russ69 Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 Golden ears? No, not me but I can evaluate what I hear. Changing things in my own system I can quickly hear the small differences. When I'm in a strange enviorment with a system I'm not familiar with, it's not so easy. Demos are fun but it would take me a couple of days and quite a few hours to get to know a new system. Some people may be quicker to pick up differences/weaknesses than me and perhaps you can say they have "golden ears". Thanx, Russ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blvdre Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 Look at this lovely goat I've gotten. Trolling can be fun! I rest my case. Dang it! The jig is up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hifi jim Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 I thought I might be the only one thinking that way. You are not alone Mark. "The Dumbing Down of America" as I call it. I blame the M&M's. Media and Marketing. [:@] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hifi jim Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 I've even played around a little with speaker and interconnect cable. I bought some new Nordost ribbon speaker cable and matching interconnects and inserting these into my system has provided more focus and detail. Why? I don't know. I'm normally an agnostic when it comes to fancy bits of wire. Congrats on your purchase Edwin. I'm a big fan of Nordost products and I'm glad you were willing to try for yourself the improvements possible through cable. Definition of an audiophile: one who sweats the small stuff. [Y] [Y] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike stehr Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 If it were just a matter of losing very high frequency hearing, no big deal usually. There are many other ways in which hearing can be damaged though. That is what worries me and keeps me awake at night. You'll die of ulcers before you go deaf............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batmans Robin Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 You'll die of ulcers before you go deaf............ Laugh Out Loud!!! [] [] Good one MIke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philipbarrett Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 Speaking for the studio & (in my case broadcast/live) engineers so much of it is just pure practice. If you listen critically every day you learn to recognize problems, differences and abnomalies extremely quickly. I believe very little of this skill is innate talent, most of it is learned. You also learn to compensate as your hearing changes with age and fatique. For example, you know from experience that the mix doesn't require a boost at 14KHz even though your tired ears are telling you otherwise. I guess it's understanding what needs correcting & what needs leaving alone. A lot of the job involves translating people's personal interpretations ("it sounds kinda yanky") into actual solutions (pull out some 1K - 3K) and tailoring the sound to the relevent type of event/performance. A lot of engineers use analyzers to fine tune their systems but many (myself included) still work primarily by ear. A favorite CD is played and the system tweaked until the desired result is achieved. I find this method keeps my faculties in tune. BTW my "song" is Vince Gill's "I Still Believe In You." If I can get his tenor sounding smooth, the edge off the guitar solo and the slightly forward low mids under control I'm halfway home (or at least heading to catering). Find one you like, it doesn't have to be an audiophile track, just sonically revealing and stick with it. I've been boring stagehands with Vince for over a decade! So my advice is listen, question, listen & question again. And finally, BELIEVE WHAT YOUR EARS ARE TELLING YOU! Don't dismiss a perception because it doesn't seem to be technically possible. Investigate why you feel this way, 99 times out of 100 your ears are right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batmans Robin Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 Interesting. I never heard that word "yanky" so I wouldn't have known what to do except say "What do you mean?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hifi jim Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 BELIEVE WHAT YOUR EARS ARE TELLING YOU! Don't dismiss a perception because it doesn't seem to be technically possible. Investigate why you feel this way, 99 times out of 100 your ears are right. Very well said Philip. [Y] [Y] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marvel Posted February 16, 2009 Share Posted February 16, 2009 Mark IS right, again...[] And the poster with the Shar Pei is hilarious! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwinr Posted February 17, 2009 Author Share Posted February 17, 2009 Speaking for the studio & (in my case broadcast/live) engineers so much of it is just pure practice. If you listen critically every day you learn to recognize problems, differences and abnomalies extremely quickly. I believe very little of this skill is innate talent, most of it is learned. You also learn to compensate as your hearing changes with age and fatique. For example, you know from experience that the mix doesn't require a boost at 14KHz even though your tired ears are telling you otherwise. I guess it's understanding what needs correcting & what needs leaving alone. I guess that makes some kind of sense. My martial arts master is 82 years young. He's 30 years older than me and a very close friend. I think I'm pretty good. But he's better. Everytime I go to take him down, he does something unexpected and the next thing I'm flat on my back (ouch!). How does he do this? I've asked him and he always says; "...I can see what you're going to do before before YOU know what you're going to do!" This has to be years and years of experience coming to the fore. He's learned to compensate for his age and loss of speed and flexibility... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batmans Robin Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 My martial arts master is 82 years young. What speakers does he own? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edwinr Posted February 17, 2009 Author Share Posted February 17, 2009 My martial arts master is 82 years young. What speakers does he own? LOL!!! That's a really good question. He doesn't own a hi-fi system as such. He's got one of those 3 in 1 kiitchen stereo type units, a Denon I think from memory. He often stays at my place when he visits town. Being a World War II veteran he's a big fan of movies from that era, the old musicals and stuff like that. Whenever he comes I hire a bunch of old widescreen movies and we have a ball watching the likes of John Wayne, Burt Lancaster, Henry Fonda, and probably his favorite actor of all time, James Stewart. He loves my system and he's a big fan of Paul Klipsch and his horn speakers. My friend remembers when Klipschorns used to be the ultimate hi-fi speaker in the world. I have great pleasure in telling him that they still are... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 I thought I might be the only one thinking that way. You are not alone Mark. "The Dumbing Down of America" as I call it. I blame the M&M's. Media and Marketing. It really helped when technology digitized all of our art- photography and music for starters. 'Good enough' is good enough for most folks.... PB- in other words 'trust the force Luke'? I usually spin some Eagles or Chicago, been listening to those for decades, just KNOW what sounds right by ear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philipbarrett Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 Interesting. I never heard that word "yanky" so I wouldn't have known what to do except say "What do you mean?" LOL - I was making up a word up to illustrate the kind of "guidence" we often get. To do this job you need a good pair of ears & to be a mind reader! I'm with you on the martial art's instructor. I often joke that the only way us old guys can get ahead of the new blood is by guile & sheer cunning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted February 17, 2009 Share Posted February 17, 2009 I often joke that the only way us old guys can get ahead of the new blood is by guile & sheer cunning. It's not a joke!!!! [H] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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