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Would you rather be a golden-ear audiophile or cloth-ear music lover?

Would you rather be


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Multicore

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The intro to chapter 3 in @Floyd Toole 's book has a striking mention about how musicians performed in the controlled listening tests used to evaluate loudspeakers.

Some had the occupational handicap of hearing loss; others were clearly more interested in the music than in the sound, and could find "valid interpretations" of instrumental sound in even quite poor loudspeakers.

In the well known test of digital codecs comparing, iirrc, 128 kbps MP3, 320 kbps MP3, and uncompressed CD I cannot tell any differences. I read @amirm here explain the training he undertook to better hear defect in audio reproduction. So I assume I could increase the gold carats of my ears if I chose to. I haven't done it.

Of course I understand that most of you consider yourselves music lovers anyway and so will want to say BOTH to answer the poll. But this poll is both a forced-choice bit of fun and a moment to reflect on the question: Do you really want golden-ears? I don't think I do. Isn't the condition of the musicians Floyd related in this quote the happier one?
 

Mart68

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with regard to musicians I know, they mostly have unspectacular hi-fi systems from a pricing point of view and none of them subscribe to audiophile nonsense. But they will tell you that they can very much hear the difference in sound of different wood inlays on a guitar fretboard.

with regard to golden ear audiophiles I know a few of them too, they reckon they can hear the difference between 24 bit and 16 bit replay but not notice that a speaker is wired out of phase or that the tweeters aren't working. I think we are all cloth eared music lovers myself. Whether we want to be or not.
 

DSJR

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with regard to musicians I know, they mostly have unspectacular hi-fi systems from a pricing point of view and none of them subscribe to audiophile nonsense. But they will tell you that they can very much hear the difference in sound of different wood inlays on a guitar fretboard.

with regard to golden ear audiophiles I know a few of them too, they reckon they can hear the difference between 24 bit and 16 bit replay but not notice that a speaker is wired out of phase or that the tweeters aren't working. I think we are all cloth eared music lovers myself. Whether we want to be or not.
Oh Mart, I know too much :D

These days, I'm DEFINITELY a cloth eared music lover due to my hearing deficiencies, whether I like it or not, but the music sends me there more than ever when I can play some :)
 

ahofer

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with regard to musicians I know, they mostly have unspectacular hi-fi systems from a pricing point of view and none of them subscribe to audiophile nonsense. But they will tell you that they can very much hear the difference in sound of different wood inlays on a guitar fretboard.

with regard to golden ear audiophiles I know a few of them too, they reckon they can hear the difference between 24 bit and 16 bit replay but not notice that a speaker is wired out of phase or that the tweeters aren't working. I think we are all cloth eared music lovers myself. Whether we want to be or not.
The *feel* of an instrument has such a huge influence on how you perceive it. And play it.
 

fpitas

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Not sure I'm "golden eared", but from designing my own speakers I hear a lot of things now that I never thought I would. That has obvious pros and cons.
 

bodhi

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Tough question. This year was my third foray at hifi and by far the most boring one. I had already read enough from ASR to understand the basic and then I just bought the good measuring items (KEF and Genelec) and after verifying with measurements that they worked just like could be predicted I am kind of done. I cannot unlearn the objectivism and start tweaking cables and the like. Hard to call this hobby as it has been mostly clicking things into shopping cart. :facepalm:
 

fpitas

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Tough question. This year was my third foray at hifi and by far the most boring one. I had already read enough from ASR to understand the basic and then I just bought the good measuring items (KEF and Genelec) and after verifying with measurements that they worked just like could be predicted I am kind of done. I cannot unlearn the objectivism and start tweaking cables and the like. Hard to call this hobby as it has been mostly clicking things into shopping cart. :facepalm:
You need to DIY, then. The challenges are endless! lol
 

DVDdoug

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That's hard to answer... (I didn't vote). I've always enjoyed good sound and I'm a "picky listener". But I don't have "golden ears". If I had "cloth ears" I probably wouldn't enjoy music or good sound as much.

I grew-up with vinyl and the "snap", "crackle", and 'pop" always annoyed me and I was always looking for better frequency response. I rarely heard anybody else complaining about vinyl quality. I know they could hear it but they just didn't care. People who enjoy vinyl today are also obviously not bothered by the defects/limitations.

I have intentionally tried NOT to train myself to hear lossy compression artifacts or small defects. We've all heard poor quality MP3s but I listen to "high quality" MP3s (VBR V0) in my car and every time I've thought I was hearing a compression artifact it's turned-out that the original CD has the same "defect".
 
OP
Multicore

Multicore

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But they will tell you that they can very much hear the difference in sound of different wood inlays on a guitar fretboard.
Ha ha. Yes, musicians are funny that way too. The fuss about spikes in loudspeaker stands reminds me of the fuss about bridge design and nut materials. (If the are not defective, don't worry about it.)
 
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Multicore

Multicore

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The *feel* of an instrument has such a huge influence on how you perceive it. And play it.
That's true. I have an acoustic guitar that's so lively in my hands and against my body I've no doubt this modulates the experience of how it sounds. I know it affetcs how I play, especially as a relatively free improviser.
 

Killingbeans

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My hearing is miserable and my taste in music is terribly lo-fi.

One of my biggest dreams is to design and manufacture truly innovative audio gear, but using my own perceptions as an arbiter for reaching that goal is definitely not a part of that dream. If people want products that cleared the prototype stage by getting a seal of approval from a set of "golden ears", they'll have to look elsewhere.
 

fpitas

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My hearing is miserable and my taste in music is terribly lo-fi.

One of my biggest dreams is to design and manufacture truly innovative audio gear, but using my own perceptions as an arbiter for reaching that goal is definitely not a part of that dream. If people want products that cleared the prototype stage by getting a seal of approval from a set of "golden ears", they'll have to look elsewhere.
Yet, the world has many people with mediocre hearing and bad taste in music. Your equipment could be the bellwether for them! Well, if Bose didn't have it covered :facepalm:
 

Killingbeans

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I won't mind making products that give a steady turnover. Sound bars, bluetooth speakers/headphones, "party boxes" and what have you.

I imagine that actual hi-fi R&D will be a financial hole in the ground, and the money will have to come from somewhere.
 

fpitas

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I won't mind making products that gives a steady turnover. Sound bars, bluetooth speakers/headphones, "party boxes" and what have you.

I imagine that actual hi-fi R&D will be a financial hole in the ground, and the money will have to come from somewhere.
Even big companies struggle with actual hi-fi. Witness JBL that now makes their money from little plastic crap-boxes. I almost cried in the Times Square store seeing that.
 

Killingbeans

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True. I had a good laugh when I saw the PartyBox 1000 in person the first time, but JBL knows what brings home the bacon. Can't blame them.
 

Alice of Old Vincennes

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Tough question. This year was my third foray at hifi and by far the most boring one. I had already read enough from ASR to understand the basic and then I just bought the good measuring items (KEF and Genelec) and after verifying with measurements that they worked just like could be predicted I am kind of done. I cannot unlearn the objectivism and start tweaking cables and the like. Hard to call this hobby as it has been mostly clicking things into shopping cart. :facepalm:
You can still endlessly tweek eq settings.
 

fpitas

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True. I had a good laugh when I saw the PartyBox 1000 in person the first time, but JBL knows what brings home the bacon. Can't blame them.
I guess. It's like when hp drove off the end of the pier. Fired all the engineers and started importing cheap sh*t from the far east.
 

Alice of Old Vincennes

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I guess. It's like when hp drove off the end of the pier. Fired all the engineers and started importing cheap sh*t from the far east.
I left HP after color printer cartridge ripoff. Would run out of color when I wasn't using. Hammered open an "empty" cartridge and was full. Switched to Epson refillable and ink bill dropped from 100 month to 10.
 

fpitas

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I left HP after color printer cartridge ripoff. Would run out of color when I wasn't using. Hammered open an "empty" cartridge and was full. Switched to Epson refillable and ink bill dropped from 100 month to 10.
Yeah. The company that used to have the best engineers in the world can't manage to make a working printer. Soon we'll be a nation of salesman trying to swindle each other.
 
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