If you have to get used to the sound, is it actually not good?

[Soria Moria]

A common thing I read online is that people buy headphones or speakers and say they have to get used to the sound since they do not like it immediately. I always felt that this means what they're listening to is bad because from my experience if it's good you will like it immediately. The first time I EQed to Harman on a headphone that was significantly off it was an immediate improvement and I had never heard something that good before. And I had never had headphones that were compliant to it prior. What are your thoughts on this?

 

[Leporello]

I think it is at least possible that someone used to a colored and inaccurate sound may prefer it to a less colored sound. And since nothing is truly perfect there will always be an acclimatization phase.

 

[DVDdoug]

Our brain does adjust but it tends to reset after some rest time... And I suspect if we buy something that we expect to be better, we might rationalize to justify our decision.

If you've ever done any audio editing or mixing you've probably noticed that when you make a change like boosting the bass a little or adding some reverb, and it sounds better, then later you add a bit more, then a bit more... Then when you listen the next day you realize you've over-done it. Pros often keep a known good reference on hand to "keep their ears calibrated". The opposite happens too... You boost the bass a couple of dB and and you think it's sounding better, and then you realize that something' is set-up wrong and you're not changing anything!

Many years ago when I was working in a radio/TV repair shop I had a weird experience when trying to fix a car stereo with distortion. I was trying a few things and listening to it for a long time and after awhile I wasn't sure I was hearing the distortion and I thought maybe I'd fixed it. But after listening to something that wasn't broken I could hear the distortion again!

 

[Bwaslo]

Might have to first get un-used to the sound of what you got used to previously?

 

[JRowland]

Our brain does adjust but it tends to reset after some rest time... And I suspect if we buy something that we expect to be better, we might rationalize to justify our decision.

If you've ever done any audio editing or mixing you've probably noticed that when you make a change like boosting the bass a little or adding some reverb, and it sounds better, then later you add a bit more, then a bit more... Then when you listen the next day you realize you've over-done it. Pros often keep a known good reference on hand to "keep their ears calibrated". The opposite happens too... You boost the bass a couple of dB and and you think it's sounding better, and then you realize that something' is set-up wrong and you're not changing anything!

Many years ago when I was working in a radio/TV repair shop I had a weird experience when trying to fix a car stereo with distortion. I was trying a few things and listening to it for a long time and after awhile I wasn't sure I was hearing the distortion and I thought maybe I'd fixed it. But after listening to something that wasn't broken I could hear the distortion again!

I had bright V shaped speakers (Cerwin Vega then Klipsch) early 90’s until a year ago. I took a chance (after research at least) on some Kef speakers and there was no adjustment period whatsoever for me. It was instant love, the neutral sound was right to me. I have some Klipsch RP600’s in my bedroom currently and for going to sleep/low volume the brightness is welcome but I liked neutral better right away.

A long time ago I ran restaurants, salt goes hand in hand with your distortion story. It’s easy to get “used to the taste”. And certainly without a reference bass boosts can sound great until the reference song you know plays and you realize what you’ve done

 

[Jiraya369]

it takes me a few days of listening to get fully used to the sound of a new audio device. Till then my judgements are rough and uneven, but after that when i'm used to it i feel like not only can i appreciate the piece of kit better as it sounds less bad than when it did in initially, but i can also find out flaws where needed with more precision.

Ofc I love neutral still but there's still enough changes in the FR due to the speaker/room or even the directivity/placement that affects my judgement.

Maybe the speakers/headphones/iems burned in a little or maybe I got used to the sound, I don't know what it is but I love them far more after a few days and understand them better. Initial judgements weren't wrong but they weren't precise.

 

[RexrothPigeon]

This question doesn't make sense to me. If you are unused to something and have to get used to it, it could be worse or better than whatever it is you're used to. Either way, the job of the hifi system is to reproduce the source material as accurately as possible ("high fidelity"), but there's no reason you can't then adjust it to suit whatever preferences you have.

 

[Keith_W]

This might sound like a strange thing for me to say, but if you are happy with the sound, that is all that matters. Accuracy is a means to an end, and the end is your whether you are satisfied or not. The reason I pursue accuracy is not because I am ideologically wedded to it, it's because research shows that listeners prefer accurate sound, and my own preference aligns with the research.

Not all my music listening is done on accurate systems, at least half my listening is done on my Bluetooth speakers and in my car. They perform perfectly adequately for what I need them to do. I don't need 20Hz - 20kHz reproduction when I am working in my kitchen or trying to concentrate on the road, but I need perfect reproduction when I am sitting down to listen to music.

 

[Roland68]

A common thing I read online is that people buy headphones or speakers and say they have to get used to the sound since they do not like it immediately. I always felt that this means what they're listening to is bad because from my experience if it's good you will like it immediately. The first time I EQed to Harman on a headphone that was significantly off it was an immediate improvement and I had never heard something that good before. And I had never had headphones that were compliant to it prior. What are your thoughts on this?

Your brain learns and adapts every day, adjusting all your senses to compensate for gaps or errors in perception. For example, you get used to the poor sound of your TV very quickly. But when you connect decent speakers, you suddenly realize how bad it was.

 

[Pareto Pragmatic]

I tend to hear the "good things" first, and only hear the "bad things" later on. As in, "The cymbals really hang in the air! (2 hours later)... my ears are bleeding! And the bass is a bit distorted too."

I would say the advice to take some time is good for everything, given they way we process sense data. A bit of art might hit really hard, but fail to keep interest over time. Other art might make an impact over the longer term. New, that hits hard. Depth, detail, that takes some time. We need some time to let our brain filters adapt.

On the rare occasion I break out the vintage speakers it takes me 30 minutes to adapt, and I listened to those things heavily for 20+ years. So time is good.

Give it some time = let your brain adapt so you can hear what is there, and not just what you expect to be there. Then make your call.

 

[BJL]

A common thing I read online is that people buy headphones or speakers and say they have to get used to the sound since they do not like it immediately. I always felt that this means what they're listening to is bad because from my experience if it's good you will like it immediately.

I agree. If it sounds bad, it is bad. This is a variation on the phony burn in concept.

Also your point about EQing headphones/speakers is well taken. My previous adequate speakers, after application of Dirac, produced very good audio. On the other hand, when I replaced those speakers with Revel F206 the difference was night and day. The Revel speakers, even without DSP, produce wonderful sound. With DSP to address the speaker/room interaction, they are sublime.

When I have bought speakers that sounded mediocre, I immediately returned them, and that is what I suggest. I would not waste time with speakers that did not immediately sound good. With all the great equipment available, no reason to waste time with mediocrity.

 

[olieb]

I always felt that this means what they're listening to is bad because from my experience if it's good you will like it immediately.

I would agree.
From Chapter 17 (Summary and Conclusions) of 4th ed (Sound Reproduction, Toole et al)

We realized that humans are very adaptable creatures and can learn to live with very flawed loudspeakers. However, when exposed to something better, they recognize the improvement.

This, of course, is from controlled tests (double blind, ...). Sighted listening is a very different thing and there our brain can convince us ("learning", "adaption", "break in") of many funny things.

 

[amper42]

There are many levels of imperfection. Our ears can auto correct for most deficiencies. Boom boxes sound like junk to someone use to a quality stereo but the music is still identifiable. If you don't like your new speakers from the beginning I would return them. There is no break in period where they improve over time.

 

[DSJR]

I think you're all correct here. Whenever I've heard a seriously 'better' sound system, I've listened entranced by the extra things in the music I can follow with much greater ease (back in the day, one of the ways of showing off a decently performing vinyl rig over a basic one).

The thing is as suggested in posts above, is that a 'sideways step' in audio reproduction, may take a little time to adapt to (most audiophiles will still call it gear burn-in, whether the gear is brand new or used).

I do remember with the mid-line cars I used to use back in the day, a newer 'faster' one was a thrill for a few weeks until I got used to it and then it became normal and 'pedestrian,' only noticed when I drove something smaller and less capable (I'm sure this vibe applies to those able to own and enjoy real 'racers' on domestic roads).

 

[sigbergaudio]

A common thing I read online is that people buy headphones or speakers and say they have to get used to the sound since they do not like it immediately. I always felt that this means what they're listening to is bad because from my experience if it's good you will like it immediately. The first time I EQed to Harman on a headphone that was significantly off it was an immediate improvement and I had never heard something that good before. And I had never had headphones that were compliant to it prior. What are your thoughts on this?

I think this depends on what type of sound you are going to and from. If the overall sound quality is much better, I suspect this will be perceived as good right away.

But if you say go to a system of relatively similar quality, and your previous system had too much bass, the lack of that bass may seem like a degradation at first, but as more balanced and ultimately better after some time.

I also think the opposite may be true, so that something that is actually worse may initially be perceived as better. Say a system that has too much bass and/or treble may seem exciting and "high resolution" at first, but grow tiresome after a while.

 

[threni]

I think you're all correct here. Whenever I've heard a seriously 'better' sound system, I've listened entranced by the extra things in the music I can follow with much greater ease (back in the day, one of the ways of showing off a decently performing vinyl rig over a basic one).

The thing is as suggested in posts above, is that a 'sideways step' in audio reproduction, may take a little time to adapt to (most audiophiles will still call it gear burn-in, whether the gear is brand new or used).

I do remember with the mid-line cars I used to use back in the day, a newer 'faster' one was a thrill for a few weeks until I got used to it and then it became normal and 'pedestrian,' only noticed when I drove something smaller and less capable (I'm sure this vibe applies to those able to own and enjoy real 'racers' on domestic roads).

I've spent some time over the last two weeks tweaking my headphone EQ. I was generally happy with what I had previously, but I noticed that for a given piece of music it was *always* possible to boost a frequency/frequencies and make it sound "better" (the most obvious example of this being making, say, Miles Davis's trumpet louder so you can hear more detail). But you can't follow this strategy forever; you'll boost every frequency eventually and then you'll need to boost that trumpet again to make it stand out! You have to make a change and live with it a bit; go through a pretty extensive playlist and A/B it, and accept there's no final perfect EQ where every change for every frequency makes it "sound worse".

 

[sergeauckland]

A friend and I meet up every so often for an evening of tunes at my house or his. His system (and his room) is good, but different, so every time I go there, it takes a little while for me to 'acclimatise' to the different sound. After an evening there, going home my system sounds odd (not to say 'wrong') for the first few minutes until again I get used to it.

So, no, I don't think that getting used to the sound means it's is necessarily bad.

As an aside, before retirement, now 20 years ago, I would visit radio stations and studios, most of which had well treated rooms and equalised 'speakers and there I found differences much smaller, basically they sounded pretty much the same.

Danish Radio and Radio France both stood out as having 'better'' sound, but that may have had more to do with the superb acoustics of their IEC standard listening rooms.

S

 

[Philbo King]

Our brain does adjust but it tends to reset after some rest time... And I suspect if we buy something that we expect to be better, we might rationalize to justify our decision.

If you've ever done any audio editing or mixing you've probably noticed that when you make a change like boosting the bass a little or adding some reverb, and it sounds better, then later you add a bit more, then a bit more... Then when you listen the next day you realize you've over-done it. Pros often keep a known good reference on hand to "keep their ears calibrated". The opposite happens too... You boost the bass a couple of dB and and you think it's sounding better, and then you realize that something' is set-up wrong and you're not changing anything!

Many years ago when I was working in a radio/TV repair shop I had a weird experience when trying to fix a car stereo with distortion. I was trying a few things and listening to it for a long time and after awhile I wasn't sure I was hearing the distortion and I thought maybe I'd fixed it. But after listening to something that wasn't broken I could hear the distortion again!

I've found it useful, when EQing a track, to dial it where it sounds good (e.g., +4 dB), then set that that by 1/2 to zero dB (down to +2 dB) before moving on. It compensates for hearing/perceptual fatigue, and saves a lot of time during mixing.

 

[DSJR]

A friend and I meet up every so often for an evening of tunes at my house or his. His system (and his room) is good, but different, so every time I go there, it takes a little while for me to 'acclimatise' to the different sound. After an evening there, going home my system sounds odd (not to say 'wrong') for the first few minutes until again I get used to it.

So, no, I don't think that getting used to the sound means it's is necessarily bad.

As an aside, before retirement, now 20 years ago, I would visit radio stations and studios, most of which had well treated rooms and equalised 'speakers and there I found differences much smaller, basically they sounded pretty much the same.

Danish Radio and Radio France both stood out as having 'better'' sound, but that may have had more to do with the superb acoustics of their IEC standard listening rooms.

S

A pal (now sadly deceased) and his wife, used to visit every Saturday. We had basically the same rigs, but his 'room' always gave a better sound. Once I was married and long after my 'best ever' speakers had gone to their new home (I've *never* had as good a sound at home as I had back then), I popped in and asked him to 'fire up' his rig for me, so I could have a listen. He played a track for thirty seconds and was stunned when I asked him to turn it off, as it was so good and reminded me of what I'd given up, which I found upsetting.

My ancient rig is sentimentally owned. I tend to bond with favourite audio gear and I just can't let go of the speakers and amps, the latter which are at least 'acceptable' in modern day sensibilities and the former, directly compared with a more modern descendant and not found lacking in 'tone' even if the power handling is pathetic.

 

[Leporello]

Might have to first get un-used to the sound of what you got used to previously?

I’ve wondered about this too. Like ’cleansing the palate’. But how to do it?