Propeller Head Plaza Technical and scientific discussion of amps, cables and other topics.

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Clear as mud :)

Posted by jbmcb (A) on June 27, 2005 at 19:59:24

In Reply to: I am confused by your comment posted by Norm on June 27, 2005 at 17:05:12:

> ...but there's no scientific criteria for what a "Great sounding hall" is." Which is it?

Both :)

Getting a concert hall to sound a certain way is a known science. Flare out the walls a certain way, stage at a certain height, building materials, the material the back of the seats are made of, etc...

The problem comes when you try to figure out what acoustics people, in general, prefer. A bit more bass? Treble? Less or more echo (more "live" or "deader" ?) Given people's disparity in listening preferences, and the wide array of types of music a hall could play host to, figuring it all out is more art than science.

That being said, it is entirely possible to find out what people, in aggregate, like to listen to. It's called human factors, and it's used quite a bit in the audio field. Harman has a rather famous facility where they do loads of listening tests to figure out what people like.

The weak point in this analysis is not the science of acoustics per se, but the annoying inability of humans to have the same opinions on sensory input. Pesky, that :)

> Here the "laws of physics" cannot fully explain hall acoustics, therefore those saying they can perpetrate a scam.

Er, not really. If you're going to blow a quarter bil on a new concert hall, your architect better have a whole pile of data showing why his/her design will sound good. Ideally it will be based on a known-good sounding hall, like, say, Carnegie :)

The GSIC, being a relatively inexpensive tweak (compared to $100 bits of porcelan to lift your speaker cables up, at least) can get away with a nonesense explaination and still sell units.

> I do believe that peoples' ears are trustworthy and the best guide.

The mind and it's senses are very, very fragile and easily fooled. It's why people see ghosts and UFOs and faces on mars and faries and leprachauns, and how magicians and make a living.

/*Music is subjective. Sound is not.*/

This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:

Atma-Sphere Music Systems, Inc.

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