svart-hvitt
Major Contributor
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2017
- Messages
- 2,375
- Likes
- 1,253
- Thread Starter
- #281
My interactions with many regulars here over the past year indicates that most of us are already well aware of this distinction.
Indeed, my choices in audio are ultimately subjective, and I am aware of "truth" and "preference", and the basics of their interaction. I also enjoy knowing that my DAC and amplifier faithfully convert the bits of my digital music data into an undistorted, low-noise audio signal to send to my loudspeakers.
The electrical signal carrying music from from my DAC through my amplifier to my speakers is relatively easy to monitor and measure, Then, the signal is converted to vibrations in the air - sound - that fill the room with music and causes my tympanic membrane to vibrate. Now things are suddenly very complex and highly variable and a room full of complex vibrations is much more difficult to measure than a signal in a conductor.
Those vibrations of the tympanic membrane stimulate the cochlea, which converts them back into an electrical signal - with different results for different people, and in ways that are difficult to measure. (Cochlear implants are available for those with severe hearing loss, but I have no idea whether current technology allow "high-fidelity" listening compared to functional, working ears.)
When the electrical signals from the ear reach the brain, that complex organic computer produces results that vary widely from person to person. Hello psychoacoustics! There is a lot of opportunity here for "truth-seeking"! But after auditory signal reaches the brain - unless I am mistaken - in a manner similar to particle physics, we can only explore and measure the "effects" of that musical signal and can no longer measure the music signal itself.
The point I struggle to make apparent is that vox populi solutions promote one-size-fits-all based on the median preference in the population, which may not be what the unique individual needs.
And because preferences in a population are drifting, so will the median based one-size-fits-all solution change, possibly for random reasons.
In addition, we don’t really know for sure if the listening tests - that work as a market of preferences - will reveal the True Preferences or be subject to noise due to the way the «market of preferences» (i.e. the listening test) was designed.