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Listener fatigue: what does it really mean?

Okay, so I used to think that listener fatigue meant that your ears just kind of got tired from listening to speakers that were overly bright. I don't have a good understanding of the make up of an ear, but I believe there are muscles in an ear that, I guess, expand and contract while we listen to music and I figured that's what it meant to have listener fatigue. Now, I'm thinking that listener fatigue is maybe more than your ears just getting tired but actually, your whole body getting tired and feeling drained. I experienced this time and time again listening to my paradigm studio's. They are somewhat bright and provide quite a bit of detail in my oppinion, so I'm wondering if, since there was such a great amount of detail coming through, that it was physically draining because I'm sitting there analyzing everything that's coming through the speakers. I would wake up and first thing in the morning, grab a cup of coffee and start listening to music (my daily routine) and 20-30 minutes later start nodding off and I couldn't figure out what was going on. I've been sitting here this morning listening to my new vandersteen's for two hours and can't get enough. I feel like I could listen all day and that I'm almost energized from listening vs. drained.

Soooo, what are your oppinions about what listener fatigue is and why it's caused?
b_limo
csontos
1,275 posts
 
Again, what are we...chopped liver???

BTW, well said, Ralph. However, harmonics of all sorts exist as you inferred whether they're distorted or not and therefore are included in any recording, are they not? So isn't it the degree of odd ordered harmonic 'distortion' a particular amp exhibits which is the significant factor in determining or confirming how pleasant or irritating the sound may end up being? And therefore whether those harmonics are being produced cleanly. Serious question with respect.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
14,147 posts
 
As we have seen recently with the WA Qwantum Chips and some other things, too, like SteinMusic Harmonizer, Schumann Frequency Generators, demagnetizers, ionizers, and - all of this in utter disregard for the textbook view of distortion and noise in audio systems - such things as Silver Rainbow Foil, cream electret, the Red X Pen, things of that nature. If the only wine you've ever drunk is Boones Farm, you probably think it goes down pretty smooth. LOL
mapman's avatar
mapman
15,679 posts
 
If you're drinking Boones Farm only, you are probably more likely to try almost anything that might make things better.

Disclaimer: never had Boones Farm. It might be pretty good for all I know.
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
14,147 posts
 
Mapman, my gut is you would probably like Boones Farm.

;-)
petepappp
37 posts
 
I find Ralph's response extremely interesting as I detect a hint of the significance of the subjective experience as a significant part of the musical equation. I don't think engineers like thinking like this, fortuneately for us subjective listeners, although I think he took his oscilloscope and sound meter with him into the netherlands. This poses an interesting question. If Ralph was able to build an amplification system that "trips all the audiophile triggers", dropping us to our knees in tears through manipulating the presentation of the source signals, would the system be considered high fidelity and would he be raped by the audio reviewing and audio engineering community for manufacturing inaccurate equipment? The Shehanian Diopsan/ Stereophile debacle comes to mind.
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