Or is it that your headphones sound like my system..., as they should?
Right! That's it. They sound like that for everything I listen to! Everything I listen to sounds like your system -- and my headphones! Amazing!
Sonic correlations with art in the listening space
I’ve been doing some serious listening room optimization lately and wanted to share some findings that I think will genuinely move the needle for people.
I started with a Van Gogh Starry Night print on the front wall. The effect was immediately apparent — the soundstage became more active and forward, treble took on an aggressive, almost agitated quality, and there was a swirling, turbulent energy in the upper midrange that I can only describe as "post-impressionistic." Bass was present but restless. Not unpleasant, but fatiguing over long sessions.
I swapped in a Monet Water Lilies — same frame, same wall position, same listening chair. The transformation was remarkable. Highs rolled off beautifully, the whole presentation became more diffuse and liquid, with a kind of shimmering quality in the upper frequencies that never hardened. Soundstage depth increased noticeably. Jazz and classical particularly benefited. Vocals floated with an almost pond-like serenity.
I’m currently experimenting with a Rothko — early results suggest a warm, enveloping midrange with somewhat ill-defined edges, though the color temperature of the piece may be a confounding variable. A Mondrian is on order and I’m expecting tight, articulate bass with excellent channel separation.
Has anyone else explored this? I feel like the art/acoustics interaction is seriously underexplored in this hobby. Would love to hear other findings. Measurements welcome but I’m not sure the Klippel can capture this yet.
P.S. But seriously – I AM curious about the effect of decor on your overall listening experiences. I am making a joke above, but I do spend time tweaking my lighting and other things and seeing how impacts of visual art on mood effect listening experience.
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Your headphones should sound like whatever they are reproducing. If you are reproducing a YouTube video of my system, they should sound like my system. If they are reproducing someone else's system, they should sound like their system. If they are reproducing the direct transfer to whatever media, they should sound like the direct transfer. The closer they can get to what is on the recording/media, (i.e., no sound of their own) the better. Wouldn't you agree? This is not a case where one would want to "sweeten" the sound, but rather reproduce it as is. Certainly there are those cases and a totally flat sound can be really unappealing. |
@toddalin @hilde45 Isn't it obvious that listening to "your system" on Youtube will sound like the system you listen to it through? (Granted, "for the most part"; the differences among the three systems on Youtube toddalin posted are apparent, but that's due more to the parameters of the recordings, and the limitations of Youtube audio, than to the systems themselves.) To make this point as simply as possible: I'm now listening to SRV's "Tin Pan Alley" on CD on my system, and it absolutely blows away all three of those Youtube videos. But I'm willing to grant that all three of those Youtube systems sound at least as good as mine in person.
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@snilf Of course you're right. My tongue's been planted firmly in my cheek the whole time. |
But if you listen on really good headphones, they of themselves, in a "pure direct" mode, should have no sound "to sound like the system you listen to it through" and therefore only reproduce what is fed to them without adding their own coloration. I never listen to YouTube over my living room system but rather my near field monitors in my office because they are largely unaffected by the room in which they are used. If I listened over my living room system, everything would take on the characteristics of my room/system. |
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