AudioBanter.com - View Single Post - A model of the brain, & quick-switch

wrote:
Stewart Pinkerton wrote:
On 5 Sep 2005 21:08:10 GMT, wrote:

Or possibly they do hear the differences, but simply don't trust their
own experience. "Science" as practiced by psycho-acousticians has
replaced trusting one's own perception.

Aaah, but that's the difference - we *do* trust our experience. It
seems to be the 'subjectivists' who have to *know* what's connected
before they can express their admiration of the musicality........

Your statement about subjectivists does not represent my position at
all.

I feel no need whatsoever to know what's connected. I would be
perfectly happy to audition black boxes. I would be perfectly happy to
live with box A for a week, and then at some point in time unknown to
me, have box A switched with box B which is identical in appearance. I
would not know the identity of either box nor the time of the switch.
At the end of 1-2 weeks of auditioning each one, with switch time not
known, I would use my experiences to decide which one to buy.

But you've never actually done this, have you? So this is just bluster.

What I think is useless to me, is rapidly switching between sources, or
being asked to identify the source in a context where my "mental
procedure" for doing so must be followed like a recipe.

Clearly, you feel that your own ears function well enough in these
quick-switch conditions.

Clearly, we have good evidence that everyone's ears function optimally
in these quick-switch conditions, for the specific task of identifying
subtle audible differences. If you can provide countervailing evidence,
it'll be a first.

I take it you have never noticed any loss of
sensitivity in these conditions. The most likely explanation is that
you do all your listening in a conceptual fashion.. so you don't feel
quick-switching changes the conditions at all.

Certainly, my experience is that listening in a conceptual fashion will
blind one to subtle differences. As you also seem unaware of the
existence of these differences, this is further evidence to me that you
do all your listening in a conceptual fashion and simply don't perceive
subtle differences.

If you want to respond that all ears and brains are created equal and
get used by their owners in the same fashion, go ahead, but I think
that's a fantasyland.

All ears are not equal, but all ears work the same way. That is what
you seem to be resolutely trying to ignore.

bob