I'm also still at the definitely still helping phase, but good questions.

I'm actually wondering if I should cancel my auto renew. Some of the games might be helpful, but I'm not noticing any difference in productions etc.

I'm still useless at the pan games and I really don't see the point of them. Even if I was good at them, what advantage is it?

I thought that about pan games too @Adam Deering but then I realized my mixes lacked a lot of stereo-ness. And I think being able to hear L-R more accurately will help with stereohead and hearing in stereo better as well. I don't think it's the world's most important. Other games would probably do more like pre-delay on reverb etc. Feels like that's lacking.

I'm curious if someone with diamond ears has a reason of here's why I stuck with it. There's an awesome post somewhere of a guy getting to like 90th percentile in 90 days and he just stuck with it and did 2 hours per day and at the end he felt like it wasn't that beneficial but kept with it anyway. If you read through his daily updates he seems to keep liking it all the way through about 80th percentile which at the time (last year) was about 300k spi if I remember correctly. So we newbies have a ways to go :)

I might not be able to come up with a great beat for a Beatles song, but I want to live as a musician that can hear a 31/30 polyrhythm pattern.

I'm at diamond 98.8% and I can say I believe 100% it still helps. Some things from my perspective and experience...

Quality is a diminishing return in the pursuit of excellence. The better you get.. the longer and more effort it takes to improve.

Assuming you put in the same amount of time everyday this is what I mean **the length of time are simply numbers to make my point, I don't know how long it took or will take for you to hit each milestone but it should be similar

0% - 60% - takes 2 months total
60% - 80% - takes 6 months total
80% - 90% - takes 1 year total
90% - 95% takes 1.5 years total
95% - 98% takes 2 years total

80% of your skills are learned in 20% of your time towards learning the craft. The final 20% takes 80% of your time.

I notice when I do ear training before a mix it's slightly better. I make better and quicker decisions. It's not a huge difference but it's like an athlete warming up... it makes a difference.

Over time your mixes will always improve and soundgym accelerates it. If your goal is to work at the top level this website will help a ton until you're there. Best of luck!

The game is hearing and identifying sound. You cannot be good at the games without it.

It took me around two weeks to be knocking on the door of the 80th percentile. The difference it's already made to my mixing is astonishing. I have to remind myself, I am not doing it for the game. It is a work out. An atunement. It is reference material. Like stretching before exercise.

The time that starts feeling of no use, is when you think you're better than being a human. :)

Well, your question is a very good one and I think many users have asked themselves the same question at some point... I've been on the platform for 4 years or so and without any doubt my hearing perception has improved a lot!

In my opinion, the answer to your question is relative... each person has a different process and goals in music and depending on this you may find more or less useful the use of soundgym. In my personal case I feel that the platform can still teach me and challenge me but for what I need as a music producer it is enough... so I think you could have some clear goals that help you to improve in real life, and focus on achieving them with patience and enjoying the process.

Just wondering of I revert to a free account, what do I miss out on? Can I only play certain games or something?

This is a great thread with some interesting insights! I've only been on here for about two months but have noticed dramatic improvements in several areas, getting to the 80th percentile. However there's others, namely compression games, where I just can't hear and don't know what to listen for and as such I'm not improving much at all. On that note, if anyone could recommend any good blogs or Youtube videos on how to hear compression I'd be most grateful!

I have a free account. For me, these points (or awards) are not that important. But the training is. It is completely comparable to sports training. It does not help much when I reached a certain (athletic) level and then stopped training. I may not set to myself a higher goal, but I will continue to train - this will keep my muscles in good condition. Same here.

@Adam, it depends on your goals. About what you have difficulties with - strengths, weaknesses. And about the time that you can devote here during the day.
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Sorry my english...

You complete the exercises without errors? If not, keep practicing. If there's errors and you need effort to detect the sound changes then you're improving. And detecting changes in EQ and volume and pan it's a crucial, basic skill for a producer. This is just a training ground, then the important thing is to be able to decect all of this in your productions.

I see it like going to the (non-sound) gym. You don't just go for a few months and then you're fit and never need to go again. It's like practicing an instrument - practice keeps your skills from atrophying

Kind of like a PhD drummer that can hear a 31/30 polyrhythm pattern, but can't come up with a great beat for a Beatles song (obviously that's a flawed example, but hopefully it illustrates the point)

This kind of feels off for the topic. Making a good beat or songwriting is a very different skillset than mixing. Maybe the creativity of a mix arrangement?

I don't think this site will give you creativity but if recognizing certain frequencies and tones is your weak spot but you have lots of creativity, it can be very helpful.

WOW so many response. Thanks you guys. I think the biggest takeaway is that people feel that it's not just about improving, but also about maintaining and warming up for the day so some of the diamond guys (even though improving is great), it still makes sense to do it because without it ears aren't as sharp for the day that's really interesting I hadn't thought of that.

Anyway this motivated me a ton, thanks everyone.

BTW - I feel like a lot of people touched on enjoying it while you do it - I genuinely enjoy my time on the site it's pretty fun and relaxing, sometimes I feel like I procrastinate from finishing my own music with this site haha, hopefully not the case, but for now enjoyment does not seem to be an issue :)

I'm going to set a goal for myself to get to 80% and start a separate thread to track it because even though they have training history - I feel like I'm reading the graph wrong or something but it doesn't simply show total SPI / percentile over time which I am genuinely very curious how long these things take and how much time I've spent on the platform so it'll be a nice way to do it !

Thanks for the responses!

The only thing I think is pure fun (not about learning at all) on this website is the Beatrace section. There's nothing in that game that you can't learn by playing around with a drum machine by yourself. And you're definitely not going to learn 31/30 polyrhythms by playing Beatrace...