In a previous post I explored what high-end audio is. When I discuss high-end audio with those who haven’t experienced it before, they often protest, “I’m not an expert like you. I won’t be able to hear the difference.” But, actually, that’s not true.
We all spend our lives immersed in a sea of sound. It envelops us constantly, helping to reveal the world around us. We can instantly distinguish a particular sound from all the others that surround us, tell the direction and distance from which it’s coming, determine whether and how its source is moving, identify who or what is making it, and decide what it means. This has been key to survival, both of our ancestors, as they moved through their prehistoric landscapes, and ourselves as we try to navigate safely our bustling modern environments. Evolution has made us all expert listeners.
This same incredible, survival-tuned hearing system is also what we use to enjoy music and movie sound. Throughout our lives we have built up an amazing mental library, characterising and cataloguing the almost infinite collection of sounds we’ve encountered. Our brains provide instant recall, whether conscious or unconscious, from our vast personal sound libraries. This recall, combined with our innate hearing abilities, lets us instinctively know what reality sounds like, whether a voice, an acoustic guitar, or the rustling of the wind in the trees. We also know when something isn’t quite right. We may be able to recognise and interpret the sound, but we also know instantly that it’s not entirely real. It’s like the difference between looking out through an open window and then seeing a photograph of the same view. The picture will reveal the same features you saw through the window. It will be obvious that it’s the same scene. However, you wouldn’t ever mistake the photo for the reality.
Extending the visual analogy for a moment, you can easily recognise a face from even a low quality picture. However, seeing the actual face before you takes you past mere recognition to exploring its textures and expression, and wondering at the experiences and thoughts that have shaped them. A high resolution picture can go a long way to doing this too, and high-end audio does the same thing for sound. It seeks to deliver as believable as possible an audible illusion from your recordings. The more believable is the illusion, the less distracted your brain is by trying to make sense of what you’re hearing, and the more you can focus on the feel, meaning and emotion delivered by the sound.
Just as we can perceive beauty in the patterns of shape, colour, light and shade that we see, there is also beauty in sound. It’s rhythms, tones and textures, how it rises and falls, how it is plays and moves in the space around us, and how multiple sounds intermingle to create the soundscapes we inhabit. This beauty is ever-present, we just need to give it a moment of our attention. And we can choose to focus on a particular sound, the song of a distant bird, the hubbub of traffic, the breaking of waves, the laughter of friends sharing a joke, the sizzle of frying food … whatever delights or interests us. The magic of sound itself profoundly enriches our lives … and then there’s music …
As a life-long expert listener, you have the tools to appreciate high-end audio. When you hear high quality recorded sound, you can instantly distinguish it from less well reproduced versions. It’s the touch of reality that sets it apart. You’re certainly able to hear the difference … the only question is, does the difference matter to you? Are you’re satisfied with just the gist, the outline, the mere impression of what you’re hearing … or do you want more, to drink in deeply as much of the artists’ creativity as possible?
© Wayne Butcher, 2023. All rights reserved