Better Hearing During the Night
Oct 18, 2009 at 2:17 AM Post #31 of 53
Lights and fans will mess up your juice. Oh yeah a microwave will jack it too.
 
Oct 18, 2009 at 6:21 AM Post #32 of 53
Quote:

Originally Posted by BIG POPPA /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Lights and fans will mess up your juice. Oh yeah a microwave will jack it too.


Burn all your dimmer switches!

Can't even tell you how much noise I get out of the lamp's dimmer on my headset during theatrical productions. But my light has to be dim, or I can't see an entrance in blackout. Must find alternative...
 
Oct 18, 2009 at 6:30 AM Post #33 of 53
I listen mostly at night, but I have one major problem; I've been falling asleep. This never used to happen to me, but past couple of weeks, I've been drifting off in the later songs in one album, and waking up to an album 2 back in the queue (I use a 5-disc changer).
 
Oct 21, 2009 at 7:42 PM Post #34 of 53
I believe the answer to the OP is in this link from a crazy audiophile frenchman: Google Translate

and here too: Google Translate

good luck w/ the broken translations
biggrin.gif
 
Oct 23, 2009 at 2:28 AM Post #35 of 53
Quote:

Originally Posted by krmathis /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Chances are that it might be related to our night cycle, as you say. Cause when the dark comes over us it might be useful to focus more brain capacity to other senses, especially hearing.

Then there are of course also power grid pollution, external noise, ...


Way back in time when the dark came over you went to sleep.
 
Oct 23, 2009 at 2:46 AM Post #36 of 53
My hearing varies little throughout the day or night (when awake) but my mood greatly affects my enjoyment of what I am listening to.
This manifests itself in the way that a track that sounded fantastic yesterday at
2 pm today at 2 pm does nothing for me at all.
This happens visually as well,what looked beautiful yesterday looks mediocre today.
 
Oct 23, 2009 at 3:21 AM Post #37 of 53
bipolar, we all get assaulted with flashy media all day and some days things are just boring. Some days I feel like my D7000 and Beta22 and Buffalo32 builds sound no different than my ipod. Others I am in utter awe of the power and authority they bring. We are a very easily swayed being.
 
Oct 23, 2009 at 9:42 AM Post #38 of 53
Quote:

Originally Posted by Loque /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I definitely notice it.

I don't subscribe to the power theory by any means. If you want an easy bit of proof, plug in your portable player and you'll hear the same thing.


yes!
how come this is routinely, and conveniently, ignored? it IS that easy. if power seems so 'polluted' that it affects the quality of listening, go battery. see if your portable isn't affected by those day/night cycles as well.
if it is (as in my experience), chances are that dirty power doesn't have anything to do with it. the causes have to be found in the physiological/psychological realms (along the lines stated in some fine postings here).

try it. and as long as you haven't, don't propagate rumours.

who here hasn't got a battery-driven player? i can understand other audiophiles being led into the dark by not acknowledging physiological and psychological phenomena, but on head-fi?
 
Oct 25, 2009 at 3:55 AM Post #40 of 53
In order to determine if the effect is psychological or real, do some tests. I'm surprised no one has brought this up yet (unless they have and I didn't notice).

Do an ABX of lossless vs 320kbps over 4 days. Use 2 songs. On the first day, ABX the first song in the day in dark conditions. On the second day, ABX the same song at night. Third day, ABX the second song at night, fourth ABX second song in day. This removes the following factors:

a) familiarity with song producing higher results - removed through each song being first played at a different time
b) environmental effects through dark conditions in day

However, the song types may influence results, so best to choose as close as possible I suppose.

If the results are clearly better (statistically) for night in both instances then you can safely say there is some kind of real effect at night, whereas if they are the same then you just think there is but there really isn't.

I'd do it but I've never noticed any such effect besides more ambient sound during the day, and I have no time.

Hope that helps!
 
Oct 25, 2009 at 5:08 AM Post #41 of 53
Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif
The power does not go directly into your circuit, though.

Power goes through a transformer and then into a network of devices designed to filter the electricity. There are diodes, tubes, capacitors, chokes in a number of different configurations that remove noise from the power and turn it into clean DC.

If you want an analogy, think about a water filter. Suppose the filter is capable of filtering out up to 100ppm of pollutants. Say the water you're filtering has 10ppm of pollution. Now, if something happens to the water supply where the pollution goes to 20ppm or 30ppm, the water coming out of the other side of the filter is going to be the same because the filter removes up to 100ppm.

Power supplies are exactly the same way. Maybe there is nominally less noise on the line after dark. But all of it should be filtered by the power supply equally, even if it's a little less noisy at night.

I think the phenomenon of better hearing at night is part psychological and part physiological. Our bodies change over the cycle of the day. Night might sync up well with our ability to hear. Psychologically, you're tired and know the day is nearly over and are anticipating a relaxing night. During the day, you usually have some anxiety about things that need to be done.


Well, I was going to put my two cents in, but you (like in almost all of your posts) make all of the points I was going to make. With the exception of the point about lower ambient noise at night (which already has been mentioned as well), you have saved me some typing. Thanks :Martinelli'sChug:
 
Nov 12, 2009 at 10:10 AM Post #42 of 53
Quote:

Originally Posted by haloxt /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Just because there are physiological factors does not exclude the possibility of power purity factors.


well yes - but the point is, once again:
Quote:

Originally Posted by Loque
If you want an easy bit of proof, plug in your portable player and you'll hear the same thing.


 
Nov 12, 2009 at 1:55 PM Post #43 of 53
It is possible that audio equipment with huge power draw may be more susceptible to rfi/emi in the power line than an mp3 player which is the least power demanding. Also an mp3 player just may not be resolving enough that power problems are possible to hear. One piece of equipment I found to be quite sensitive to power is the audio-gd compass which relative to other audio-gd gear doesn't have a fraction of the power filtering circuitry usually put in their gear. If someone has tested something bigger than an mp3 player with a power filter designed for audio I'd say that's a good test.
 
Nov 13, 2009 at 3:07 AM Post #44 of 53
Lets see some dedication. I am a morning person and my setup sounds very good also at 05:00 Sunday mornings. This is not a joke, I do it every week. Any experienced that too?
 
Nov 13, 2009 at 7:26 AM Post #45 of 53
This is the most logical and reasonable thread I have read on head-fi so far. I was expecting a heavy dose of pseudo-science. I suppose we all get along pretty well considering our wildly differing views as a community. Cheers!

Yes, late night listening sounds best. Jazz sounds best at night as well. When playing during the day I enter the zone as if it's 1:30 in the morning. Dig it.
 
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