pageman99
500+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2006
- Posts
- 607
- Likes
- 17
I've mentioned in the past my girlfriend is blind. And I've told a few stories about how she can identify her surroundings just by snapping her fingers and listening to the echoes.
I've also threatened to get her to listen to my headphones and give me a bit of feedback as to their qualities.
She's been loath to do it, as her environment is mostly sound, augmented by touch and smell. But mostly sound. Headphones, simply put, cut her off from her real world, much as if we, the sighted, were dropped into an isolation chamber with no light or other sensory input whatsoever.
Anyhow, I finally got her to spend some time, however short with my headphone collection.
I expected to gather useful info so I could rank various qualities of the better headphones we see discussed on a regular basis here.
NEVER MIND... she lives in a different world than us. Period.
Kinda like comparing our golf game to Nicklaus', maybe worse...
Here's what happened tonight: She walked by as I was sitting in my chair with Arlo Guthrie's 'Coming Into Los Angeles' playing through WMA lossless into a Pico then into my E9's.
Honey, I said, listen to this.
She put on the headphones and listened with a blank expression. I prompted: What do you hear?
Innocent me expected something to the effect of, gee that sounds pretty good. What I got was: It's kinda loud. Duh, OK what else? Well the right channel is distorting. Huh!?, I didn't hear that?
She says, Wait a minute. Never mind, I meant the microphone..., no the mixer is distorting the right channnel. Me: Huh, what do you mean, how do you know it's the mixer and not the mic? Her: Well, I thought at first it was the mic, but then I heard the drums and bass through Arlo's mic, too. (this was a live cut). And half Arlo's voice is ok and half is screwy like the drums and bass.
My jaw dropped at this point and I weakly switched tracks to The Band's 'Night they Drove Old Dixie Down'. What do you hear now honey?: Her: Oh, I like that song. But why is Robbie Robertson singing in a different room than the rest of the band?
Me: Uh, never mind. (he must have taped his vocal at a different time and mixed it later).
Me: Uh, what do you think of the headphones? Her: Gee honey they sound nice, but I just hate having all that sound in my head with no walls to help it sound really good. It gives me the creeps. Now let me go wash your clothes.
Bottom line: We don't have a clue compared to someone who can REALLY HEAR.
And perhaps it's just as well.
I've also threatened to get her to listen to my headphones and give me a bit of feedback as to their qualities.
She's been loath to do it, as her environment is mostly sound, augmented by touch and smell. But mostly sound. Headphones, simply put, cut her off from her real world, much as if we, the sighted, were dropped into an isolation chamber with no light or other sensory input whatsoever.
Anyhow, I finally got her to spend some time, however short with my headphone collection.
I expected to gather useful info so I could rank various qualities of the better headphones we see discussed on a regular basis here.
NEVER MIND... she lives in a different world than us. Period.
Kinda like comparing our golf game to Nicklaus', maybe worse...
Here's what happened tonight: She walked by as I was sitting in my chair with Arlo Guthrie's 'Coming Into Los Angeles' playing through WMA lossless into a Pico then into my E9's.
Honey, I said, listen to this.
She put on the headphones and listened with a blank expression. I prompted: What do you hear?
Innocent me expected something to the effect of, gee that sounds pretty good. What I got was: It's kinda loud. Duh, OK what else? Well the right channel is distorting. Huh!?, I didn't hear that?
She says, Wait a minute. Never mind, I meant the microphone..., no the mixer is distorting the right channnel. Me: Huh, what do you mean, how do you know it's the mixer and not the mic? Her: Well, I thought at first it was the mic, but then I heard the drums and bass through Arlo's mic, too. (this was a live cut). And half Arlo's voice is ok and half is screwy like the drums and bass.
My jaw dropped at this point and I weakly switched tracks to The Band's 'Night they Drove Old Dixie Down'. What do you hear now honey?: Her: Oh, I like that song. But why is Robbie Robertson singing in a different room than the rest of the band?
Me: Uh, never mind. (he must have taped his vocal at a different time and mixed it later).
Me: Uh, what do you think of the headphones? Her: Gee honey they sound nice, but I just hate having all that sound in my head with no walls to help it sound really good. It gives me the creeps. Now let me go wash your clothes.
Bottom line: We don't have a clue compared to someone who can REALLY HEAR.
And perhaps it's just as well.
