Playground for practical listening exercises

[Spannko]

Clip 2 for me. It makes more sense musically. Clip 1 is a bit of a “musical mess”, imho!

[beck]

Clip 2 for me. It makes more sense musically. Clip 1 is a bit of a “musical mess”, imho!

Music like life is messy, didn’t you know! :-)

[Tendaberry]

I think I might have to record another clip to see, if there is more consensus then. Fortunately I'm not alone in thinking no. 1 is better.

[beck]

I think I might have to record another clip to see, if there is more consensus then. Fortunately I'm not alone in thinking no. 1 is better.

If possible you should live with both setups for a while and notice how you react over time. That will tell you a lot about the impact of the changes. How do you feel when listening?

[Spannko]

I think I might have to record another clip to see, if there is more consensus then. Fortunately I'm not alone in thinking no. 1 is better.

If possible you should live with both setups for a while and notice how you react over time. That will tell you a lot about the impact of the changes. How do you feel when listening?

Agreed. Listening to the sound of your system will confuse you. Doing as beck suggests will help you to come to your own conclusion. Try putting some music on and then don’t listen at all! Do something which occupies your mind and see how you react to the music playing in the background. Do you occasionally get drawn in to the music? Do you occasionally find the music irritating? Does it do anything for you or nothing at all?

[lejonklou]

Try putting some music on and then don’t listen at all! Do something which occupies your mind and see how you react to the music playing in the background. Do you occasionally get drawn in to the music? Do you occasionally find the music irritating? Does it do anything for you or nothing at all?

I think this is the best advice ever.

It limits the analytical part of listening by lowering the amount of information (if you remove yourself from the proximity of the speakers) and the attention you give it (if you do something else that requires your attention).

The Tune Method is about listening emotionally and analytically at the same time. HiFi enthusiasts and musicians often err on the analytical side, shutting down their emotional response. Limiting the analytical part of listening can shift the attention more towards the emotional response.

I do this all the time whenever a comparison feels difficult. It can either be that the difference is very small or that the sound characters are so different that the musical better-or-worse-decision becomes challenging. In the lab I go to my work station in the corner and solder on some circuit that requires my focus. I let the music keep playing and it sounds a bit boomy in that corner.

Then after a while I pause to change to that other part/component/setting/piece of HiFi that I'm comparing. I play the same music as before and return to the soldering job in the corner. I try not to decide whether it's better or worse, I focus on my soldering job. Pretty soon I just know.

[V.A.MKD]

Thank you, this is really something ..... One step plus in Tune Method School.

[Lego]

I think I might have to record another clip to see, if there is more consensus then. Fortunately I'm not alone in thinking no. 1 is better.

If possible you should live with both setups for a while and notice how you react over time. That will tell you a lot about the impact of the changes. How do you feel when listening?

Agreed. Listening to the sound of your system will confuse you. Doing as beck suggests will help you to come to your own conclusion. Try putting some music on and then don’t listen at all! Do something which occupies your mind and see how you react to the music playing in the background. Do you occasionally get drawn in to the music? Do you occasionally find the music irritating? Does it do anything for you or nothing at all?

Hmm although I agree with that Spannko ,I think that only happens if you don't realise you're ignoring the music.Many a time in the past after an upgrade or tweak I've put on album then decide to read an article or do something else,then you find yourself drawn back into the music as it's doing something better than usual. ,then you remember the upgrade.This happened to me soon after I got the tramp2 .This also works in reverse if you do a tweak that you have forgotten about and it makes things worse.

Not sure I could put music on and fool myself into thinking I'm not not paying attention,is that not paying attention !?

It reminds me C.Brennan doing a demo and afterwards asking everybody what the track was about ,a few were able to say.Then he played the same track with the upgrade and asked everyone what was the track about!!???Seriously flawed demo in that instance I thought .

[Spannko]

I think we actually agree Lego!

That is, put some music on, then do something which occupies your mind, like reading a book, and finally, see how you react to the music playing in the background.

[tokenbrit]

I think we actually agree Lego!

That is, put some music on, then do something which occupies your mind, like reading a book, and finally, see how you react to the music playing in the background.

Sorry, I wasn't paying attention... What was that? ;)

[V.A.MKD]

I think we actually agree Lego!

That is, put some music on, then do something which occupies your mind, like reading a book, and finally, see how you react to the music playing in the background.

Sorry, I wasn't paying attention... What was that? ;)

Sorry, I don't know, I'm not from here, probably new dimension. ;)

[Lego]

I think we actually agree Lego!

That is, put some music on, then do something which occupies your mind, like reading a book, and finally, see how you react to the music playing in the background.

Sorry, I wasn't paying attention... What was that? ;)

What was what!?

[ThomasOK]

"I see nothing, I hear nothing, I know nothing!"

[beck]

"I see nothing, I hear nothing, I know nothing!"

https://youtu.be/nX7CeTXoxyU

[beck]

Which do you prefer?

X) links removed

W)

[Scooter62]

X marks the spot
- lyric intelligibility
- clarity of where the bass player puts that low E in relation to the beat, then contrasts with his eighth notes an octave-ish higher that are dead nuts on
- ensemble's overall rhythmic flow (W seemed stilted in comparison)

p.s. thanks to all who contribute samples - and opinions - to this thread!

[tpetsch]

On this A/B the longer "W" played on the more I preferred "W", "W" seemed to roll along a little better musically as a "W"hole.

[Tony Tune-age]

Which do you prefer?

X) https://www.dropbox.com/s/cgs1k1y1dxy2f ... 4.mov?dl=0

W) https://www.dropbox.com/s/xzo4hjfl1qldx ... 3.mov?dl=0

I prefer "W" overall...

Cheers!

[beck]

Thank you so much for listening to all.

I can now go back and forth between the two different sounding setups very easily. At the end of the day I am in the X camp.

[Defender]

I was in the W camp but I know when I am deciding like that its usually the other option which is more musical thats why I didnt submit my opinion. I followed beck‘s advices in the past and I am happy with it.

[ThomasOK]

I prefer W because it is a cooler looking letter than X, at least to me. Although your opinion may differ. As to sound W is also softer and longer than X which is sharp and a bit abrupt.

As to the clips...I have no idea as they are gone! ;-)

[ThomasOK]

Let's try these:

A) https://www.dropbox.com/s/dijjxvgs3927t ... M.mov?dl=0

B) https://www.dropbox.com/s/a2zl5d6hgh78u ... M.mov?dl=0

This is not an exacting comparison and has a technical flaw or two. It is posted here more to see how interesting people find it and to generate some discussion. Have fun.

[tokenbrit]

Let's try these:

A) https://www.dropbox.com/s/dijjxvgs3927t ... M.mov?dl=0

B) https://www.dropbox.com/s/a2zl5d6hgh78u ... M.mov?dl=0

This is not an exacting comparison and has a technical flaw or two. It is posted here more to see how interesting people find it and to generate some discussion. Have fun.

1 vote each from here :) They're more alike than different - A feels 'familiar' to me in terms of musical flow; wife picked B which, I have to admit the more I listen, seems to convey a strangely compelling suspense & broodiness that I've never heard from this track - it's like you're suddenly listening to a haunting menace & meaning, not just a metronomic melody... Mesmerising - is this the comparison I think it is?

[ThomasOK]

Probably.

[lejonklou]

Let's try these:

A) https://www.dropbox.com/s/dijjxvgs3927t ... M.mov?dl=0

B) https://www.dropbox.com/s/a2zl5d6hgh78u ... M.mov?dl=0

This is not an exacting comparison and has a technical flaw or two. It is posted here more to see how interesting people find it and to generate some discussion. Have fun.

I think tokenbrit's words above are very true.

A sounds great. B is haunting!