... Teenagers and College Students May Prefer Accurate Sound Reproduction

[Hoerninger]

AES Budapest 2012

Some New Evidence that Teenagers and College Students May Prefer Accurate Sound Reproduction
—Sean Olive, Harman International Industries Inc. - Northridge, CA, USA

A group of 18 high school and 40 college students with different expertise in sound evaluation participated in two separate controlled listening tests that measured their preference choices between music reproduced in (1) MP3 (128 kbp/s) and lossless CD-quality file formats, and (2) music reproduced through four different consumer loudspeakers. As a group, the students preferred the CD-quality reproduction in 70% of the trials and preferred music reproduced through the most accurate, neutral loudspeaker. Critical listening experience was a significant factor in the listeners’ performance and preferences. Together, these tests provide some new evidence that both teenagers and college students can discern and appreciate a better quality of reproduced sound when given the opportunity to directly compare it against lower quality options.

Convention Paper 8683

Look and listen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLJQUZxvRvk

or for convinience as PDF:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/16343460/New...uction.key.pdf

____________
Peter

[Sundown]

I've heard about this before (on a podcast I believe) and its an interesting study. I'm not old (33) but I hope my and younger generations keep this "hobby" alive. It'd be intersting if a group would do a study on younger listeners hearing loss. Most of these younger folk use earbuds at extreme levels. I bet a lot of them have the same hearing of a 40yr old haha

[Mr. Widget]

I've heard about this before (on a podcast I believe) and its an interesting study. I'm not old (33) but I hope my and younger generations keep this "hobby" alive. It'd be intersting if a group would do a study on younger listeners hearing loss. Most of these younger folk use earbuds at extreme levels. I bet a lot of them have the same hearing of a 40yr old haha

...and a 40 year old has old ears?


Widget

[Sundown]

...and a 40 year old has old ears?


Widget

HA!

[yggdrasil]

...and a 60 year old has no ears! Beware Widget, eventually you will only be experiencing an illusion.

[Titanium Dome]

...and a 60 year old has no ears! Beware Widget, eventually you will only be experiencing an illusion.

It would be difficult to place a percentage on it, but most hi-fi enthusiasts are living an illusion anyway. In fact, to be precise, the entire home music reproduction experience is an attempt to create as convincing an illusion as possible. We have the science and technology to do a compelling job of that, as evidenced by all the hyperbole thrown about when someone describes the in home musical experience:

"I was transported..."

"It was as if a veil were lifted..."

"The sense of rarified air and atmosphere..."

"Diana Krall was breathing in my ear..."

"It was as though a drop of sweat flew from Jeff Beck's dripping face..."

The rapture only gets worse from there. So much of it is self-induced and delusional.

No one is more easily deluded than I. That's why I like to have so many different systems around. I clearly can hear differences from system to system, yet in isolation, I can enjoy them all, without having the pang of "Oh, I wish I had..." instead of what I've got.

When someone announces that he or she has found "The perfect system. My search is over," I interpret that as someone's preferences, prejudices, and experience finally finding the perfect illusion. It seems right to them, at least until the next revelatory experience.

As for teenagers and college students, to assume that as a generation they will all stick to lossy tracks and earbuds is to be ignorant about them and clueless about one's own generation. There were plenty of people in my generation who listened to crappy little AM transistor radios with a single earpiece, and in my kids' generation who carried around WalkMan cassette players with crappy stereo headphones, and now in my grandson's generation who carry iPods and ear buds. And in each of those generations, the sound quality, technology, and accessibility all improved. So, IMO, things are better now than ever, and the step up for my kids and my grandkid is much smaller than the step up I had to take to get to quality sound.

[RMC]

Hi hatrack and Widget,

WOW!

Never really stopped to think about this, doing it now while reading posts, but it does seem like good accounts of new reality 101. Sad but true, except for the car/Uber thing here up to now.

Checking that talk vs our 28 year old daughter and her husband, the hat seems to fit. 3-4 years ago we bought them a new small stereo system for their first appartment. Within six months the gear was back in boxes in the locker, to make space in the living room for the X-Box, Play Station or some other Nitendo gadget...

Kept asking now and then where's the audio? No space its stored. Definitely not a priority for them having their portable audio gadget. And the CD player on the system probably never been used since there's a connection where a smart phone can be plugged...

In their new appartment recently, the audio stuff resurfaced on top of some furniture. I assume only because she does the X-Mas family gathering this year, lol. After the Holidays I'd bet the gear will be back in box in the locker...

On the other hand they do like some of the older 70's or 80's music that plays here when they come home: what's this song? who does it? Then enters the info in her phone, probably to get it later from streaming...

She's quite stunned looking at LP records and a turntable playing them, from the prehistoric icing age... What they know is basically MP3 sound, and pretty much don't bother about the rest.

Well I don't have a smart phone and not missing at all being a slave to this like so many I see, then I guess I'm still part of the dinosaurs... Regards,

Richard

[DrPsyche]

Sound reproduction – art and science/opinions and facts by Floyd Toole:
https://audiophilestyle.com/forums/topic/32061-in-search-of-accurate-sound-reproduction-the-final-word

More audio topics on https://writemyessaytoday.net/write-my-essay-in-2-hours

I guess Steve Guttenberg described it perfectly well in his article Who wants perfectly accurate sound? I simply listen to the The Absolute Cloud using my Audio Aggravator. Btw, any pdf copy of Accurate Sound Reproduction Using DSP by Mitch Barnett here?

[hatrack71]

They may prefer it but they aren't buying it. Millenials are the portable generation and don't seem to have any interest in home audio at all around these parts. I can count the serious audiophiles here on one hand. Not kidding. We're dying off like flies and the gear is being sold cheap or given away by the kids. 99% have no idea what stuff even is... let alone any value.

[Mr. Widget]

In a world where you don’t buy or collect music, why would you want to encumber yourself with a pile of bulky heavy boxes to playback the music you stream? You watch movies on a tablet and listen to music via headphones or a powered streaming player.

The shrinking interest in our hobby isn’t unique, who collects stamps, who builds model railroads, who buys antiques, and on and on... old gray haired folks are still interested in these things, but very few folks under 40 are. In my part of the world, most 20-30 somethings are no longer even interested in cars. They would rather Uber and spend their money on “experiences” and not things.


Widget

[SEAWOLF97]

In my part of the world, most 20-30 somethings are no longer even interested in cars. They would rather Uber and spend their money on “experiences” and not things.


Widget

Had never really thought abt the situation as described. Cannot argue and think I agree.

Have recently thought of their “experiences” as opportunities for selfies to upload to social media to show (artificially) what a great life you've made of things.

Maybe that's a good thing. As a life-long photographer, I have many images of me (selfies ?) that show situations , experiences & locations that have faded from memory and are refreshed by the pics. Some, maybe better off ..forgotten ?