People will accept all manner of visual quality, but the second something sounds off, they're out. Does this phenomenon have a name? Why is it that we absolutely won't tolerate this?
TL;DRGraham Philipson says people notice audio when it's awesome or when something is off, and compares the discomfort of almost-right sound to the uncanny valley, which the brain picks up on easily.
Yeah, absolutely. There are two things that make people notice the audio. One is that it's completely awesome, like a huge singularity explosion or something like that. And the other thing is when something's not quite right. And that is the big problem that we're up against. Like I say, we've got to make sure that everything we do doesn't break anything that isn't already broken. And you're absolutely right. If things don't sound right, the brain is very quick to notice. Whereas visually, if things don't quite look right, there are definitely...
It's not just noticed though, it's a level of tolerance. Does this phenomenon have a name? Why is this a difference that we absolutely won't tolerate?
I guess if you want a visual analogy, it's kind of like the uncanny valley. It's that sense of discomfort you feel when something's almost as it should be, but not quite, and you start to feel a little nauseous because it's not quite right. I think you get that sensation from audio much more easily.