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Re: I'm just not sure about one thing

"The ear is less sensitive to both low frequencies and high frequencies. This has nothing to do with the deficiencies of stereo systems. It's easy to look up on the net."

THat's my point! In real life with real live instruments your hear sensitivity also drops at high and low frequencies with decreasing level. When we hear the highs and lows dropping out with a stereo at low levels its because there is EXCESS loss over and above our normal lack of sensitivity in these ranges. THis loss is coming from the stereo itself. If it were to maintain the same FR and dynamic envelope at 50db as it has at 80 db then the softness would sound natural as when an instrument gets softer from 80 to 50db. Since most stereos don't sound natural at low levels this is a clear indicator of excess loss from the stereo not because of the change in hearing sensitivity. Loudness contours were designed to overcome the limitations of the gear not the listener. Your brain knows what sounds natural at low levels and so the hearing curve is irrelevant for live sounds. If the response of the stereo system is constant regardless of level then the sounds on the recordings will soften in a natural sounding way but most systems are not constant thus the loss of realism at low levels (and high levels).

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