Audiophiles - Is it all in your mind

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I listened to a couple of interesting Radio 4 programmes before Christmas.

They are not concerned with hifi, but listening to the programmes I found myself thinking, that’s relevant to audiophiles. That’s why people don’t believe this, but believe that. Won’t change their minds even when given overwhelming proof. Etc

First was on 2nd of December 16.30 hours.

First five minutes is just waffle and if you listen on Sounds (or whatever it’s called) there is an additional 20 mins.

In this episode, they’re asking why beliefs about our bodies are so powerful? We often think of belief as something soft – just ideas in our heads. But beliefs can shape how we experience pain, how we heal, and even how societies behave. In health, they can influence whether treatments work and how symptoms are felt. So what actually are beliefs? Why do we them, and how do they form? And can changing what we believe about our bodies actually change how we feel? To help answer these questions, Chris and Xand are joined by Ryan McKay, Professor of Psychology at Royal Holloway, University of London, and an expert on the psychology of belief.

Second was on 9th of December 16.30 hours.

As previous, a bit of waffle at the start.

In this episode, they’re diving into dopamine – one of the most talked-about chemicals in modern wellness culture. But what is dopamine, really? What role does it play in pleasure, motivation, learning, and movement? And how accurate are ideas like “dopamine hits”, “dopamine detoxes”, or being “addicted to dopamine”? Chris and Xand speak to Masud Husain, Professor of Neurology & Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Oxford, to cut through the myths and find out what dopamine does, what it doesn’t do, and why understanding it properly might change the way we think about our behaviour and our brains.

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It is a mix of both! While there is a solid foundation of physics and engineering in high-end audio, the “audiophile” experience is heavily influenced by how our brains interpret those signals.
The debate usually falls into two categories: measurable reality and psychoacoustic perception.

  1. The Measurable Reality (The “Science”)
    There are genuine, physical differences in how equipment handles sound. Higher-end gear often provides:
  • Lower Noise Floor: High-quality components (like power supplies and shielding) reduce the “hiss” or “hum” that can mask quiet details in music.
  • Transient Response: Better speakers and headphones can start and stop their movements more precisely, leading to “tight” bass or “crisp” highs rather than “mushy” sound.
  • Transducer Variance: Speakers and headphones are the most “imperfect” part of the chain. Different materials (silk vs. metal tweeters) and cabinet designs create distinct frequency responses that are easily measured and heard.
  1. The Mind Game (The “Psychoacoustics”)
    This is where the “it’s all in your head” argument comes in. Human hearing is incredibly fallible and prone to cognitive bias.
  • The Placebo Effect: Studies have shown that if a listener is told they are listening to a £10,000 cable, they often “hear” more detail, even if the cable is a standard £10 wire.
  • Blind Testing Failure: In many double-blind tests, even self-proclaimed “golden ears” struggle to distinguish between high-end amplifiers or DACs (Digital-to-Analog Converters) once volume levels are perfectly matched.
  • Volume Bias: Humans naturally perceive slightly louder music as “better” or “more detailed.” Many equipment “upgrades” are actually just slightly higher output levels that fool the brain into thinking the quality has improved.
  • Audio Memory: Our “echoic memory” (the ability to remember exact sound characteristics) only lasts a few seconds. This makes it almost impossible to accurately compare two pieces of equipment unless you can switch between them instantly.
  1. The Point of Diminishing Returns
    The relationship between price and performance in audio is not linear; it’s a steep curve.
  • £100 to £1,000: You will hear a massive, objective difference.
  • £1000 to £10,000: You are paying for the “last 5%” of performance—better build quality, aesthetics, and tiny refinements in distortion.
  • £10,000+: You are often paying for “exotic” materials (like silver wiring or rare woods) where the audible benefits are scientifically controversial or non-existent.
    Summary: Is it real?
    Yes, but only to a point. The equipment makes a real difference in how the air vibrates, but your brain does the heavy lifting of “filling in the gaps.” If you believe a system sounds better, your brain will actually release dopamine and create a better experience for you—making the difference “real” to you, even if a microphone can’t measure it.

Amen.

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The programs I linked don’t mention how the brain works when listening to music, nothing to do with hifi at all. It’s more about the brain and why we believe what we believe, and other things, which when listening to the programs I though where applicable to audiophiles.

Don’t be put off listening because you think it’s a biased blog about hifi. It’s scientists discussing the mysteries of the brain.

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I will have a listen, my piece above is something I prepared with some help from Gemini, and a guy out on YouTube, for a friend who heard my system and said he thought it excellent but how much of it was expectation?

The only conclusion (in respect of hi-fi) is that there’s not a conclusion!

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Th first question has to be what is an audiophile, other than, literally, a person who loves audio…?!

I haven’t had a chance yet to listen to the programmes, however I firmly believe that mind over matter, certainly when it comes to health, is a very significant force, and if that is being translated to the mind influencing listening experience and assessment of sound quality I do not need any convincing! When I have a chance I’ll listen.

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That’s very interesting FatCat, thanks a lot for sharing.

My first hand experience is, 2 weeks ago after a stressful working day my system tend to sound a bit bright and peaky, unbearable that I rather just took a rest on sofa.

Interestingly, after a while I tried to relieve my strained shoulder with elastic band, and hit the gym that my sore back finally got relieved. Came back my system suddenly sounded warm, rich especially the low ends lovely, rich full and relaxed. Heaven and hell all happened within a night. and I later found the nerves around neck and shoulders are closely relate to the ears and our hearing.

I do agree it’s all in our mind.

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… and much programme material is manipulated/processes to suit a particular audience and replay envinment… it is very unlikely that a single replay system can reproduce all material in the way it was intended to be heard…..in terms of quality replay.

This was one of the reasons I got disillusioned with hifi several years back when I decided to sell my 552/250.

An extreme example… you listen to much local UK web radio… it uses standard attack and release parameters for dynamic compression. On a car audio system or smart speaker for example it often sounds good and punchy and engaging. You take exactly the same content through a high end replay system.. and it sounds broken… you hear the compression pumping, you hear the clipping, you hear the eq imbalance.. all to the point that it becomes unpleasant to listen to and distracting.
I did make contact with a few people involved who run such stations… the general response is the audio is processes to sound best on typical replay equipment… not higher end or mastering standard equipment.

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This is also why I stopped believing in the old trope, “If it’s truly a good system, it sounds the best with everything.”

I used to say it a lot. I now know it to be codswallop. I think the best you can hope for is a system that doesn’t sound outright bad with anything.

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Indeed.. other than the logic could determine a truly good system is not a high quality/performance system… it a system that plays everything acceptably well… welcome the smart speaker, or low end system.

However we have multiple systems.. including smart speakers and high end hifi and a few in between.
I really get the enjoyment from the high end system with content not to heavily processed.. but we have the smart speakers for everything else…
But I agree one system can’t do both in a performant way…

So no, audiophiles obviously isn’t all in the mind… but you do need to be aware of the media you are wanting to playback and it’s appropriate replay system if you want to get the most enjoyment from it …

One I accepted that, and realised there was no such thing as a single optimum replay system.. I got engaged again with hifi.

I think a big part of being a true audiophile is having this realisation and maturity.. so perhaps that is the part that is in the mind….

Perhaps it’s the immature audiophiles who haven’t got to this stage yet and are still searching for that nirvana who get the bad press.

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That’s a reality I’ve also experienced.

I can think of a few examples, but the most striking one for me is The Cure, a band I enjoyed as a teenager.

I used to listen to The Cure on a fairly average Walkman, and it was a genuine pleasure.

On my current system, it’s simply unlistenable.

By contrast, I now get far more enjoyment from well-recorded music (mostly classical) on my current system.

So what is the best audio system?

A few years ago, I would have said : the one that reproduces the recording as faithfully as possible.

Today, I’d say it’s the one that best suits the music you actually listen to.

Conclusion: I guess we don’t need a six-figure system to enjoy The Cure or Rammstein. :sweat_smile:

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Not only media, but musical genre also. It is why I have multiple headphones, for example. I select headphones based on what music I am playing.

Unfortunately that is not possible with my main system. I mostly listen to Jazz, Soul and Folk, which sounds good on my system. But it does not like Rock too much, which sounds compressed and too bright. If I want to play Rock, I use appropriate headphones.

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indeed - I was using the word media generally as a term for programming/content as well as distribution type (ie to capture my web radio example).

I would say more relevant than genre is production and mastering style. Production styles vary significantly from Piano Concertos, Orchestral works, Folk, Punk, Rock, EDM. Electronica you name it… I do find a degree of consistency on choral and opera however with my recordings.

The better a system the more you hear these production styles of course - which is why we tend to have our favourite ‘recordings’ to suite our tastes.

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But that could be in the mind.

Oh. It’s heavily processed, I’m not going to enjoy this.

That’s what you believe. The first program is about belief and the brain.

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Yes. That’s what I find.

After a stressful day at work I can’t listen to music for very long. Although these days I don’t get stressed that often.

Although, I haven’t been to work for 2 weeks and my system is sounding superb. :grin:

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The second program might be of interest. It could explain one reason people won’t give up their turntables/vinyl.

Or why other people won’t give up their Dave. :grin:

And there is nothing they can do about it.

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For me that at least is simple- I have it, and it sounds so wonderful that I have no interest in hearing anything else! For all I know there might be other as good or better things for the same or less than I’d get selling it, but nothing drives me to want to bother trying!

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I know Masud Husain very well. He is great. Look forward to listening to this.

In neuroscience, we know that dopamine reaches the auditory cortex directly. Both novelty and reward can trigger dopamine release. In audiophile listening, I think that novelty and reward can go hand in hand. When your system upgrade reveals a new sound signature that is close to the original studio recording, as was intended by the recording team and artist, this is often both novel and rewarding - the latter because closer to the intended original in most cases just sounds better. So there is often both novelty and reward drive associated with upgrading a system. And we also know that the anticipation of novelty and reward are among the strongest motivators of human behaviour and learning. So not surprising that it is so highly motivating to seek a better system sound, although there is an added motivation component with music that is truly puzzling.

The problem is how to tell apart what are bodily and mentally modified experiences and what are true changes. While I agree that a lot is going on in the mind, I am also convinced that our auditory system is very accurate in pattern separating sound signatures and detecting new content in familiar pieces of music.

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If you listen to the second program, you might learn why that is the case.

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I’ve only listened to the program once, a few weeks ago.
My take from it is dopamine is released when something pleasurable happens unexpectedly during an activity.
The brain rememberes this, so carrying out the same activety, causes anticipation of pleasure.

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Yes. Exactly.

Anticipation is the key word here. A truly ingenious stroke of evolution.

How would you devise a memory system that is very accurate but at the same time ensures survival? Our memory system is exactly evolved in that way. Our memories are very accurate but they do not allow reliving exactly what has happened, with some exceptions such as PTSD.

And this is very good. Imagine we would be able to replay/relive in our memory a piece of music exactly the way we heard it. We would basically just be consumed by the experience and starve to death. The accuracy in our memory does not come from reliving but from pattern separation. We have very accurate representations that allow us to detect subtle changes in things that we have experienced before. Just like with changes in musical experience.

The amount of reliving that or memory allows is just enough to teaser a rewarding experience and cause anticipation of reward. And this is strong enough to be highly motivating.

Thus just the fact that we cannot exactly relive a music experience does not mean that our auditory memory is not accurate. Our memory has evolved that way to have accurate pattern separation and some basic amount of reliving.

Imagine you listen to a Naim Statement System once and you can relive that over and over again… would be very bad for Naim :rofl:

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