Disparity In Audio/Sonic Opinions. How can we calibrate?

I think this hits the nail on the head. If the vocal sounds unnatural, think of how wrong piano, acoustic guitar, strings, woodwinds will sound.

I'm intrigued by the idea of an in-sync comparison, but I wonder if there are other things to be heard on each persons system that won't be reported.

That is, say Grant and I hear what Steve hears, but Steve goes to Grant's place or my place and hears other things that he does not hear (or want to hear) on his own setup. Or someone is doing the test using a tube system and his tubes enhance the midrange and bring low level detail (such as echo, ambience and decay) more up front.

Does this still mean we are all listening or hearing correctly and can come to objective conclusions? Is the test to see if we hear the same way Steve does or is it to determine if we all hear the same differences on the same recording/issue?

Wouldn't we all have to listen over the same system to do this accurately?

 

We won't get to 100% accurate, but I have to say that I feel pretty confident my system is doing some key things right if I hear the same things a professional mastering engineer is hearing on his (or her) rig. I also think it would be cool if we could achieve even 80% consensus on what a recording ought to sound like. Too much audio anarchy.

 

I think we should try and find out why there are gross differences reported such as one says its a great smooth sounding disc while another says its way too bright. Of course there are going to be system differences and you can't expect a $1500 system to reveal the same detail and low level resolution as say a properly matched $30,000.00 system might but, the sound of the disc as far as being reasonably well mastered and recorded or conversely the revelation of gross flaws should be apparent to listeners of both systems.

What I originally tried to get out of this whole thing is why some people consistently hear fault in recordings that others find good. Establishing why this is will maybe help isolate a fault in ones system that can be corrected and thereby giving a more satisfying listening experience.

I know from first hand experience that it is quite possible to become accustomed to a systems faults and after a time considering it the "norm" when in fact it could be way off base.

 

I like this idea for the education value.
I normally don't listen for all these exacting details so I never really noticed that echo on the snare at the beginning of Fortunate Son. Learn something new here everyday.

Last night, using the excuse that I had to reset my turntable because of the new Herbie mat I was able to listen to the same thing over and over to get it right. Although my wife still asked more than once, "what are you doing? Can't you just listen to the music for the fun of it?" Until I explained the echo in that section then she listened too.
Now we're both nuts.

Personally I find this interesting and look forward to learning more about what people hear.

 

Very well stated. FWIW, I agree completely.

 

Blown tweeters!

 

Not on MY system! Hell, I don't even play music loud much.