Spectacles interfere with sound quality?

[rDin]

Had an interesting listening experience this afternoon, which I wanted to share and see if anybody else has noticed similar?

I just turned 54. I've been wearing glasses since age 6. I'd say I've been listening critically to audio since age 15 when I set up my first separates hifi. And yet, TODAY, for the first time in my life, I think I just noticed that my specs interfere with sound quality...

You can see from my avatar my current specs. They are quite big on my head - I like to hide behind them

Anyway, was sat listening to the new MoFi Thriller. One of the few positives, IMO, of the MoFi One-Steps is that they seem to throw a really wide soundstage, which I was really enjoying. But I became aware that my newly updated specs were putting some pressure on the sides of my head, so I thought I'd take them off to relieve the pressure - I was listening with eyes closed, so there was no need for vision anyway. The moment I took them off I noticed the soundstage improved - it became "unbroken", or whole, from left to right. I was actually quite struck by this. I put the specs back on, and yes - it seemed to break the soundstage into discrete chunks - left, centre, right with perceivable transitions between the chunks. Took them off again and got the smooth transition from left to right back. I really think this is a thing!

Thinking it through, when wearing the specs I have a lump of plastic on my head, with arms that reach back to the ears which could well cause reflections near the ear - but could I really be able to hear them?

Seems so! But, I recognise this could just be my imagination.

I will try some more listening sessions without them, but wanted to share, just in case other spectacle wearers want to experiment and comment? And who knows, this might be a very simple sound upgrade - remove those specs when listening to music!!

 

[MarkusBarkus]

...as a data point, a long-time friend and professional sound engineer removes his glasses for critical, more focussed listening. He is a long-time user of specs.

I have used reading glasses for five years or so, and usually remove them after I'm done finding, selecting, etc.

Psychological or physiological? I'm not sure. I thought in my case, my short-term and intermittent use of specs might make me more comfortable without them. In any case, I do feel more dialed-in without the glasses. Now if I could just do without my tin-foil hat...

 

[wil]

...as a data point, a long-time friend and professional sound engineer removes his glasses for critical, more focussed listening. He is a long-time user of specs.

I have used reading glasses for five years or so, and usually remove them after I'm done finding, selecting, etc.

Psychological or physiological? I'm not sure. I thought in my case, my short-term and intermittent use of specs might make me more comfortable without them. In any case, I do feel more dialed-in without the glasses. Now if I could just do without my tin-foil hat...

I like to listen without glasses for two reasons:

1. It creates visual blur, thus reducing the interference of visual stimuli.
2. And in this unfocused state, with eyes open, the perception of sound stage seems to expand.

Eyes closed gives more focus with a more concentrated sound field.

 

[facten]

Doing your experiment of listening with glasses on and then taking them off I encountered zero SQ, soundtage or any other sound effect. I do prefer listening without them on simply from a relaxation standpoint.

 

[Alrainbow]

It maybe bone conduction . Especially if they are tight to your head . They vibrate and conduct very well tp your inner ear bypassing the eardrum and the little bones
The part where the hairs are get excited by the bone. Im wondering why no one else considered this. When you get a hearing test , this is used to compare both types of hearing . Place your hands on ur head sides or top big changes occur . They now make iems with bone conduction now for this reason

 

[MarkusBarkus]

Im wondering why no one else considered this

...I considered it, but I'm such a bone-head, I don't know how to measure it.

 

[bryans]

@rDin if removing your glasses improves the sound go for it.

 

[Ron Resnick]

I think you raise a very interesting question.

I have always believed that nothing good comes from having glass in the listening room. Maybe this includes eyeglasses?

 

[bonzo75]

I just think this is another data point why you should trust more the listening of those below 50 without glasses

 

[rDin]

Doing your experiment of listening with glasses on and then taking them off I encountered zero SQ, soundtage or any other sound effect.

Thanks for testing.

Per @Alrainbow's bone conduction idea - are your glasses tight fitting? Are the arms wide or narrow?

Entirely possible I imagined it. Will revisit again during today's listening.

 

[rDin]

It maybe bone conduction . Especially if they are tight to your head .

This is interesting. These new specs are particularly tight on my head at present and will need some adjustment for comfort.

As I can feel the vibrations from the music in my body, it wouldn't be at all surprising to find the specs frame also picking up vibrations which are transferred to the skull. Whether or not they would be sufficient to modify what I hear, I don't know, but given the changes I heard, perhaps so.

This would certainly be testable.

 

[rDin]

There's definitely something going on here. I spent the afternoon listening to music, with and without the specs. Conclusion - much preferred sound when not wearing them. It's hard to describe, but an analogy, inspired by the specs themselves, might help. Imagine looking out onto a panorama - you have crystal clear unhindered vision. Now, hold up a sheet of plexiglass and look at the same view through it. You will have the same view, but now there may be subtle distortions or imperfections as the light passes through the imperfect plexiglass. It's a bit like that - the soundstage is there, but there is some confusion, some distortion, some impediment to it's clarity. With the specs off - just a clear unobstructed view. This is not like the audiophile "veil" that we all understand, but something different.

In audiophile terms, I felt that the soundstage rear left and right of the speakers collapsed a little, such that depth was lost on the sides. The sound hardened up a little, and, as above, there was something "off" with the soundstaging. I'm surprised I've never noticed this before. But then I don't ever recall removing my specs before while listening.

Very peculiar.

I'm still open to the idea that it's all placebo. That when I place the specs on, I became aware of the discomfort of wearing them - perhaps that's playing into it. And when I remove them I feel my face relax and my aspect open up. However, I do currently think the frames are in some way interacting with the sound waves and/or the bone conduction theory.

Moving forward I'll ditch the specs while listening. Perhaps it's time to consider contacts again, or even laser surgery. The things we audiophiles go through to enhance our musical enjoyment!!

 

[facten]

Per @Alrainbow's bone conduction idea - are your glasses tight fitting? Are the arms wide or narrow?

Tight fitting and narrow. I just retested listening to several tracks on Foruplay's 1st album, I still can't discern a difference. Over on Audiogon a couple of years ago some folks swore that not having their cell phone in the same room made a significant difference in SQ. Tried that as well, no discernible difference for me. I can hear differences in cables, tubes, isolation devices, power conditioners and the like so I'm not an everything sounds the same guy. Whichever way works for you just do it, enjoy the music and don't over think the whys on this.

 

[bryans]

Over on Audiogon a couple of years ago some folks swore that not having their cell phone in the same room made a significant difference in SQ.

I now really have heard it all.

 

[adrianywu]

There's definitely something going on here. I spent the afternoon listening to music, with and without the specs. Conclusion - much preferred sound when not wearing them. It's hard to describe, but an analogy, inspired by the specs themselves, might help. Imagine looking out onto a panorama - you have crystal clear unhindered vision. Now, hold up a sheet of plexiglass and look at the same view through it. You will have the same view, but now there may be subtle distortions or imperfections as the light passes through the imperfect plexiglass. It's a bit like that - the soundstage is there, but there is some confusion, some distortion, some impediment to it's clarity. With the specs off - just a clear unobstructed view. This is not like the audiophile "veil" that we all understand, but something different.

In audiophile terms, I felt that the soundstage rear left and right of the speakers collapsed a little, such that depth was lost on the sides. The sound hardened up a little, and, as above, there was something "off" with the soundstaging. I'm surprised I've never noticed this before. But then I don't ever recall removing my specs before while listening.

Very peculiar.

I'm still open to the idea that it's all placebo. That when I place the specs on, I became aware of the discomfort of wearing them - perhaps that's playing into it. And when I remove them I feel my face relax and my aspect open up. However, I do currently think the frames are in some way interacting with the sound waves and/or the bone conduction theory.

Moving forward I'll ditch the specs while listening. Perhaps it's time to consider contacts again, or even laser surgery. The things we audiophiles go through to enhance our musical enjoyment!!

Did you try listening with your eyes closed and the specs on and off ? Our brain integrates all the sensory inputs, and so what we hear is influenced by what we see at the same time. When we watch movies, the sound we perceive tends to have quite precise locations, but if we stop looking, the sound loses location specificity. With pure audio, I suspect seeing the location of the speakers also "contaminate" our perception of the soundstage. I tend to turn off all the lights, take off my specs and close my eyes when I do serious listening. I do tend to have much better appreciation of sound staging and imaging under this condition.

 

[treitz3]

There hasn't been one exception to where I haven't taken off my glasses whilst listening. They absolutely mess with the reproductive effort.

Tom

 

[Tuckers]

Let me throw the room another more alternative theory and duck! There are acupressure points on your nose in roughly the same place as most eyeglass pads. Traditionally when these points are pressurized, they increase blood pressure and raise stress levels. Squeezing and releasing them can relieve headaches and pain in the head, lower blood pressure. Perhaps taking glasses off contributes to relaxation and openness to the experience.

I know that I try to remember to take my glasses off when I measure my blood pressure. When I forget and measure, then remember, my blood pressure goes down three points or so. I've also done this in the doctors office, and the doctor was surprised too. Could be all in the head too, these things are tricky.

 

[rDin]

Did you try listening with your eyes closed and the specs on and off ?

Yes. I pretty much always listen with eyes closed, for the reasons you describe.

 

[Jim Smith]

FWIW - Tip #53, of 202 in Get Better Sound (first issued in 2008) is titled Remove Your Eyeglasses?

It doesn't try make a 100% case for not wearing them when listening, but it does urge eyeglass owners/listeners to at least consider the alternateive.

 

[Pokey77]

@rDin

So, I've experimented with this in the past, looking for any free tweak or upgrade. As the topic interested me enough, and I was sitting in front of my stereo anyway, I decided to try it and see (listen to) what I heard. I'm like a few others, I don't hear any change in SQ. I tried, both with my eyes closed, and with them open, and for differing amounts of time but there is no perceptible change whether glasses are on or off. Since you asked, I thought I'd provide my feedback.

I do think that because your new glasses fit tightly, and therefore probably impart some discomfort, they certainly could be attributed to what you are hearing. How about listening with your old comfortable-fitting glasses and see if you still are hearing the same phenomenon? I'd be interested to read about that.