Whether to do anything about the limitations of our ears


In the thread 'How do you listen?' appears the following:

"We do not hear all frequencies equally well at all volume levels. Low bass and high treble in particular need to be at a fairly high level to be heard at all."

This asks a big question:

Should we listen as our ears hear, with their inability to apprehend all audio band frequencies at the same intensity? As we are of course compelled to do when listening to live music.

Or when listening to recorded music should we adjust the intensity of particular frequencies we don't hear so well?  This will of course give a different presentation from what we hear live.

Or, to put it a different way, should audio manufacturers design equipment to present the frequency range as flat as a microphone perceives it, or as our ears perceive it?

But a microphone is just another flawed ear, with its own imperfections as regards intensity across the audio frequency range (and others of course).

Or, again: a flat response can be flat only as the means of listening presents it.



128x128clearthinker

Showing 2 responses by djones51

The adjustments are for speaker and room interaction. You're not going to get a "live music" listening experience at home unless you have a live performance Hall. What is being reproduced is the original sound of the  recording not the event.
Not sure a super flat in room response from 20hz-20khz is what most people like. Good DRC applied properly will give you a flat response over your speakers frequency range and your preferred listening curve.