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In the Forum: Audio Discussions
In the Thread: A passive but elegant presentation
Post Subject: HabituationPosted by steverino on: 2/5/2024
 Amir wrote:
my question is:
the relation between "music listening experience" and "sound quality".
very good articles are here (GSC) and I have read them.

when I wake up early morning and start climbing at 5:30AM the music listening experience is wonderful even with $10 headphone.actually I think when I enjoy listening to music then it is not important how does it sound. High End is not fully isolated from music listening/enjoying but most of the time it's not very important.
I really like high end audio just because it is like a game for me and I do not think better sound is equal to better music experience.


The initial exposure to something new in art (or people or xxx) that affects us powerfully emotionally has an intensity that inevitably dulls somewhat on repetition. This is called habituation. Then it can go one of two ways, either becoming "comfort food" or initiating an extended search for a way to relive or rediscover the magic. With respect to music it is well known that most people stop actively listening to a lot of new music once they get in their 30s. Only a small proportion continue to seek out new music which can give them the initial rush of excitement with a new experience, The rest just use the music they know as comforting background noise. So having better sonics is one way of reconnecting with known music as it makes it sound different (hopefully better). There is nothing ignoble about this. For example if we only knew certain art through grainy photos wouldn't we want to find a way to see them more clearly? Or if books were only known through garbled text wouldn't we want to find a copy where the text was closer to what was written?

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