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“Audio Memory” ?

Indeed I did.
We all like different music.

It appears the majority on this Forum love David Bowie.
He doesn’t do anything for me.
I know it’s controversial, but I don’t think he could sing that well.
I must agree there. A great performer but a lousy voice.
Damn, did I say THAT out loud? :eek:
 
Having now been a member on here for a couple of months and reading plenty of posts and learning a bit along the way,I got to thinking about “Audio Memory” for want if a better phrase, does such a thing exist?
Reading posts where people change components or interconnects and then describe the differences is one interesting take on this, because by the time it’s taken to swap something surely that memory is fading?
I know we can remember what things look, taste and smell like but these also fade with time.
So does such a thing exist ? Are some people better than others at recalling sound?
Maybe I’m talking bollocks and this subject has been done to death, apologies if that’s the case
 
It is very short for most normally constituted humans.
Audiophiles are superhumans though, but never attempt to test their powers, I understand that the mere suggestion blunts their gawd given gift.
 
It is very short for most normally constituted humans.
Audiophiles are superhumans though, but never attempt to test their powers, I understand that the mere suggestion blunts their gawd given gift.
So how do you remember a piece of music, or do you find yourself, goldfish-like, hearing it afresh every time?
 
Indeed I did.
We all like different music.

It appears the majority on this Forum love David Bowie.
He doesn’t do anything for me.
I know it’s controversial, but I don’t think he could sing that well.

I must agree there. A great performer but a lousy voice.
Damn, did I say THAT out loud? :eek:

Certainly not the greatest singer of all time but then I've never heard anyone make that claim .
David Bowie was definitely one of the most creative, innovative, songwriting musicians this planet has produced with a career spanning six decades. Unlikely we will ever see the same again.
 
My audio memory is mostly down assigning what I hear into pigeon holes. In other words I recall characteristics of what I hear rather than the exact sound....this works fairly well for me over longish periods. If doing a direct A/B then I'll use my memory of the sounds.
 
It depends what you mean by "aural memory". A voice can do it immediately, differences between stereos, hmm. Less certain. A couple of years ago I was in a shop chatting to a pal as we wandered round. As we approached the counter the cashier, who I had seen but didn't recognise, asked me "Excuse me, is your name Stephen?" Yes it is, and immediately she spoke I knew her name, nickname and when I had last seen her. Primary school, about 35 years previously. I would never have recognised the 45 year old version from my memory of the little girl who was one of my pals when I was 10 years old, but I immediately knew her when she spoke, with absolute confidence.

Other memories are less reliable. Most of the cable threads go on for ever because some people believe that their ears and brains are analytical machines that can never imagine anything. "I've heard it therefore there is a physical difference". On the other side of the fence are people like me who believe that the response to music varies according to a variety of factors and that ears/brains are a really unreliable measure, especially on a one-off listen.
 
But isn't that memory of the emotion, rather than details of the sound?
Absolutely, but isn't that why we listen to music?

If that experience suspended disbelief and grabbed me emotionally, then I surmise the hifi has done a good - nay, great - job in reproducing the music. I rarely focus on any particularly aspect of the sound these days, unless it jumps out at me.
 
It depends what you mean by "aural memory". A voice can do it immediately, differences between stereos, hmm. Less certain. A couple of years ago I was in a shop chatting to a pal as we wandered round. As we approached the counter the cashier, who I had seen but didn't recognise, asked me "Excuse me, is your name Stephen?" Yes it is, and immediately she spoke I knew her name, nickname and when I had last seen her. Primary school, about 35 years previously. I would never have recognised the 45 year old version from my memory of the little girl who was one of my pals when I was 10 years old, but I immediately knew her when she spoke, with absolute confidence.

Other memories are less reliable. Most of the cable threads go on for ever because some people believe that their ears and brains are analytical machines that can never imagine anything. "I've heard it therefore there is a physical difference". On the other side of the fence are people like me who believe that the response to music varies according to a variety of factors and that ears/brains are a really unreliable measure, especially on a one-off listen.


You’re correct about voices.

A young lady, who was a ( sort-of girlfriend ) in the late 1960s has a very distinctive voice.
I rather liked it.
As with all things, she didn’t marry me ( shame ) and moved to Bristol with her new husband Greg.
Over the years, I never forgot her voice.

Then, about 5 years ago she ‘phoned to give me some news.
I instantly knew it was her, almost before she spoke the second word.
It was amazing and it has never happened to me, before or since.

We met up this summer and of course she’s changed, but that voice...
 
More frequently than ‘never’ but less frequently than ‘always’. Probably somewhere closer to ‘always’ than ‘never’.
Oh yes, very good. I'd certainly subscribe if you ever get a crowd fund thing going to support you attending 'comicsrus' school in France, or Vienna, or anywhere...
 


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