Hearing is not simple

[Audiophile Neuroscience]

Yes we see what we look for and find what we know. A corollary may be that much of perception is based on pattern recognition and meaning as influenced by prior leaning,experiences, biases etc.

 

It also has to do with many other areas of the brain working together to create the experience. These include attention, concentration, memory, affective/emotional components, multi-sensory integration etc.

 

Imagine a neurologist looking at an MRI scan compared to a green grocer. Both have the same visual acuity, or even the the neurologist may have less than 20/20 vison, but who sees more? Imagine Picasso looking at art works compared to a musician, who 'sees' more?

 

Often we may not see something until it is pointed out and then continue to notice it.This is quite apart from potential for suggestibility or bias, which may also occur.

 

As alluded to in the article, different parts of the brain need to be intact to allow all of this and not just the somatosensory cortex. Perceptual problems often occur after right sided hemisphere lesions such as strokes esp visuospatial problems (whereas language problems more so on the left).Sometimes the deficits are quite specific such as inability to recognize faces, they see them but just don't recognize them. People can have neglect or inattention to one side of their body or one side of their visual fields (as opposed to one eye blindness).

 

The emotional aspects of perception are interesting. For example the International Association for Study of Pain defines pain as "an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage". There's quite a lot going on in that statement that may surprise some people I suspect.

 

It really wasn't until frequenting audio fora that the notion of the brain "tricking" us (seemingly all the time) was so emphasized or even expressed in those terms. Sure perceptions can get distorted and be subject to various biases but by and large the brain does an amazing job at sorting through the chaos of incoming information and allowing us to function in every day life. Sometimes illusions are merely useful adaptations made by the brain to make sense of things. perhaps that's what Einstein meant when he said life is an illusion, albeit a persistent one.

[Audiophile Neuroscience]

6 hours ago, Ralf11 said:

I would recommend a textbook on cognitive psychology - a good base for understanding perception, and the way those guys have done experimental designs is illuminating.

 

Any recommendations and care to share with a few more details

[Audiophile Neuroscience]

On 5/31/2018 at 4:31 AM, Axial said:

 @ the end we achieve accurate music reproduction and yet it is not satisfactory in our ears, in hearing the music playing. 

 

It depends if the recording/mastering was any good and also depends on whether you are listening to your system or the music.

 

On 5/31/2018 at 4:31 AM, Axial said:

Can human fine-tune his own hearing, ears, canals, mind, brain, to accommodate the music that his playing, no matter what the source, the reproduction system, the resolution it was recorded @, to a higher nirvana hearing?

Hearing the music on a higher plane of emotional happiness by fine-tuning man's own body and mind...biologically, surgically and physiologically. 

 

 

Only if your name is Frank.

 

Of course you can enjoy the music however badly it sounds.

[Audiophile Neuroscience]

37 minutes ago, HardrockInMiniMac said:

 

However, in my mind there are average recordings we still like because the song is simply good. The quality of the original recording to me is part of the story behind the song, the band, the circumstances at that time. 

 

I am not shy to give an example that can of course  be judged differently: The first three AC/DC LPs have a lot to do with my youth and include a number of songs I really like. But even the original LPs and the first CDs are really not amongst good recordings in my collection, too harsh, too rough, not very well balanced but with high dynamics (>10), regardless, to me this also a good historic document of what they were at that time. When John Mutt Lange took over and produced Highway to hell and moreover Back in black, the latter became one of the most respected Hardrock albums in history also because of the excellent sound quality (of the first release). Control had taken over and ruled some of the imperfection out. 

 

Take a listen to the Kinks "You really got me" original recording: To me this sounds like a school band rocking the garage but it is good. I do not even want to have a professional recording of that song as it would take the core away from it.

 

Chris

 

 Well said !

[Audiophile Neuroscience]

On 6/14/2018 at 9:54 AM, Allan F said:

 

IMO, you are confusing performance, production, and sound quality. A raw spontaneous performance is not going to be negatively affected by being well recorded. On the contrary, that raw quality will be better preserved. OTOH, if the producer eliminates that raw quality through too many takes, overproduction or whatever, both the performance and the recording suffer, regardless of how well it is recorded. IOW, the better the sound quality of the recording, the more it will accurately reproduce the performance. Having said that, IMO a good raw performance may be enjoyed despite being poorly recorded, not because of it.

 

I agree with you except I took Axial to mean that the kinks recording, as bad as it was, formed part of the nostalgia and enjoyment for him. If I am correct, I can understand the viewpoint. Of course I would prefer to have heard the kinks raw performance accurately recorded and reproduced as if I was standing in the studio with them all those years ago. 

[Audiophile Neuroscience]

3 hours ago, Axial said:

 

A quality music recording, music we also love; the system disappears and we become the music spatially in time.

 

A little cryptic but I think I agree ?. I agree that the system should disappear, totally getting out of the way of the music and attracting no attention to itself.

 

Quote

You flow high as Frank from your music system? 

 

Oh, I fly much higher than Frank ! I have tuned my system with more magic

[Audiophile Neuroscience]

1 hour ago, Ralf11 said:

 

Some recordings are so bad we need the system to get in the way and fix the crummy sound.

 

Sonic Sunglasses sare slippery slopes.

 

Extra points for alliteration !