- May 9, 2017
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I read a lot of threads on this forum, and other forums, and some Facebook groups as well, and I feel that there are many forces out there trying to set the ground rules. Or should I say, the ground rules they want to set.
Our hearing is a very complex instrument, and many seem to underplay its capabilities. If you go back far enough, it's the main sense related to survival - that was honed over millions of years. Some animals survive on it - that's evolution. When people try to put a restriction on what we can hear - when we still can't likely measure what our hearing is capable of - I get suspicious. The greatest spoiler of anything is imposing restrictions. If we don't know how to properly measure human hearing (or aren't capable of doing so), how can we state the restrictions of human hearing?
People will tell you - based on what they've read - what you can and cannot hear. That then restricts what you think you can hear - and then you're doomed to follow that imposed path.
And when someone speaks up about hearing some difference (related to anything), they're pounced upon by those who follow what they've been told they can or cannot hear. There's always cable debates, and while I'm fully aware of placebo effect etc, I know the differences I've heard over the last (almost) 40 years.
And that another thing. Battering older folk with the notion that they're losing their hearing is also imposing mental restrictions. Sure, some people might lose their higher frequency capabilities, but that doesn't mean they cannot hear differences between products - differences aren't restricted to a narrow frequency range. I've lost count of the people I've dealt with who have stated that their hearing isn't what it once was (fair enough), and they seem to feel that's hugely restrictive. To a point, yes, but it doesn't mean you cannot hear differences. Out hearing covers about 20kHz - and let's ignore how harmonics can potentially affect what we hear for now - and even if our hearing restricts that, there's still plenty at play.
So when someone tells you your hearing won't allow you to hear a difference, or that science states there's no measurable difference, don't automatically believe them, or that you're not going to hear a difference. Just because science can't measure a difference between two products, don't necessarily believe there isn't a difference to experience.
Our hearing is a very complex instrument, and many seem to underplay its capabilities. If you go back far enough, it's the main sense related to survival - that was honed over millions of years. Some animals survive on it - that's evolution. When people try to put a restriction on what we can hear - when we still can't likely measure what our hearing is capable of - I get suspicious. The greatest spoiler of anything is imposing restrictions. If we don't know how to properly measure human hearing (or aren't capable of doing so), how can we state the restrictions of human hearing?
People will tell you - based on what they've read - what you can and cannot hear. That then restricts what you think you can hear - and then you're doomed to follow that imposed path.
And when someone speaks up about hearing some difference (related to anything), they're pounced upon by those who follow what they've been told they can or cannot hear. There's always cable debates, and while I'm fully aware of placebo effect etc, I know the differences I've heard over the last (almost) 40 years.
And that another thing. Battering older folk with the notion that they're losing their hearing is also imposing mental restrictions. Sure, some people might lose their higher frequency capabilities, but that doesn't mean they cannot hear differences between products - differences aren't restricted to a narrow frequency range. I've lost count of the people I've dealt with who have stated that their hearing isn't what it once was (fair enough), and they seem to feel that's hugely restrictive. To a point, yes, but it doesn't mean you cannot hear differences. Out hearing covers about 20kHz - and let's ignore how harmonics can potentially affect what we hear for now - and even if our hearing restricts that, there's still plenty at play.
So when someone tells you your hearing won't allow you to hear a difference, or that science states there's no measurable difference, don't automatically believe them, or that you're not going to hear a difference. Just because science can't measure a difference between two products, don't necessarily believe there isn't a difference to experience.
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