korenek@ficc.ferranti.com (gary korenek) (09/19/90)
bilver!bill@uunet.UU.NET (Bill Vermillion) writes: > The general consensus among those in the business is not > how good your hearing is, but how well you listen, or learned > to listen. 'Learning to listen' is why people trade up to high-end audio gear. Over time, the old Decca mono record player just doesn't sound that great anymore. Many years ago when I was a high-end audio salesperson, we had a name for people that made claims to superior trained listening abilities - ''Golden Ears''. I believe myself to be a Golden Ears of a sort. When listening to music, I listen for various things at different times. I listen for the attack of a drum stick hitting a cymbal. I listen for the Guitar track. I listen for the Bass line. I listen for how the music was mixed. I listen for amount of Dynamic Range present. I listen for things that do not sound 'right'. I listen to what my ears tell me: am I becoming fatigued or irritated? I listen for soundstage: does it sound like 2 boxes with music coming out of them, or are there discernable instruments/vocals coming from the 'middle' of the speakers? I listen for noise: record pops/clicks, noise coming from the electronics. Etc., etc. For me, this type of listening happens automatically. It is habit that I have formed over the years. It is what makes listening to reproduced music fun. It is the difference between just hearing a song vs. appreciating all it took to get it performed, recorded, and reproduced in my living room. Listening-wise, I am not a snob. I realize that different people are at different points on the scale in their own 'listening training'. Gary Korenek (korenek@ficc.ferranti.com) Ferranti International Controls Corp. Sugar Land, Texas (713)274-5357