Feedback Eliminator suggested improvement:
I feel like Feedback Eliminator has amazing potential, but the way that the lessons are set up now are kind of a crapshoot. I’m having difficulty gaining an intuitive sense about exactly which frequencies I’m hearing.

My suggestion is to stay consistent: e.g. start with ONLY 3 bands (e.g. 100Hz, 1000Hz, 10kHz), and quiz you on ONLY these 3 bands. Yes, ridiculously simple, but your ears are getting accustomed to these 3 bands AND ONLY THESE 3 BANDS. Level 2 would be to add a band (e.g. 315Hz) but ONLY quiz you on these 4 bands. Level 3 add another (e.g 3.15kHz), etc. progressively adding intermediary (or upper/lower) frequencies. After, say, every 3 newly added bands, the next level or two will quiz you on ONLY the newest/added frequencies, but give you the option to choose any of the learned frequencies. For each level after maybe 6 added bands then limit the choices to a subset of the learned bands (kind of like now), then slowly add more choices within the “learned” bands (again, similar to how it is) before adding another band. Continue this process through all 31 bands (and/or allow the user to limit the extremes based on playback equipment limitations - i.e. headphones that can’t produce frequencies below 40Hz or above 16kHz). I strongly believe this will tune your ear faster than randomly selecting ANY of the 31 bands as it’s set up now. Thoughts?
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Joshua Hentschel
Sep 07, 13:10
John Ackerberg I agree, especially options for free to play users are so limited. I would happily watch an ad if it meant being able to do a variety of exercises, not just getting good at an extremely specific set of skills
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Jérôme Jaglale
Sep 07, 20:51
Agreed with John, for example the first level of EQ Cheetah could be way easier (just 4 bands, for example). And for the frequency spectrum in general, even though I feel I'm improving, I also feel it's disorganized and the learning could be more efficient. Some kind of pedagogical plan that Soundgym would make public, for each exercise, would be great and motivating. Then us learning quickly might not be in their interest financially, so not much motivation to make things better than good enough?
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David McManus
Sep 07, 22:00
Absolutely, the progression needs to be more gradual. You need to be able to become solid in a few bands first, then expand. Same could be said for most of the exercises.
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Giuseppe Rizzo
Sep 07, 13:38 in SoundGym Cafe
Hi everyone. Does anyone have any insight on the type of distortion used in “Distorted Reality”? It almost sounds like there’s more than one kind being applied. Sometimes it feels like the distortion brightens things up, other times it darkens and flattens the highs. And at other times, it seems focused on the upper-mid range… If anyone with more experience knows something about this, could you please share? Thanks!
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John Ackerberg
Sep 07, 15:43
I am not sure about different kinds of distortion being applied randomly. Based on all the other exercises it would not make sense if this particular one was somehow more sophisticated.

What I've noticed is that they can be extremely subtle with the application of it and many times they play with volume to try to trick you that that's the one with more distortion.

It's one of my least favorite to play because of this.

Hope this helps even a little.
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Giuseppe Rizzo (author)
Sep 07, 20:25
Hi John, thanks for the reply. Mine was just an impression that SoundGym might be using different types of saturation and not only changing the amount applied to the audio sample. Thanks a lot for confirming!
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Jérôme Jaglale
Sep 07, 20:45
I got that feeling too, sometimes low end distortion, sometimes it's in the highs, but I'm not totally sure since the sounds are not always the same. But I guess it makes sense, distortion is degradation of some kind, right? Not necessarily a specific saturation effect?
I wish SoundGym training history didn't show dots for days I didn't play. Also, only 4 weeks or lifetime? A few months or 6 months would also be good. Also an option to export that data would be useful! This graph was generated with ChatGPT and is more informative.
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John Ackerberg
Sep 07, 15:48
Yeah it's very noticeable that this site (even though it's been up and about for quite some time) isn't getting very much developer attention. Feels like early beta in many ways.
Congrats @Yejoon Jang for winning the Golden Ears Award!
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Awesome!
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Congratulations!
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Steve Rinaldi
Sep 06
Congratulations for hitting this milestone!
Any tips for differentiating in between 75ms and 100ms in Compressionist? The difference between them seems arbitrary. At the level I'm at the exercises seem to fluctuate between super easy and super tough. It would be nice if the exercises within each level were more balanced.
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Marcell T
Sep 04
Yeah, sometimes you just get unlucky and get a sample where the transient is not even nearly 75ms long, in that case you're a bit out of luck. There's still usually some difference, but it's a lot harder than when the transient is longer.
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Json Mondesir
Sep 04
the initial attack/transient is very telling. try listening to the very moment that kicks and snares hit, and if they are more/less impactful?
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Matt R
Sep 06
Re: Thanks! I understand that in theory, and I can easily hear the difference between 0 and 50 or 0 and 25 even, but I don't hear a difference between 75 and 100.

That's fair. I guess it just comes with time, then. I'm about 2 and a half months into soundgym and I truly can't believe how much my ability to hear compression has come along in that time. Everything has improved but I've noticed my ability to hear attack and ratio on compression specifically has come along a lot faster than my ability to identify, say, high-end EQ ranges or panning. I'd say just keep at it. You know what to listen for, eventually your ears will catch up.
What is Dynamic Range in Audio?
🔊 Dynamic range: the secret weapon of powerful mixes.
Too much compression, and your track loses its punch. Too little, and it feels inconsistent.

👉 We just published a deep dive on what dynamic range really is, why it matters, and how to use it to make your mixes stand out.

Question: Do you prefer your mixes punchy and dynamic 🎶 or tight and loud 🔥?
Read more here: https://www.soundgym.co/blog/item?id=dynamic-range-in-audio
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punchy and dynamic for me 😋
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Anton Urban
Sep 05
I think for every track is absolutely individual it depends on what the song needs. Preferring one is cool but there will be songs something more quiet, songs straight to the face, songs that are emotional, aggressive, slow, fast, and so on. My philosophy is to make the best of what every song needs to shine.
Congrats @Matt Cleary for winning the Diamond Ears Award!
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Steve Rinaldi
Sep 03
Matt, way to go! That's a great accomplishment!
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Colin Aiken
Sep 04
Outstanding work!
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Anton Urban
Sep 05
Oh jo, you leveled up this week, congrats!

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