic aspect, crap in always equals crap out. The only way to deal with a bad recording is to find another version of the performance. That may not be acceptable if the quality of the performance or the modifications on the other recordings does not suit you. I have an old Columbia set of LPs of Goodman's '38 Carnegie Hall Jazz concert that was a bootleg recording with a mike in the the venue and a recorder in another building across the street. The performance was outstanding but every other "cleaned up" version on CDs or other releases are abysmally bad. The soul of the performance was removed along with the noise.

2. The room. Considering all the ways the room can mess up the sound it is amazing that music in a room can sound good at all. The cues that your brain uses to construct the audio image such as frequency response, timing, etc. can be totally messed up by room effects, especially early reflections. I am in the process of working with the company Sonitus USA (https://www.sonitususa.com/product/home-cinema-acoustic-systems#component-details) to provide the room treatments and placements of those for the audio room in my new house.

3.The speakers. Any time you change domains such as from acoustic to electrical (microphones), the greatest chance of messing up the sound occurs. The one you have most control over is the transition from electrical to acoustic, the speakers. Over the years I have found that the radiation patterns of the individual drivers with the room, especially through the crossover regions has a major effect on the perceived sound.

4. All the rest.

You may have different priorities such as flat frequency response, wide dynamic range, etc. depending on your likes. But, it will help if you can prioritize and quantify the characteristics most important to you as it will guide you in allocating your resources such as time and money to achieve "better" results. At the end of they day one thing is certain, if it doesn't make you happy it is not good regardless of what others may think.

[sailor]

For me the two big things are the room and our brains. Humans adapt. I feel part of the burn-in process is this adaption. Our brains are in control. When I recently sold my Spatial"s to a very nice fellow in Richmond during the audition process I could see him convince himself that the speakers sounded good. He had made up his mind that he wanted these speakers before I got there. He played his system for me before we set up the Spatial's and it sounded magnificent. I knew at that moment I would be taking the Spatial's back home with me. We set up the Spatial's and went through a two-hour position adjustment exercise when he was trying to get the Spatial's to perform. No matter what he did I thought they sounded awful.
But after each change, he declared that it was so much better. I never heard any difference. That tweeter just was not musical. Well after an excruciating two hours he declared that they were perfect, gave me a check and I left, just smiling all the way home.
During all this set-up time I found out that he had talked with Clayton Shaw and other Spatial's owners. I am sure he had traveled to a different reality where these speakers are musical.