View Full Version : Are women tone deaf?
Seems I have rarely met a women with a very nice audio system, or few that could care a rats butt what it sounds like for that matter.
The hifi industry it's self seems to be as male driven as Hot Rodding and shooting sports , I don't think there are many lady's who could tell the difference between MP3 and a first class vinyl rig.
Most would ask why a pair of Tannoy Westminster Royal SE when you could have a Bose wave radio?
OK, let the hate and feminist whining commence, but I am seriously asking the question, How come the same woman that can pick a single red from 300 shades of red nail polish or smell a perfume from across the room and know it's name and price per ounce can't seem to appreciate a nice stereo kit? :mental:
You gotta love them though .... well the pretty ones. :eyebrows: personally I like my whisky old and my women young. and our Bev knows a good system when she hears one (thats my sucking all done for the day ;) )
Ninanina
23-05-2015, 18:22
Seems I have rarely met a women with a very nice audio system, or few that could care a rats butt what it sounds like for that matter.
The hifi industry it's self seems to be as male driven as Hot Rodding and shooting sports , I don't think there are many lady's who could tell the difference between MP3 and a first class vinyl rig.
Most would ask why a pair of Tannoy Westminster Royal SE when you could have a Bose wave radio?
OK, let the hate and feminist whining commence, but I am seriously asking the question, How come the same woman that can pick a single red from 300 shades of red nail polish or smell a perfume from across the room and know it's name and price per ounce can't seem to appreciate a nice stereo kit? :mental:
:rfl::rfl:
That made me giggle...
I believe I have fairly good ears and I think my system is 'ok' ;)
Bev..
Grant,
On your passing,do you think your much loved kit will still be in your house on the first anniversary of your death?
A great question for a poll if you ask me...
Grant,
On your passing,do you think your much loved kit will still be in your house on the first anniversary of your death?
A great question for a poll if you ask me...
Just me left now, so I hope not :)
Bev,
I am of course painting with a very wide brush here, but as a general rule did anything I said ring a little true?
I am of course painting with a very wide brush here, but as a general rule did anything I said ring a little true?
My daughter wouldnt see past her iphone tbh, but my boy aint much better hifi wise. well maybe a little, but that is the way most young folk are now.
Ninanina
23-05-2015, 18:33
Bev,
I am of course painting with a very wide brush here, but as a general rule did anything I said ring a little true?
Well it doesn't ring true with me but I know what you mean. I don't happen to know any other women that are 'into' hifi/music like I am but I'm sure there are others around.. ;)
Gordon Steadman
23-05-2015, 18:34
I must be the lucky one. Ronnie had/has a wunnerful head banging system with giant pioneer A757 amp and some JBL tower blocks. She hates MP3s as the work of the audio devil and threatens me with following the rabbits and chickens into the freezer if I suggest that maybe seven complete hi-fis is a couple too many. "How many rooms have we got?" she says.
My nephew thought he would get the Quads when I go but Ronnie says he will have to wait until we are both safely tucked away somewhere. She has also been heard to say "can you turn it up a bit please?"
archiesdad
23-05-2015, 18:52
My missus joins in with any (well most)changes and has an input that I listen to, since the lazy shit doesn't work she can listen for hours whilst I'm at work, so, and whilst any technical may go over her head she knows what she likes, although she has started asking, how much? now.
I don't reckon she'd sell my kit if I croaked as she knows how important it was to me...
I don't think she'd be happy with a bose wave radio or mp3s as she actually prefers the sound of vinyl and it's the only thing in my system she seems to enjoy when I'm spinning some of her favourite Cure, Fleetwood Mac or the bloody Carpenters.... she sings along when records are playing but comes and turns it down if it's streaming or digital.
Yes I have a bunch of carpenters records which she insists on hearing every so often...
Anthony K
23-05-2015, 19:26
I played music to my missus on a £4000 system through £1000 headphones , when I asked her what she thought she said it sounds almost as good as her iPhone. Regarding her Yes , but my previous girlfriend noticed differences in cable and mains changes, I should have married her and made music loving kids but it wasn't to be.
When I'm dead, I'm dead. I couldn't give a hoot what happens to my 'stuff' once I'm gone.
An ex of mine insisted on taking an amp and some speakers from my then collection of audio tat with her when she moved down south. She wasn't interested in home audio before I met her. When I visited her a couple of years later she was telling me that she wasn't happy with the amp and wanted a 'better quality' one...
Del loves DEEP BASS and scale, so big boxes filled with huge drive units are a must.... When I sold the Spendor SP100s that I had (very large standmounts with 12" drivers), which shifted plenty of air, she was worried that the bass wouldn't be the same with whatever I replaced them with.
Then when she saw the Lockwoods, and heard her favourite Rammstein tracks played on them at 'silly' levels, which rearranged your intestines, she turned round and laughed: "I guess I shouldn't have worried!" :D
Aye, perhaps not......... :eyebrows:
Marco.
I thought it was medically proven women have a more acute sense of hearing than men ;)
I thought it was medically proven women have a more acute sense of hearing than men ;)
Oh that's a fact. My missus can tell from the bedroom whether I have put my cup in the dishwasher or on the sink.
Ninanina
23-05-2015, 21:18
Oh that's a fact. My missus can tell from the bedroom whether I have put my cup in the dishwasher or on the sink.
:rfl::rfl:
Nice one.. !
As long as she can find the fridge, and fetch a beer over on the way in from the kitchen, why worry? :eyebrows:
Marco.
Oh that's a fact. My missus can tell from the bedroom whether I have put my cup in the dishwasher or on the sink.
:D I rest my case, no further proof is needed! http://theartofsound.net/forum/images/icons/icon14.png
Oh that's a fact. My missus can tell from the bedroom whether I have put my cup in the dishwasher or on the sink.
If you drop a dish onto a tile floor and it smashes would she be able to tell you if it was her fine china or the daily table ware, now there's a double blind test!
Audio Advent
24-05-2015, 00:10
Oh that's a fact. My missus can tell from the bedroom whether I have put my cup in the dishwasher or on the sink.
I'd hope so! Those are completely different sounds...
Audio Advent
24-05-2015, 00:44
Seems I have rarely met a women with a very nice audio system, or few that could care a rats butt what it sounds like for that matter.
The hifi industry it's self seems to be as male driven as Hot Rodding and shooting sports , I don't think there are many lady's who could tell the difference between MP3 and a first class vinyl rig.
Most would ask why a pair of Tannoy Westminster Royal SE when you could have a Bose wave radio?
OK, let the hate and feminist whining commence, but I am seriously asking the question, How come the same woman that can pick a single red from 300 shades of red nail polish or smell a perfume from across the room and know it's name and price per ounce can't seem to appreciate a nice stereo kit? :mental:
Maybe your observations are true but your conclusions from it are.... well lets say, coloured by some kind of ingrained cultural prejudice.
The fact is that MOST people don't care, most people will question why Tannoy Westminsters when you can have a nice Bose Wave (which is cheaper and takes up a lot less room and says "Bose" on it). So, that covers most of the female population as well as most of the male population - odds are, you ask anyone and they will say that.
You've no control population to test your theory. I bet you are basing your conclusions on the people you've known closely (guessing you're straight). Women you've known closely, you'll get to know what they really do or don't care about and whether they really can hear the differences. Men you think you know closely as friends you will assume they have good ears because they talk the talk! They might go on about music and all the details of someone's playing and then again talk the talk of how they love vinyl etc. BUT you have absolutely know idea if they hear any difference between things because you've never got to know them with their guard down, when they're not talking the talk.
In people who do care about sound, I put the real difference purely down to pragmatism versus typical male obsession. I think men will more likely get into the gear-obsessed world of hifi and sonics and therefore pay more attention to it. Women will be more practical about the whole thing in the grand scheme of their lives!
In my experience it's about the same. I'm constantly surprised by male friends who are so into music and talk the talk, simply don't care about sound quality, happy with speakers from midi systems etc or iphone with some heavily branded headphones (wow, if you've bought some Beat heaphones, you must really be an audiophile! :lol: ). Many women I know or have known, once they find out me or a friend is into hifi they will ask some advice and might say what they want it to look like, e.g. a vintage amp, but then stress "prioritise the sound though". Once they've started focusing on the sound, they begin to want something better - exactly the same as it was with me.
I think any differences are about exposure. Gear-obsessed males are more likely to get the exposure to good sounding hifi on an obsessive chase for manly-looking equipment which leads them to then chasing the sound, whilst women in general won't enter that world at all because they've more realistically important stuff to get on with. Again, all generalisation - there's a wide spectrum of male-ness and female-ness which spans across us all in both directions.
I just think you've been hanging out with the wrong people - need to mix in more arty and creative crowds :)
If you drop a dish onto a tile floor and it smashes would she be able to tell you if it was her fine china or the daily table ware, now there's a double blind test!
In our case that would easy: the choice would be plastic or glass.
Gordon Steadman
24-05-2015, 06:24
The guy I bought the €40 Sony 8 piece hi-fi from now listens to an iPod dock and a sound bar - whatever that is! He reckoned that he just couldn't put up with all the clutter and inconvenience any more.
"but what about the sound?" I asked. "its OK" was all he said. I assume he bought the Sony because of its macho appeal, stacked up, it must be as tall as I am. Half of it looks as though its never been touched. Only the amp and CD player have any wear marks on the facias.
So I too, think it is more of a person thing than the male/female divide
Audio Al
24-05-2015, 08:03
I think most ladies just see it as music , be it radio TV or HIFI
My trained daughter however does know the difference
On her weekly visit she gets 2 sit in my listening chair and hear my track of the day :D
Lorraine appreciates quality sound :)
Sam has summed it up nicely, it's not gender specific, most people just don't care, it's not necessarily women. The number of people who are really 'into' music is a small section of society, the number of those who are 'into' HiFi as well, is an even smaller number and to be 'into' anything you normally need to be a geek or slightly nerdy and most of those geek/nerdy people are men, because of the way our brains are wired - it's now been scientifically shown that male and female brains process information in a different way. It's quite simple really and IMO has nothing at all to do with hearing - it's not something most people care about, but we probably use the people we know best in our lives as a yardstick and that's our partners.
Generalising I know, but that's how I see it. I know many people who are really 'into' music, including a lot of musicians. Some of those have decent sound systems but not many, but none of them post on HiFi forums - I'm the only one out of countless people I know that care about music. We are the odd ones out guys ;)
- I'm the only one out of countless people I know that care about music. We are the odd ones out guys ;)
I think we are the odd ones out but only because we post on hi-fi forums. There is more than likely an unheard majority who love music have good systems but would not dream of visiting an internet forum. Or they are unaware that such things exist.
I've been into hi-fi since 1987 it never occurred to me that there was any such thing as a hi-fi forum until 2009
Females are a lot less likely to post on a hi-fi forum because they have different priorities.
WE are hard-wired to enjoy music in the same way as we are hard wired to enjoy food. It's everyone, we are not special.
But as Sam says it is exposure. If you hear a decent system, and I don't mean a dealer demo or at a show, I mean over time in the comfort of a home, then, IME there are very few people who do not get swayed. Their benchmark gets moved and they find they can no longer live with their Amstrad midi system or portable cd player.
Yup. i know a few folk that are into music but wouldnt dream of going on a forum about it. they will of course use facebook etc and think i am odd that i dont or should i say WONT.
So it is horses for courses and as Macca says proper exposure will sway many although the majority really couldnt care less and are happy with what comes out of their phone,telly or mini bose system type thing. I dont think everyone who is into hifi is a geek though...some are though
Lorraine appreciates quality sound :)
Is that what you're calling the doll this month? :D :eyebrows:
Marco.
unpack lorraine and get the puncture repair kit out....its Friday:eyebrows:
Have you unpacked 'Martha' yet? That one you showed me had some set of nips! :eyebrows:
Marco.
shes being pumped up as i type my dear :D
Quality... Don't leave 'her' too near the fire, like the last one:
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/661/cxW9gS.jpg
Themz not friction burns!
:eek: :eek:
Marco.
I think the thread title is wrong, given the first and last sentences in the opening post.
Tone-deaf is not the issue being raised. It is the female attitude towards Hi Fi we are talking about.
Tone deaf is a musical term. It relates in simple form to the inability of an individual to tell the difference between musical pitches. So, if I play a note on say an piano, or perhaps sing a note, some folks can not sing that note back to me. Not even close. They have no idea if their effort is correct or not. Or ask them to sing a simple melody. Say, Happy Birthday. Unrecogniseable ? Thats tone deaf....................
( Pedant mode switched off, again )
Being tone deaf does not stop an individual from liking/loving music. ( In fact I know some... mainly from Yorkshire :) ) And it certainly doesnt stop an interest in Hi Fi.
Being interested in Hi Fi is mainly a male thing because it satisfies 2 needs in males.
1) Boys toys. something to fiddle around with.
2) Willy waving. "mines bigger than yours "
Not everyones motives. But commonly.
Ps, have I mentioned my new amp.... its huge!!
Quality... Don't leave 'her' too near the fire, like the last one:
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/661/cxW9gS.jpg
Themz not friction burns!
:eek: :eek:
Marco.
jeez I need to go on a diet:lol:
allthingsanalogue
24-05-2015, 10:32
As far as I know women have better hearing than men, more high frequency but yes my wife is not interested in my Hi Fi either.
Audio Advent
24-05-2015, 17:39
1) Willy waving.. something to fiddle around with.
2) Boys toys "mines bigger than yours "
I've just fixed that for you - you'd got mixed up.
Audio Advent
24-05-2015, 17:40
My trained daughter however does know the difference
On her weekly visit she gets 2 sit in my listening chair and hear my track of the day :D
That sounds great! Think I'll start to do that for visitors.
Audio Advent
24-05-2015, 19:53
Well here's a real life example from today..
A girl I know who loves sound and music when I recommend her getting some particular heaphones I'm excited about:
"I'm not sure I need the best, just a good one will do!"
That kind of sums it up. Whilst I'm thinking "What?? Yes you do! You need the best!"
People don't know what they're missing until they are shown and realise and then can't go back.
Solrighal
25-05-2015, 19:54
My wife can hear the difference between good gear & bad but doesn't see it as important. She's able to enjoy music on anything whereas I keep spending damn money.
I envy her.
Ninanina
25-05-2015, 22:52
My wife can hear the difference between good gear & bad but doesn't see it as important. She's able to enjoy music on anything whereas I keep spending damn money.
I envy her.
Gordon I envy your wife as well...
I wish it was that simple with me but once I hear something better I then don't enjoy the music so much through anything less... :doh:
Solrighal
26-05-2015, 00:19
Gordon I envy your wife as well...
I wish it was that simple with me but once I hear something better I then don't enjoy the music so much through anything less... :doh:
It's like a drug & it's no more obvious than when you're in the company of one who's not similarly afflicted. I'm lucky though. I've got a headphone filter to buy for these cans when it's released & then I think I'll have reached my end-game. I won't get much better than I have without spending mega money that I simply don't have.
Gordon.
montesquieu
26-05-2015, 09:42
I met the wife at a classical concert (Lieder recital). It doesn't start much better than that. When we got chatting I found she had incredible knowledge of performers and music - mainly chamber music and piano as she never got into symphonic music or opera (which is great as on the whole, I can't be bothered with much of it either).
Her 'system' at the time - as a young post-doc - was a pair of computer speakers attached to her desktop PC which she would spend a lot of time listening to. Not streamed - this was the mid-00s - but by putting CDs in the tray.
But she knew a bit about hifi having come across 'those funny bulb things' when living as a lodger during her PhD with an old professor and his wife (where she also received some of her musical education) and in fact I can date the evolution of my system to us getting together .. that is, when I started spending serious money on it .. soon after getting together she was making demands that I 'make it sound better' (this bloke had a pretty cool system, all Kondo and McIntosh so I had a serious benchmark to beat).
She can tell when I change a cable never mind a preamp (what have you DONE?!! is the usual when she walks in) and is unimpressed by most hifi-related nonsense, focusing only on whether it makes the music sound more like music - she now informs every decision I take and I can honestly say she has never put a foot wrong and rapidly punctures any wishful thinking ... such as 'sure I can get away with a cheap xxx here as it doesn't matter' ... nope...!
Oh and likewise she can hear the uncorking of a wine bottle from half a mile away ... we did some frequency tests and she can still hear 18kz (not bad for age 40) while I fizzle out around 11kz (age 54). Which probably explains some of her talent in listening to gear. I think we both view music primarily as a sensual pleasure and that informs how we approach its reproduction.
We still go to lots of concerts, went up to the northern bit of the Cotswolds (nearly 3h drive) to hear Paul Lewis recently play the last three Beethoven Sonatas and I swear we spent longer on the way home talking about the performance than he spent actually playing which was about an hour and 15 mins.
She has no interest in the technical side of things but really appreciates it when a system has proper synergy - she wouldn't be bothered to put a system together for herself. (She doesn't drive either but that doesn't mean she doesn't appreciate a nice trip in the countryside in the MX5).
Previous partners have not shown any interest at all, apart from one who had an enormous collection of jazz rock and prog (her brother had been a prog rock musician and she was his No1 fan) but in other ways she was a bit too much of a psycho (she was, quite literally, a practicing witch). And she didn't like Lieder. It was about then I bought my first pair of Tannoys though so it wasn't all bad.
Firebottle
26-05-2015, 09:50
Great post Tom, nice when Lady Luck shows up :)
Beobloke
26-05-2015, 12:04
From this thread, I can only conclude that Mrs. B is a keeper, as she plays the piano and flute and has a superb ear for music. She does appreciate vinyl and good quality sound but generally can't be too bothered with the equipment, pointing out that a good deal of the stuff I buy doesn't sound a great deal better than our B&O stuff that she loves. Unfortunately, she has a point here...
Then again, though, it is her who sat and listened to a pair of Meridian DSP8000 loudspeakers and announced we would have a pair one day when we had a big enough room. We now have a big enough room but apparently rebuilding our garage and treating the house to new windows and re-pointing are higher on the priority list! :doh:
Windows do have the advantage that it makes it more difficult for people to get in and nick the existing kit.
Makes it a bit warmer in the winter, too.
hornucopia
26-05-2015, 14:30
I know several women with good hi-fi (I nearly fell into you unreformed males-speak and put 'equipment-snigger'!)
Does hearing Avantgarde Solos for all of 30 seconds and say 'I want those', qualify, for example? (Still has them 4 years on)
Generally they have better ears than men in my experience.
Just not as equipment-obsessed?
I know several women with good hi-fi (I nearly fell into you unreformed males-speak and put 'equipment-snigger'!)
Does hearing Avantgarde Solos for all of 30 seconds and say 'I want those', qualify, for example? (Still has them 4 years on)
Generally they have better ears than men in my experience.
Just not as equipment-obsessed?
I like a woman with nice equipment.
Yep. Big drivers and a good signal to noise ratio....
Audio Advent
26-05-2015, 22:47
as she plays the piano and flute
Is that a muso's euphamism? :eyebrows: We all like a girl who plays both.
Solrighal
26-05-2015, 22:55
I don't own a flute. i do have a keyboard though. And a mouth organ :eek:
Audio Advent
26-05-2015, 23:43
I have both a piccolo and a flugal horn...
I have both a piccolo and a flugal horn...
Ahem...
I am lucky in having both a Bass flute and a Tuba, (not that this is a competition, or anything ) and there is nothing wrong with either my blowing, fast tonguing , or my fingering........
Not that size or technical proficiency is everything..................................... But it helps !
Gordon Steadman
27-05-2015, 09:47
Damn, piano and guitar. Not a tongue in sight:(
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