Re: [LAU] digital voodoo: master fader should be set at 0db

On Wed, Apr 14, 2010 at 3:06 PM, Arnold Krille <arnold@email-addr-hidden> wrote:

> Going into psychoacoustics is not really contradicting the "machines can't
> measure it, still it exists". Machines can measure the frequencies the
> human
> ear can't hear but which still have an effect how we perceive the sound.
> Only
> the effects aren't looked into as deep as the frequencies below 20kHz are.
> To
> the result that most scientific research wasn't able to give reliable
> results.
> Which in turn makes most audio people discard frequencies >22kHz light-
> heartedly. And they are right as the scientific (thus neutral) proof of the
> effect of the frequencies below 22kHz is _much_ greater then above. That
> doesn't deny the psycho-acoustic effects, it only ignores them for the sake
> of
> bandwidth, reliability and cost...
>
>
Sorry to pick on you, but this is the piece of audio voodoo that irks me
most of all. There is no evidence I'm aware of that supports the idea that
ultrasound has any effect whatsoever on human perception of anything. This
point is marketed to no end in the audiophile world, whether it's the
supposed 100k frequency response of virgin vinyl, or the 50k response of
SACD. I believe it's 100% bunk.

If you doubt this, as many people do, try the experiment I used to prove it
to myself:

1) Set up some good synthesizer software (e.g. SuperCollider, csound,
PureData, etc.)
2) Generate pure sine tones of increasing frequency until you reach the
point where you can't hear it (for me this point is just over 16k; for an
older colleague of mine it's just under 14k) (warning: this revelation can
be depressing)
3) Start cranking up the volume. Your VUs will tell you it's there . . .
your amp clipping lights will tell you it's there . . . your dog that runs
screaming from the room will tell you it's there . . . your exploding
tweeters will tell you it's there . . . but you won't hear it. Ever.
4) Now that you've got this horrifyingly loud sound blasting throughout the
room, live your life. Watch some TV. Listen to some music. You won't
notice anything. Better yet, have someone else turn it off and on
periodically, and you note when it's on. You won't reliably be able to.

So . . . if an ungodly pure tone at, say, 18k has no impact on my senses at
all, ain't *no way* that the "air" of a symphony at 30k will. Until some
unbiased A/B/X tests start showing up that prove otherwise, ultrasound is
pointless in music.

I'd love to be proven wrong here.

Footnote: Yes, there's a valid argument for higher than 44.1k when
recording, which involves the filters in A/D converter hardware. There is
no argument for it in the listener space.

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Received on Thu Apr 15 04:15:01 2010