[Russtafarian]

The Golden Ears Challenge is an on-line ear-training/testing program developed by Philips engineers.  Here’s the link for those who haven’t yet checked it out:

https://www.goldenears.philips.com/en/introduction.html

Tyll Hertsen’s comments on it are found here:

http://www.innerfidelity.com/content/audiophile-workout-philips-golden-ears-training

There are four levels in the challenge: Basic, Bronze, Silver, and Golden.  The tests measure the listener’s perception level of timbre, details, spatial impressions, bass, and loudness.  The tests start out easy and get progressively more difficult.  Each level must be completed to unlock the next level and move on. 

The challenge is designed to be listened to through good headphones, but speakers can also be used.  This is not something that can be completed in one sitting.  The numbing repetition of the test tracks and simple ear fatigue will dictate the amount of time one will invest in a testing session.

I’ve been working through the challenge little by little for the past week and am now on the Golden level.  At the risk of sounding like I’m bragging, I’ve completed most of the sections at each level without missing a single listening test.  I’m not saying it was easy, but when I took my time and listened carefully I was able to choose the right answer pretty consistently.  But… the ones I did miss, I really struggled with.

The first section I struggled with was on the Silver level trying to identify MP3 compression artifacts.  It took me a while to get past the final 128 mbps threshold and complete the Silver level.  Right now I’m struggling with the treble roll-off test on the Golden level.  I’m having a hard time getting past the 12 kHz threshold.  What makes the process discouraging is that when you miss an answer at the current threshold, you get backed down to the previous threshold and have to answer that correctly before you can move back up and retest.  And once you get to the highest and final threshold, you get tested twice to ensure that your first answer wasn’t a lucky guess.

I’m convinced the difficulty I’m having with these sections is caused by mild tinnitus.  I have a low level but constant ringing in my ears at around 13 kHz.  I think what’s happening is that the sonic cues necessary to discern the right answer are getting masked by the tinnitus once I hit a certain threshold.

Enough of my rambling.  I’m curious to know if others have taken the challenge and what their experience has been.  I’d like to know if the areas I struggle with are unique to me or if others find them challenging.  So take the challenge if it sounds interesting.   The results have nothing to do with your ability to listen to and enjoy music, so do it for fun, enlightenment, and potential Face Book bragging rights.

Russ

[toocool4]

Finished it but the Timbre part in the Gold took me as long as it took me to do everything else.

[Russtafarian]

Nice!  If I can find the right headphones to help me crack the 12 kHz ceiling, I'll join you.

[*Scotty*]

Wrong Circle.

[ajzepp]

For what end? Philips sells stuff, so factor that in.

omg...Phillips is hatching an evil plot to assimilate us all into believing that Phillips headphones are the BEST!!  RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!!

 

[toocool4]

The premise of this challenge is dubious. For one, Philips hasn't issued a statement on the challenges they've received. The biggest problem is 'training' people to hear minor colorations through very colored headphones. Those few people who claim to have gotten through it with perfect or excellent scores with some terrible headphones (see the comments on headfonia, one of Philips' associated sites along with Innerfidelity) - I can't challenge any of that personally because the info is kept secret at Philips.

But here's the premise: Supposedly you can hear a coloration in their track, call it 'Track x', where there's a small emphasis of 3 db at 4 khz, even if your headphone has a recess of 3 db at 4 khz, in effect canceling the coloration. This sort of thing occurs frequently in the real world, but nobody wants to talk about it in regard to the Philips 'training', presumably because of ego? i.e. if Innerfidelity can do it, so can everyone else?

I'm willing to believe almost anything if audiophiles collectively swear by it, but this one has a long way to go to prove itself. I got a perfect score in the first part with a very good headphone, but I got the idea from that experience that the next levels would suffer a lot of cancellation due to minor headphone colorations. As a fun exercise OK, but training? For what end? Philips sells stuff, so factor that in.

I really don’t know what you are getting at here? most fairly good headphone will allow you to do this.

The only exceptions I see here is both frequency extremes i.e. if the headphone in question does not reach high enough or low enough then anything tested in that region will not be audible.

The colouration is not a big issue here as you are listening for the difference.
An example lets take Beats, we all know its bass heavy. Say the sample track is bass heavy so on the beats it will sound heavier still. Now we play the coloured track which may have had the bass reduced or increased, what you will then hear on the beats is either reduced or increased bass. Non the less a difference which is what you are listening out for. We don’t care which is the correct sound, just the difference that is clearly audible.

[ajzepp]

So what you're saying is, Philips is NOT a ruthless business who would do things in their OWN interest that is not in OUR interest?  What kind of weed are you smoking?

Dude, they TELL you flat out that it's Phillips who put this together. If this were the official InnerFidelity audio training course, or whatever else, and there was no disclosure as to who designed it, then you might have a point. But since they tell you flat out who designed it, and since nobody is holding a gun to our heads to actually take the course, I don't see anything dubious about it at all. I don't see any problem at all with a company offering such a thing to consumers...why would it be any different than anything else?

There's nothing secretive going on here that I can see, so what exactly would the alternative be? DON'T share something with consumers that many may find interesting and want to partake in?

[toocool4]

Difference? Do you understand cancellation?

Yes I do and cancellation is still a difference, do you understand that?

[eclein]

I'll definitely have to check this thing out its sounds really interesting. It's just a way for a company to advertise as I see it. Sounds like it gets pretty difficult near the end to really hear the differences.
 You guys are maybe over reacting?? Just a thought....

[toocool4]

Cancellation *eliminates* a difference, do you understand that?

Quoting your example “Supposedly you can hear a coloration in their track, call it 'Track x', where there's a small emphasis of 3 db at 4 khz, even if your headphone has a recess of 3 db at 4 khz, in effect canceling the coloration.”

Using your example “if your headphone has a recess of 3 db at 4 khz” so if the track being played does not have this colouration you will hear it as the headphone is doing it but you may not know it.
Now when the track is played with this colouration in it, you now have the headphone doing what it does all the time i.e. recess of 3db @ 4KHz plus the track having this colouration of 3db @ 4KHz what you now have is the 2 effects added together so 6db recess @ 4KHz. There is a difference and a deaf person can hear it, the difference is what we are looking for in this case.

[Letitroll98]

Or a 3db dip combined with a 3db increase results in flat response, but you still notice the 3db change, of course eliminating Q, bandwidth, and other effects for the sake of argument.

[toocool4]

You have it totally backwards. When the headphone has the recess and the track has the emphasis (one minus and one plus coloration at the same freq.) they cancel and there is no coloration heard.

You are saying it as if the test only plays you one sample, it plays 2 different ones so even if they coincide at one end it will not on the other hence you will always hear a difference in one or the other.

[ajzepp]

Nobody holds a gun to people's heads to watch television and be sold a bunch of worthless junk they don't need, but the vast majority of people do watch for hours on end anyway, every day. In my country, someone who warns against this is generally honored, not derided as I read here. Maybe you should get a better perspective.

Dale, this is a public message board...if you make a seemingly wild accusation or implication, chances are you run the risk of someone commenting. You asked me what kind of weed I'm smoking, and I'd say it's the common sense weed. The idea that Phillips is trying to hatch some evil plot to secretly train people to prefer Phillips headphones is one that I happen to find a little out there. When there is full disclosure of the company who designed it, the purpose for why it was created, and the choice to participate or not, I'd say it's pretty unlikely that there are any shenanigans going on. I'm not sure I get the comparison to commercials on television, so I won't touch that one.

[Russtafarian]

The idea is to have fun with it and maybe learn to be a more perceptive listener.  That's all.

[eclein]

The idea is to have fun with it and maybe learn to be a more perceptive listener.  That's all.

Exactly and thanks for letting us know about it, I'll check it out but I'm pretty sure my cymbals have exacted
some damage to my ears over my time beating the tubs for a living.

[ajzepp]

When you use terms like "evil plot" to show your contempt for another person, it falls on you.

Huh? 

[milford3]

Let all members be civil here.  I would hate to Quarantine this thread because I like it.

[toocool4]

Let all members be civil here.  I would hate to Quarantine this thread because I like it.

Have you tried the test yet? it's fun

[ajzepp]

Look up disinformation techniques on the internet. I hope that word doesn't frighten you. Many techniques are used by people, some of them not even aware of what they're doing, to ridicule another person's argument.

Sometimes it's using words like 'conspiracy' and other times it's words like "evil plot", but it's still the same thing. Oh, and a big part of that abuse is denial.

 

[ajzepp]

Exactly, precisely - denial.

No, I was just laughing cause you looked funny saying that while wearing that tin foil hat