Pro Sound Web: As with the ever-ongoing debates about “tubes versus transistors,” “analog versus digital” and “Mac versus PC,” there’s not likely to be agreement any time soon about “objective versus subjective” when it comes to sound quality.
Extremists in the “Objectivist” camp argue that, “if it can’t be measured, it doesn’t exist” while on the other hand, the “Subjectivist” side firmly backs the idea that “human beings can hear things that can’t be measured.”
2 comments:
This article is really fascinating. The idea of whether or not good sound is actually measurable is an interesting concept. While it may be possible to measure all of the different components of sound, what exactly makes it good can't really be measured. I think I fall into the subjective camp. What sounds good is different for everyone and can't really be measured. One subject the article explored that I found most interesting was the idea of bandwidth and resolution. Machines have a fixed amount of both but humans don't. The more we experience something, the better we understand it and the more we can apply previous knowledge to it. For someone who spends years eating only fast food, suddenly switching to only gourmet food will have a much more drastic reaction than someone who has only ever eaten it. The person who has only eaten fast food has a much different frame of reference. The same applies with sound. Your frame of reference greatly impacts what good sound is to you. That is why I think good sound is totally subjective and what makes this article so interesting.
So well put, by both the article and Philip. I too think that I would fall into the 'subjective' category. What I think sounds good doesn't necessarily sound as good to the person next to me, and vice versa and that can't be measured. The levels for the two sounds would be the same but they would be perceived different by both individuals in this case. I think that what sounds good is unique to you, and while things can sound good to multiple to a multitude of people, they won't be exactly the same for each person and those variances can't be put onto paper or in any measurable form.
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