Do you realise we don't even hear sounds the same way?

  • I'm amazed to read some thread here, talking about EXACT sound they search for, coz they wanted to sound a certain precise way. Hey guys do you know that we dont even hear sounds the same way from one person to another. Some hear bass frequencies more , some made so much studio at high level that they dont even hear high frequencies anymore. Its just like vision some need glasses, some dont, some dont see colors the same way , some dont even see colors....


    So when you search that perfect tone, and find it, dont expect everyone to hear it the same way than your ears...


    8)8)8) GForce

  • Scientific research to back this up?


    If you're referring to qualitative differences I would tend to agree, but still a double blind study or it's merely hearsay :)


    I don't like country music but sure like some of the guitarists... you may like country music. But I don't think that means we perceive things differently it's merely a higher level decision.

  • This is probably true. However, I've spent 41 years programming my brain to know what sounds right, what is normal. There is no calibration.


    For example, we both look at a blue sky and say it is blue. Maybe my brain interprets the colour differently to yours and we're actually seeing if differently, what you would call yellow. We'll never know as we've learned to call it blue and it is normal to us.

  • the nuraphone is essentially a form an elaborate EQ... it allows you to adjust the sounds you are presented with - modifying them to the way you prefer it.


    Yes when I hear a 2 kHz pure tone at 50 dB nHL it sounds similar but perhaps not exactly how you hear it because one of us may have hearing loss, and yes your perception of that pure tone may be subtly different from the way I hear it; but now we're getting into higher brain function. Which indeed is where hearing really belongs, most notably because you understand with the brain.


    So to the original post; yes we all "experience sound differently. We process sound the same (through an undamaged system), and our sense receptors are virtually identical given no congenital or inherited abnormality.


    We do hear sounds the same but we perceive them differently especially when it comes to judging what we like. For the most part... if you like the Van Halen guitar sound on a particular song... and you're able to recreate it to a point that you and your friends cannot tell it apart... and you profile it capture it 99.9% as good as the amp/signal chain and it sounds like the Van Halen guitar sound... it's gonna sound like that to anyone else.

  • It’s the reason why someone made these headphones.

    "...This tiny signal originates in the cochlea and vibrates the ear drum, turning it into a speaker and playing sound back out of your ear. Yes our ears make sound! ....The nuraphone uses an extremely sensitive microphone to detect this returning sound wave, and a self learning engine built into the nuraphone to create your profile"


    If profiling an amp was not enough, now they profile your ears... :D


    Interesting, anyway, I wonder if someone tried those headphones.

  • It would be interesting to see some studies as to the personal EQ in our ears.


    I did read a lot about how the "frequency response" changes with age. For example I am pretty sure that my 11 year old son hears a lot of high frequencies that I don't any more.


    And some of it may even have to do with being in the mosh pit listening to artists like Lemmy, Udo and similar loud dudes. This was of course when I was much younger, the pit is out of my age-range now ;)

  • Well guys, I am sure you know know that with time, especially if you work at high volume, many will ear less and less high frequency . High frequencies degrade with time and high volume . You know that right? or I'll find an article about it Youll be in studio and the mixer will boost the highs too much Of course he doesn't hear it .


    Its hard to explain it as english is my second langage. But as our eyes dont see the same intensity of colors (it is blue yes but could be a brigther blue for you than another) And I am sure you admit that vision is different for eeryone some got myopia (is this the right word) others are faresighted. Applied this principle to ears and some hear lower or higher frequencies with different intensity. For instance I prefer low frequencies to a point that my ear is irritated easily with too much high frequencies.


    So I am having a hard time explaining this to you. But I can assure you that we dont ear frequencies the same way .

  • I have them sitting on my desk right now. They're the best bit of audio kit I've ever bought, after the KPA ;)

    So I guess you would recommend them?


    I'm thinking of buying some good headphones for mixing (in the box, home studio), and I was leaning towards the sennheiser HD 600 or 650 and maybe getting the sonarworks reference 4, but these Nuraphones catched my attention a few days ago, and I wondered if they were a bit of a 'snake oil' thing or if they really worked the way they claim...


    Interesting!

  • So I guess you would recommend them?
    I'm thinking of buying some good headphones for mixing (in the box, home studio), and I was leaning towards the sennheiser HD 600 or 650 and maybe getting the sonarworks reference 4, but these Nuraphones catched my attention a few days ago, and I wondered if they were a bit of a 'snake oil' thing or if they really worked the way they claim...


    Interesting!

    They really work! As a Kickstarter backer, I have 6 discount codes I can give out. PM me if you'd like one (I think they're good for 30% off or something).


    Edit:
    PS I have a pair of Beyer Dynamic DT880 Pro 250 Ohm and Sonarworks Reference 4, plus a WAVES Nx headtracker. I don't use any of them since the Nuraphones.

  • They really work! As a Kickstarter backer, I have 6 discount codes I can give out. PM me if you'd like one (I think they're good for 30% off or something).
    Edit:
    PS I have a pair of Beyer Dynamic DT880 Pro 250 Ohm and Sonarworks Reference 4, plus a WAVES Nx headtracker. I don't use any of them since the Nuraphones.

    Wow mate! That would be awesome, it's so kind from you! I'm definitely PM'ing you.


    If they your sonarworks and Waves NX begin to gather dust, it's great to know they are that good!


    Thank you!

  • Well guys, I am sure you know know that with time, especially if you work at high volume, many will ear less and less high frequency . High frequencies degrade with time and high volume . You know that right? or I'll find an article about it Youll be in studio and the mixer will boost the highs too much Of course he doesn't hear it .



    So I am having a hard time explaining this to you. But I can assure you that we dont ear frequencies the same way .

    Pardon, did you say something :)


    Also was that a joke "But I can assure you that we dont ear frequencies the same way" , made me smile :)


    Yes I get your point, there is so much variation from the physical changes with age and loud volumes to what we like...how many people turn their amp up a bit more half way through a gig because they can;t hear it anymore ( fatigue at high volumes).


    I have it even worse, I don;t know what sound I like until I hear it, which makes finding it a bit tough!

  • "...This tiny signal originates in the cochlea and vibrates the ear drum, turning it into a speaker and playing sound back out of your ear. Yes our ears make sound! ....The nuraphone uses an extremely sensitive microphone to detect this returning sound wave, and a self learning engine built into the nuraphone to create your profile"
    If profiling an amp was not enough, now they profile your ears... :D


    Interesting, anyway, I wonder if someone tried those headphones.


    Yes the ears actually do produce sound... but these distortion product otoacoustic emissions (OAE's)are quite variable on test/retest.


    https://academic.oup.com/bmb/article/63/1/223/377500


    "While DPOAEs relate to threshold across a population, they are at best a very unreliable and imprecise indicator of an individual's hearing threshold. This is because, unlike the ABR, OAEs are presynaptic responses. Their origin precedes the ‘threshold’ imposed by the inner hair cell's transduction process. Use of higher stimulus intensities increases OAE detectability and can provide useful evidence of residual hair cell activity, but does not probe any deeper into the auditory pathway."


    OAE's are related to outer hair cell function

  • I have them sitting on my desk right now. They're the best bit of audio kit I've ever bought, after the KPA ;)

    That's great!!. The drivers of this headphone are designed for an specific use? I mean, regardless the ear profiling discussion, there are different headphone's drivers suitable for specific applications like: listening music in general, music bass heavy, gaming, studio mixing (KPA use included)... What are your thoughts about listening music vs. using it with the KPA?

  • That's great!!. The drivers of this headphone are designed for an specific use? I mean, regardless the ear profiling discussion, there are different headphone's drivers suitable for specific applications like: listening music in general, music bass heavy, gaming, studio mixing (KPA use included)... What are your thoughts about listening music vs. using it with the KPA?

    I use them for both. They are an eye (ear? :D ) opener for sure, when listening for the first time to something you know inside and out. I noticed new things in classic albums that I've listened to a million times that I never heard before. Pretty crazy.
    With the KPA, I find them to be much more pleasant than my DT880 Pros. The highs are very present, yet not harsh or strident, unlike the Beyer 'phones. I use them for mixing at home, when I'm on a strict timeline and need to finish something after work hours.

  • The Nuraphones don't profess to correct for hearing disabilities, only the architecture of the inner ear and how it skews frequencies before your ear interprets them.