EV Drops some Truth Bombs about Critical Listening

Recording, Mixing and Producing Recording Toys and Tricks
#1

This is a lengthy but brutally honest account of Eric Valentine’s journey of discovery in the art of critical listening, and why double-blind testing is vital:


Of course many from the RR days will remember this was something Brandon was obsessed with, and we were discussing 10 or more years ago.
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#2

Thanks, sounds like a very educational video. Blessed be the “watch later” feature on YouTube!

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#3

I keep meaning to watch his videos and I’m glad I finally watched one. Subbed and will be catching up on these. Great videos!

#4

finally went through the whole video (had to hear it at twice the speed lol) . Great video.
We had learned about the McGurk effect in a linguistics class. How prononciation methods effect the perceived sound.

As for me, I listen to most music blind whenever possible. My hearing spectrum stops at 15k, my friend however has clocked sounds at over 18.5khz , she also has perfect pitch. When we listen to music together she is always on an entirely different page than me. I think people who can hear much higher end of the spectrum will often carry a different perspective of the sound. Most normal casual listeners (adults) cant hear over 12k so each peice of music sounds as if an aggressive low pass was applied to those who can hear higher.

#5

It’s worth remembering that in musical terms, 18.5k isn’t much higher than 15k. Its maybe a tone and a half.

I think (imo of course!) the different perspectives are more likely to be psychological, or down to differences in hearing lower down in the midrange.

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#6

I do agree, music is inherently a psychological art to begin with. What is music to some, is noise to others and vice versa. Keeping a blind perspective does help. In most cases the listener’s perspective is dominated by the 4K spectrum that most ears are sensitive to. Any changes and variations in that range can cause predominant gaps in listening experiences.

yes absolutely correct. However 12k and 18k are quite far. When most casual listening drops flat at 12k, anyone who can hear past that will have a different listening experience, specially if the mix has been boosted with “air” that most mixers today tend to add in modern pop. My friend has a very hard time listening to anything artificially boosted.

#7

I would venture to say that ability to hear frequencies is only one of many, many factors that creates variation in the individual listening experience. Age, ear shape, head shape, even susceptibility to mucus buildup etc etc all change the individual perspective on sound. How we hear things is probably as individual as each of us are as persons.

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