Forensic fidelity.

Spend any time on an online high-end audio forum and even the most casual observer will notice a contradictory trait of the audiophile. On the one hand a forensic, fastidious, analytical approach to technology, materials and features - while on the other – an esoteric, subjective and purely personal response to the resulting audio experience.

Of course there are examples of objectivity/subjectivity in other fields, the alchemy of ‘making a coffee’ springs to mind. As far I know there is no official scientific activity around what makes an excellent espresso, but with the high-end echelons of audio there is. It’s called Psychoacoustics.

Without getting too dense, Psychoacoustics combines psychology, engineering, physics, biology, physiology, and computer science as well as acoustics, in trying to help us understand the complexities of human hearing. This specialism exists because the human ear is not really an accurate instrument (in terms of measurement), and technical sound characteristics do not necessarily translate from person to person. Listening is not just a mechanical phenomenon of sound wave processing, but also a highly sensorial, perceptual and emotional reaction. When a person hears music, it enters the ear as a mechanical airborne sound wave, but within the ear it is transformed into neural action and response.

So, in the CNO (cost no object) world of high-end audio, this means there is plenty of room for nuance, opinion, environments and of course personal preference, despite the fundamental presence of measurable, definable technology.

The same seems to goes for audio design.

At the 2024 High-End Munich audio expo (from where I’m writing this) the very broadest definitions of audio design and engineering are laid out, mostly in dedicated sound rooms where audio brands can flex while avoiding the main halls (where it’s more like a high-end Akihabara).

Despite all the objectively advanced technology, theory and engineering, the physical representation of a CNO audio product remains very subjective. I’m trying to be polite here so I’ll use an audio metaphor: much of the industrial design in this show could be described as ‘deafening’, some merely noisy, but in some cases beautifully harmonic.

Anyway, primarily I’m here to see and hear the debut of the Taiko Audio ‘Olympus’ music server. An important project that I am really excited to be part of, and which fully embraces both advanced technology and visual harmony.? A product created with the sole aim to reduce - or even remove - subjectivity, and indeed the closest anyone has ever got with defining what can be termed as a ‘truly human sound’.