The Affect Of The Mute Button On Audio-visual Experience

[Wombat]

I made a phone call today. The TV was on so I hit Mute. The Olympic figure skating came on and without the sound it was much diminished. To someone not versed in the skater skills it just looked like planned motion. I have noticed this with motor racing and ball games.

Without the environment, excited commentary, crowd emotion, colour and sounds it all fell flat.

My point is that trusting hearing is tenuous and nebulous even under controlled conditions. Psychoacoustics and emotion cannot easily be discounted.

Trained listeners may do better, however, they are human also. MHO.

 

[Phelonious Ponk]

The mute button certainly improves Katy Perry videos.

 

[Thomas savage]

The mute button certainly improves Katy Perry videos.

Siri will get the hump if she catches you watching Katy Perry videos with the sound off!

 

[Cosmik]

And the opposite effect of course: add some visuals to some music, and even from your flat screen TV's speakers the music becomes the best music you've ever heard. In fact why does anyone want to just listen to music without visuals? Two reasons, I think:

1. Just use music as a background to some other activity
2. *Really* listen to the music and concentrate on every detail, allowing your imagination to create the audio scene, in which case spurious real visuals would be distracting.

 

[Frank Dernie]

Having been involved in motor sport for 35 years I watch with sound off to avoid having to tolerate the inaccuracy of the comments and them noticing something crucial very late or missing it altogether...

 

[Thomas savage]

Having been involved in motor sport for 35 years I watch with sound off to avoid having to tolerate the inaccuracy of the comments and them noticing something crucial very late or missing it altogether...

That’s funny, I do the same when watching the boxing.. I wish I could turn the commentary off but keep the sound though.

 

[Thomas savage]

The U.S. F1 announcers are even worse than those in the UK.

Wow, that’s some kind of achievement lol

 

[RayDunzl]

On another forum (well, real tme text chat) I used to visit, they added PalTalk or some similar conferencing software.

Hearing the people that had only been texting before was a real turn-off.

 

[Blumlein 88]

What about MotoGP announcers? At least they're excited.

I did stream one race with Malaysian announcers. Had the sounds with a language I couldn't understand.

 

[RayDunzl]

I wish I could turn the commentary off but keep the sound though.

I had that experience, with, of all things, boxing (your favorite), while flipping channels.

Just the ring and crowd sounds for a couple of rounds.

Then somebody plugged the announcers in again and spoiled it.

 

[Fitzcaraldo215]

And the opposite effect of course: add some visuals to some music, and even from your flat screen TV's speakers the music becomes the best music you've ever heard. In fact why does anyone want to just listen to music without visuals? Two reasons, I think:

1. Just use music as a background to some other activity
2. *Really* listen to the music and concentrate on every detail, allowing your imagination to create the audio scene, in which case spurious real visuals would be distracting.

I have 500 or so classical concert, opera and ballet BDs to supplement my music collection. Most, though not all, are pretty good, mostly in excellent 48k/24 Mch sound quality. I have found watching the performance while listening to be a throughly engrossing and enjoyable musical experience. For opera, I find it the best way to enjoy that medium, surpassing even live. There are pluses and minuses to live vs. BD, but I really do enjoy the discs.

Even for concerts, I have found the focus on the music makers, conductors, soloists, the audience, wide or close in shots to be illuminating. It reveals details of musicianship, scoring, etc. and the sheer passion of the performers in a way that audio-only does not. Some audiophiles complain that the shifting focus of the camera is disorienting since the sound stage does not vary with it. That does not bother me at all. I believe that it would be far, far worse if the audio sound stage shifted constantly. It would also be incredibly boring and pointless if the camera shots were static. Even at live concerts, one's visual focus shifts constantly and quite naturally.

The major downside I have found though vs. audio-only is that one tires of replays of the performance much more quickly than with just audio. One sees the same shots invariably each time. The audio+video may be more engrossing, but that starts to bore and fatigue one in spite of the music. No big problem though. I can turn the video off and just listen.

 

[Frank Dernie]

I have 500 or so classical concert, opera and ballet BDs to supplement my music collection. Most, though not all, are pretty good, mostly in excellent 48k/24 Mch sound quality. I have found watching the performance while listening to be a throughly engrossing and enjoyable musical experience. For opera, I find it the best way to enjoy that medium, surpassing even live. There are pluses and minuses to live vs. BD, but I really do enjoy the discs.

Even for concerts, I have found the focus on the music makers, conductors, soloists, the audience, wide or close in shots to be illuminating. It reveals details of musicianship, scoring, etc. and the sheer passion of the performers in a way that audio-only does not. Some audiophiles complain that the shifting focus of the camera is disorienting since the sound stage does not vary with it. That does not bother me at all. I believe that it would be far, far worse if the audio sound stage shifted constantly. It would also be incredibly boring and pointless if the camera shots were static. Even at live concerts, one's visual focus shifts constantly and quite naturally.

The major downside I have found though vs. audio-only is that one tires of replays of the performance much more quickly than with just audio. One sees the same shots invariably each time. The audio+video may be more engrossing, but that starts to bore and fatigue one in spite of the music. No big problem though. I can turn the video off and just listen.

My experience too, though I don't have that many bluray or DVDs of music. I did subscribe to the Berliner Philharmoniker digital concert hall, and find the video feed and video interviews fascinating. I was in two minds as to whether the subscription was a bit expensive but think it is good value now I have tried it.