Can We Measure Everything We Hear?
Sound reproduction using electronics is a human invention. We made it - we understand it fully - we can measure every aspect of it. There's no magic involved, despite what the snake oil gurus want you to believe.
When you measure sound, there are a number of ways to look at and interpret the data.
In this video I point out the difference between the frequency response (what most people look at) and the time response to uncover the measured difference between the two recorded samples.
The samples are recordings of a test sweep generated by the measurement software REW. The only difference was I added reverb to the speaker at the back of the room (one of the Hafler circuit speakers). Sample A had no reverb, Sample B had reverb added.
While you can easily hear the difference, both frequency response plots are virtually identical. To see the measured difference you need to look at the sound as it's propagating over time - the waterfall plot.
When you add reverb (either with electronics or from the room itself, that won't affect the frequency response drastically, but it will affect the time response. And it's the time response that most listeners are unaware of and largely ignore.
The unmeasurable part of sound reproduction is how YOUR ear in combination with YOUR brain receive and interpret that sound. That is affected by a long list of things that have nothing at all to do with the equipment used to produce the sound. And those difference can make the sound radically different.
Another huge factor that affects the sound produced is YOUR room.
As much as 50% (or more) of what you hear in an untreated room is the room itself - the sound interacting with the room in the form of reflections and standing waves.
Measuring what the room does to the sound is vastly more complex and difficult to do, but again it has nothing to do with the equipment used to make the sound in the first place.
For example, moving your listening position as little as a few inches can make a large difference in how much bass you hear. This is due to standing waves that every small room has.
The sample I played had reverb added electronically, but you've probably heard something similar in a large room where the sound is echoing. That will only show up in the time measurement and as you heard, has a big impact on how it sounds. In varying amounts, that's what's happening when you play sound in any untreated room - the sound takes longer to die out.
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Watch video Can We Measure Everything We Hear? online without registration, duration hours minute second in high quality. This video was added by user John Heisz - Speakers and Audio Projects 02 January 2024, don't forget to share it with your friends and acquaintances, it has been viewed on our site 4,043 once and liked it 330 people.