[vorbis] 48000 Hz in vorbis rc3?

[Kenneth Arnold]

[Note: This is a rather long email, that I may turn into an essay
sometime. It is not a rant, and was never intended to be, but instead
a different view than is normally expressed on lists like this. I hope
readers see that it is for your benefit, not mine. Definately don't
even try to read it if you don't have time to read the whole thing and
experiment some yourself, or aren't feeling open to a second opinion.]

On Tue, Mar 26, 2002 at 10:25:09PM +1200, Moz wrote:
> Moritz wrote:
> > I suppose. I'm working with samples at both 44.1Khz and 48kHz for
> > years now, and I could never figure out the difference. Those few
> > kHz (almost) don't matter at all.
> 
> OK, I'm a recovered audiophile rather than a technical type, but I do
> have a vague grasp of the terms from elec engineerling lectures back
> in the dark ages of my youth. I must confess, I suppose, to the
> audiophiles curse at this point: I have perfect pitch. Tiny things
> that matter not a jot become audible if I develop the habit of
> listening for them. I have had the dubious joy of returning an
> expensive ($US5k) CD player because it played flat - the clock turned
> out to be about .5% slow (oh, woe... actually, in manufacturing terms
> that's expectable but not acceptable).

I'd like to second one of Moz's points: "Tiny things that matter not a
lot become audible if I develop the habit of listening for them." To
all the audio engineers, listeners with highly tuned ears, and
especially those trying to make themselves aware of these little
things: though sound quality is important, remember that the core
purpose of listening to music is for personal enjoyment. Everything
else comes after. If you gain extra enjoyment from listening more
carefully for things like encoder artifacts, aliasing noise, or
whatnot, more power to you, but from my own experience as well as from
skimming this and many other discussions, you're more likely to
complain and nitpick about it. [of course this doesn't apply to people
like Monty, who can complain and nitpick all they want because they
put their complaints into improving Vorbis :)] Though complaining and nitpicking can
give you a sense of power, that you have some special elite ability
("golden ear"), is it really adding to your enjoyment?

Most of us (probably all of us, but I can never be certain) are
human. Humans are not computers, and can never be expected to be, just
as we can never expect a computer to exactly mimic a human. Humans
have the unique ability to grow in their perceptions. Many listeners
in this forum have discovered one way they can expand their aural
perception -- by listening for encoder artifacts. By training yourself
to hear these things, you weren't creating something new, just
bringing something that was hidden into your awareness. I will put
forth that there are numerous other subtleties, in all senses but
especially hearing, that you can "grow" to notice.

For example, it is a very widely held myth that one must be "born
with" perfect pitch. It's just one of the many things that you can
bring to your ear's awareness. It happens to be one of the more subtle
elements of our perception, which is why many people haven't noticed
it, and why you can't force yourself into noticing it. Contact me
privately, off-list, if you're interested in this specific element of
perception.

For all those interested in ways to possibly expand your perceptive
abilities (appropriate to this list since Vorbis /is/ a perceptual
audio codec after all), I'll suggest a few simple listening
exercises. These did not originate from me, and target the specific
area of "unlocking" multiple simultaneous sounds:

If you have a synthesizer, or heaven forbid a real instrument that can
play two simultaneous notes, use that. If you're locked in a studio,
set up a few oscillators that you can turn on simultaneously. Play two
notes a third apart at the same time, like middle C and E, or for the
oscillator people, 261.6 Hz and 329.6 Hz. Listen first for the sound
they make together, then focus on each one independantly. Play it
alone if you need to, but try to hear each one from the
combination. To prove to yourself that you can hear each individual
tone, sing, or hum the two notes from the bottom up. Repeat for other
major and minor thirds. (oscillator people can multiply or divide the
frequencies by 2^(1/12).) Repeat for closer intervals, like whole and
helf steps and even smaller if your equipment can do it. Repeat for
larger intervals; if the notes go beyond your vocal range, just hum or
sing the same note in your range. If you're a musician and found those
to be extremely easy, try three or four notes. Then when you're
listening to music, try picking out the individual notes. In recorded
music, they may not be played by the same instrument -- practice
hearing the guitar part behind the vocals, in the case of more modern
music, or each instrument in an orchestra for classical. Don't forget
to notice the percussion every once in a while.

Generally the more depth you perceive, the more you notice, the
greater your enjoyment. You'll probably notice more depth in the music
you listen to, and even perhaps overall, when you make yourself aware
of things you might not have previously noticed. Especially if the
exercises I present don't add to your enjoyment, but even if they do,
back out every so often and just listen; don't force your ear to hear
things, but don't keep it from hearing things either. Essentially, it
all boils down to the quote I have included in my .sig for a long time:


-- 
Kenneth Arnold <ken at arnoldnet.net>
- "Know thyself."


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