How easily we adapt to our environments. If it’s too cold we put on a sweater, too hot and we find shade, listen to music through bandwidth-limited earbuds, and before long it sounds just right.
While being wonderfully adaptive is a blessing, it can also be a curse. We get so used to the sound of a system—even a bad one—that it becomes difficult to know when something is better.
It’s immediately apparent that it’s different. But, better?
And to make matters worse, if we don’t form a fairly quick opinion between the two we begin to adapt yet again.
I think this conundrum is one of the many reasons why it’s so valuable to attend as many live concerts as possible.
Once you adapt to the sound of live music, the easier it gets to know when reproductions are right.
