Odd Aural Phenomenon

[gellor]

I went to audition a pair of speakers today, and had a really bizarre thing happen. (I don't want to mention what speakers they were so as not to color any responses) As soon as the music started playing, I started getting a dizzy/vertigo feeling that went away when the sound was turned back down. I tried another pair of speakers in the next room over, and did not have the same reaction.

Are the speakers responsible? If so, does anyone know what could cause that sort of response? This is not the first time I've had that type of response when listening to a new pair of speakers, and it was completely bizarre.

 

[JoeE SP9]

Could you elaborate? I've never heard of anything like that.

 

[gellor]

What else would you like to know? I couldn't swear that it was the speakers, since its the only pair I listened to in that room...it could have been the acoustics, it could have been a perfectly-timed dizzy spell, but the timing seemed too exact.

It wasn't severe, just mild. I've had speakers before that made my ears feel muffled or like they needed to pop...maybe it was just a continuation of that...I'm not sure.

 

[Wafflesomd]

IDK, but this sounds really cool. Wish my speakers could do that.

 

[Johnd]

Intense signals at intense volumes are proven to cause many side effects (nausea, vomitting, vertigo, etc.), but these are at dangerous levels, and I know of no commercially available unit capable of these limits.

Yes, elaboration may prove helpful (track, speakers, db level, etc).

 

[BostonMark]

tinitis

Perhaps you are beginning to get tinitis, a problem with your inner ears. Your inner ear is not only responsible for hearing, but also balance.

I am no doctor, but perhaps you should have your hearing / ears checked.

 

[Wafflesomd]

Perhaps you are beginning to get tinitis, a problem with your inner ears. Your inner ear is not only responsible for hearing, but also balance.

I am no doctor, but perhaps you should have your hearing / ears checked.

Uh, that would suck, lets hope your wrong.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I went to audition a pair of speakers today, and had a really bizarre thing happen. (I don't want to mention what speakers they were so as not to color any responses) As soon as the music started playing, I started getting a dizzy/vertigo feeling that went away when the sound was turned back down. I tried another pair of speakers in the next room over, and did not have the same reaction.

Are the speakers responsible? If so, does anyone know what could cause that sort of response? This is not the first time I've had that type of response when listening to a new pair of speakers, and it was completely bizarre.

Two things come to mind:
Out of phase speakers or,

The speakers perhaps Polk, some years back had some sort of feedback wire from one speaker to the other, to cancel out some of the music intended for the opposite ear for better sound-staging or something. A neighbor had them, let me borrow them for a few days and had similar experiences even at normal levels. Very strange and uncomfortable.
If I remember it correctly, the explanation from the maker was that they tried to simulate a binaural experience, or something by cancelling out the signal that would be reaching the opposite ears.

 

[race4aliving]

Two things come to mind:
Out of phase speakers or,

The speakers perhaps Polk, some years back had some sort of feedback wire from one speaker to the other, to cancel out some of the music intended for the opposite ear for better sound-staging or something. A neighbor had them, let me borrow them for a few days and had similar experiences even at normal levels. Very strange and uncomfortable.
If I remember it correctly, the explanation from the maker was that they tried to simulate a binaural experience, or something by cancelling out the signal that would be reaching the opposite ears.

mtry, I think those Polks were the SDA's, I remember JVC having binaural headphones in the 70's and they gave me a similar experience.

 

[hemiram]

mtry, I think those Polks were the SDA's, I remember JVC having binaural headphones in the 70's and they gave me a similar experience.

I had a set of Stax headphones a long time ago, and on a couple albums with low pitched synthesizer drones, I would get a very odd feeling, kind of like a shock went down my back. The first time, I jumped like I had been shocked, but I kind of liked it after a while. My sister and her then fiancee had the same reaction, and out of about 12 people I tried it on, about 6 had the same feeling. The others just said how great they sounded, and then asked what they cost...yikes! I had come into some cash, and made the mistake of listening to them and since I had enough to buy them, I couldn't resist.

I never had it with any speakers, or the many headphones I've had since the Stax phones were stolen, and I never replaced them. They sounded so great!

 

[Audioholics]

I was in a Bose store a couple years back and one of their 2-channel floor displays was wired out of phase - which is always disturbing, and depending on the program material, can replicate the effect you heard.

Just wire one of your speakers at home backwards and give a listen - bass drops out and you typically feel like the music is inside of your brain... in a really annoying way. Some systems call this "karaoke" mode. lol

 

[Ax-man]

Isn't this similar to what some of the calibration discs sounds like during the phase test? I noticed this during the phase test on the Avia disc whenever I calibrated.

 

[gellor]

Perhaps you are beginning to get tinitis, a problem with your inner ears. Your inner ear is not only responsible for hearing, but also balance.

I am no doctor, but perhaps you should have your hearing / ears checked.

Uhh...yeah...that would suck. Tinitis typically comes with ringing, though...and you'd think if it were that, that other speakers would cause the same response...it was just that pair, however.

They weren't being played extremely loud...just moderately so. No, not polks...they were a pair of Paradigm Monitor 11's that had just been moved into that room and setup in front of the other speakers. I suppose the phase thing could be true. The sound didn't seem all that odd...good bass response, and imaged up in front between the speakers, not in my head.

Oh, and it was during a Stevie Ray Vaughn track. (not sure which one, it was a house CD...since I was just stopping by to see what they had)

 

[sivadselim]

Did you perhaps do "psychedelics" in the past?

Seriously.

 

[mtrycrafts]

mtry, I think those Polks were the SDA's, I remember JVC having binaural headphones in the 70's and they gave me a similar experience.

That sounds familiar, yes.
I didn't like them at all. Very weird feeling.

 

[gellor]

Did you perhaps do "psychedelics" in the past?

Seriously.

Nope.

(Hm..."Your message is too short. Please lengthen it to at least 10 characters." There...how'd I do?)

 

[Nuglets]

IDK, but this sounds really cool. Wish my speakers could do that.

No kidding...saves money on drugs

 

[Tomorrow]

It sounds like it could be an inner ear infection. I had one that cost me much of my hearing and would act like that only on certain frequencies and at certain volumes....especially surprise sounds.

See if it happens again. If it does, especially under different circumstances, go see an ENT doc soon. (Mine took 2 years and tons of antibiotics to cure. )

 

[gellor]

Just an update...this happened again two days ago. I went to a BB Magnolia outlet (they just put one in in my area) and listened to some Vienna Acoustics Bach tower speakers. This time, though, I said something to the salesman and he said he heard the same thing. So he called his manager in to find out if there was anything odd about the speakers, and the manager said they were dropped which was why they were out on the floor, because there had been some damage done.

So I'm guessing it could be something like speakers being slightly out of phase...at least someone else had the same thing happen at the same time. (You're not crazy if someone else hears the voices)

Oh, and the reason I know he wasn't just appeasing the crazy customer...I just mentioned that the speakers didn't sound right, and he described what it sounded like to him and asked if it was the same thing and it was.