How to listen

yaowenxun

How to listen
It really came home to us at the Japan Audio Fair once, where we saw the local crowd taking their listening seriously: no sooner were the first notes played in a demo than eyes closed, necks craned, and you could feel the concentration.

Now we wouldn't go as far as trying to enforce that trance-like state, but you'd be amazed how much more you'll get out of your system if you give it a chance. Ambient noise, for example, can mask much of the detail on a recording. It's all very well having a dynamic range of 90dB or so on your CD player, but if traffic, the washing machine or just general household noise creates a background level of 60dB or so, much of the quality will be lost.

That's one of the reasons why systems tend to sound better late at night. In fact, for all the other theories of late night improvements - cleaner mains, better voltage and even lower levels of interference from neighbours' TVs - by far the most persuasive argument is that of lower background noise.

Soundproofing your room - or having a dedicated listening room in a normal family home - is usually impractical, but there are some steps you can take.

Closing doors and windows will exclude much of the noise, while using thick curtains at the window will help, too. And not having major appliances like washing machines or dishwashers running will reduce the electrical noise on your ring-main, which may well make the system sound better.

You don't have to go as far as hi-fi fanatics once suggested: not so long ago it was considered heresy to have anything electrical in the listening room, with TV sets, telephones and even digital watches being seen as culprits. We remember once being thrown out of a demonstration just for carrying a camera with a flashgun!

But switching off potential sources of radio-frequency radiation, such as computers and dimmer switches, can help no end. So can keeping your system switched on: almost all hi-fi we know benefits from about an hour of warm-up. Eliminate this by keeping it powered up - you'll be able to enjoy the music immediately. That gets you off to the right start and you'll concentrate on the music immediately, not the system.

It's all part of being in the right frame of mind for listening. We're not about to get all mystical and suggest you try breathing exercises, but the fact remains that music sounds best when you're receptive to it. Read a book or magazine while the music's on and you're hearing, not listening: it's a matter of your attention being distracted.

If you've ever listened to your system with the lights out, you'll probably have discovered it sounds better; if you haven't, try it. Maybe those Japanese hi-fi fans had it right - reduce the visual distractions, and the sound gets better.

Oh, and a glass of your favourite whatever, be it a 15-year-old whisky, a nice glass of wine or even a mineral water, works wonders: one American magazine even suggests cigars and fine wines to suit the systems it reviews! Your system's probably better than you think it is - just give it an even chance.


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