Re: [Jack-Devel] Network Audio Transmission - Quality

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DateWed, 26 Jun 2013 06:26:10 +0100
From John Emmas <[hidden] at tiscali dot co dot uk>
Tojack-devel devel <[hidden] at lists dot jackaudio dot org>
In-Reply-ToJohn Emmas Re: [Jack-Devel] Network Audio Transmission - Quality
Follow-UpJohn Rigg Re: [Jack-Devel] Network Audio Transmission - Quality
On 26/06/2013 05:36, John Emmas wrote:
> In this particular case the new filters gave a much more "defined" stereo image, instead of the slightly "muddy" image produced by our original filters.  I found it so easy to detect that I was genuinely surprised at how few others could hear it.
>

In fact, to add to that...  it's entirely possible to hear things for 
which there is (literally) no mechanical or scientific explanation.  For 
example, a famous TV company where I used to be a sound mixer, kitted 
out all its studios with some new loudspeakers. For me, the image had no 
"depth".  It was as if the sound was mono and coming from a single point 
source.  Of course, technically, there's nothing in a stereo signal that 
can convey depth - and yet I always perceive depth when listening to 
stereo material.  Out of all the sound mixers, only me and one other 
person could hear the lack of depth.  Nobody else could detect it.

In truth, the perception of depth was probably inside our brains - but 
something about those speakers wasn't stimulating whatever it was that 
produced that effect in us.  What this proves is that psychoacoustics 
are very real.  Hearing isn't (simply) a mechanical transmission 
process.  To quote from Wikipedia on the subject of psychoacoustics:-

/" Hearing is not a purely mechanical phenomenon of wave propagation, 
but is also a sensory and perceptual event; in other words, when a 
person hears something, that something arrives at the ear as a 
mechanical sound wave traveling through the air, but within the ear it 
is transformed into neural action potentials. These nerve pulses then 
travel to the brain where they are perceived. Hence, in many problems in 
acoustics, such as for audio processing, it is advantageous to take into 
account not just the mechanics of the environment, but also the fact 
that both the ear and the brain are involved in a person's listening 
experience.//"/

How often that gets forgotten!

John
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