left brain vs right brain listeners

I know there are some threads already on this forum that skirt around this such as "It's all preference" but ultimately have no conclusions to offer. I don't imagine this thread will reach final conclusions either but would like it to be considered research in how people honestly listen rather than a way of fighting with one another or scoring points. We could all learn something about our hobby if we are honest, I hope?

With that said, I have come to a tentative conclusion that I'd like to investigate some. The conclusion being that we are divided into two groups in our listening methods. The right brain Vs left brain is NOT to be taken literally but is an indication of what I mean.

In our normal day to day life we listen casually, often filling in the gaps we miss or completing the pattern of what we hear. It's an evolutionary thing, we can deal with the audible part of the world with half-attention & only when we hear something unnatural or out of the ordinary does our hearing attention snap into focus & we begin working out the details of what we are hearing - is it threat or not? Is it the movement of something we are hunting, etc. This is one way of listening & I reckon some people always listen to their music replay systems in this way - hearing the tune, filling in their expectations, rather than hearing the actual performance of the piece, the subtle nuances that need attention & focus to be sensed.

I have an inkling that some have developed a way of turning on this mode of listening & can listen to the same song on the same CD/LP/whatever that they have heard 100 times before & still listen to it's performance even though they know the performance intimately. I don't want to get too esoteric but I believe this is a form of meditation, but I can't remember what it's called - it's an attentiveness to the mundane! Hope I haven't lost anyone here Edit: Mindfullness I believe it's called which is what I'm liking it to -

It was brought to my attention that what I'm describing is also "seen" in how we see. When learning to draw, it's important to decompose what you are seeing & draw the lines at the angles that the eye sees, the light & dark, etc. In other words to be able to de-construct the scene that you are looking at. Some people never learn this way of seeing as it's not our normal way & so some never become people that can draw with any facility. They draw what they "think" they see rather than what they "actually" see.

I'm interested in how this might explain the differences between us as two groups & what might be at the root of this difference. I'm interested in the truthful recounting of various experiences & not trying to defend a particular mindset or viewpoint

MylesBAstor said:

Read Daniel Levitan's book "This Is Your Brain on Music." No need to speculate. The left/right brain hypothesis is a myth. Oh BTW Levitan is is neuroscientist, musician and record producer.

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Yes, I was trying to use L&R brain as shorthand to explain what I meant & not to be taken literally.

I haven't read that book can you easily summarise his conclusions with relation to this?

Yes, Jack, although I don't dabble in photography, I do in art & don't create music. When looking at art I have two modes that I flip between - overview emotional impact of the work & a more detailed look at the techniques employed. Both are different views & give different perspectives & appreciation of the work. I find this similar to listening to music, normal emotional connection & appreciation - the main listening method & a more detailed focussed listening to maybe certain elements of the replay, sibilance, note tails, harmonic depth, etc.

So when fully evaluating a piece of equipment I look for the emotional connection of the playback - do I find myself engaged with the piece? Then I would try to de-construct what I'm hearing but I would normally need familiar music to do this. I have found for instance that what can initially appear as detail & interesting can often be revealed as HF distortion when focussed upon or compared to playback using other devices.

I'm wondering if others have the same or similar approaches or techniques to evaluating replay devices?

JackD201 said:

I think everybody with an interest in technical aspects does. The level at which it is done I suppose varies with the degree in technical proficiency and the focus follows the area of specific interests/core competence.

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Yes, I believe this is true but also that there is a wider body of people who are not interested in the technical side as such but also have developed this way of listening - I know some such people so I'm wondering if it is a more generally applicable way of listening developed by those who listen for differences when evaluating a new piece of playback equipment in their system?