Is It Just Me, Or Are You Struggling To Listen To Bbc Radio Four?

[Colmc54]

I suffer from LLI (Low Latent Inhibition), the inability to ignore inconsequential background distractions making it it impossible to effectively focus attention on the main sensory stimulus. It is one of the recognised markers for Asberger's syndrome. For instance I cannot go to a cinema because the conversations and eating activity going on around me make it impossible for me to enjoy the movie.

With the advent of DAB, sound technicians at the BBC seem to have embarked on a policy of excessive vocal realism such that I am finding it hard to bear listening to the voices of broadcasters on the radio channel I have listened to all my life.

Take the voice of the presenter of The World at One for instance. Their is such sibilance that no amount of EQ adjustment can get rid of it. The ploppy, poppy 'p's sound like someone has smeared jam on her lips, and the clicky clacky 'k's are just as bad.

Elsewhere every throaty growl, burr, rasp, or salivary sound is amplified such that it sounds like they are talking millimeters from one of your ears!

Believing it's just another LLI issue I have to deal with I have had some success with ditching the DAB and listening on Long wave.

I assume it is probably me but I would love to hear if anyone else in the AB community is similarly challenged.

[pixie373]

Not exactly, but my son and nephew both have autism and sensory processing disorder. They are both ultra-sensitive to sound. I'm not sure whether there is a difference to them with background noise (they are 8 and 10). So I'm sorry i can't be more help, but was interested to read your post.

[Hypognosis]

I had a problem one time where, in a crowded pub, I can hear about 35 conversations, overlapping into an incomprehensible babble plus the loud music over the top of that, yet I was unable to hear someone in our group speaking on the other side of the table. When I asked them to raise their voice, so I could hear, they declined and said I was being unreasonable.

The only fix to the problem was to stop socialising.

I think the ability to 'filter' the speech of someone nearby from amongst the chatter is a 'social skill' which I lack.

[ToraToraTora]

I do have that, fairly mild compared to you though, I have learnt to sort of let it go. For example if I try I can hear the clock ticking but I can equally filter it out as if it's not even there. I find that vodka can help too!

[Colmc54]

Yes alcohol can be a good filter, triple filtered in the case of vodka, but not in my case. For me it makes the peripheral, subliminal stuff that nobody but me appears to notice grow in significance until the next stage is verging on paranoia.

For example back to BBC. I could now believe they hate the police. Furthermore you could believe the people at the top orchestrate it through the whole of the corporation. Watching the latest series of Silent Witness (a small example) will do that for you if you were like me, and you tried medicating with alcohol.

[jno]

I'm like Hypognosis. It's a problem of directional hearing: I can't pick a voice out of a crowd. One to one is no problem but if there's a lot of background noise I'm as good as deaf. I've long since given up on pubs and socialising too.

All the same, I don't think this is a social skill, it's a physical one.

[Mojo-Jo-Jo]

I am similar to you jno. I can't hear say, a telephone conversation very well if there is a hubbub in the background, and I don't hear well in a crowd.

[jno]

I haven't even got a mobile, Mojo-Jo-Jo. No way could I talk on a phone in the middle of Oxford St.

[Colmc54]

Could you sleep on a windy northern night when every five minutes or so the rusty hinges of an un-shut gate almost inaudibly creaked and then silence again till the next gust of wind? That was one of the most challenging causes of my childhood sleepless nights. Slam dunk LLI.

We have a fan going in the bedroom now which by creating a certain level of constant ambient noise makes you less sensitive to the lorry going past at 3am, or the noisy drunks passing by early on Sunday morning.

[jno]

it sounds really unpleasant, Colmc, but the fan is a sensible coping strategy. Would earplugs help?

[Mojo-Jo-Jo]

Oh that doesn't affect me Colm. I sleep like a brick.

[Ellipsis]

Not a sufferer, but I do listen to a lot of R4. Some presenters are more sibilant than others, but I can't say that it ruins the experience.

Have you tried a different DAB radio? Have you tried listening on your computer, or on the iPlayer Radio app? Have you tried listening on Sky (channel 0104)? All of these are alternative digital channels. i.e. it might not be DAB, or Digital, it may be your radio.

Best for you would be to pipe your audio through some kind of graphic equaliser that would allow you to take out the annoying frequencies ...

[Colmc54]

My original post did say that I was having some improvement with listening on Long wave.

But why are they seeming to try so hard to over-realise the human voice? Surely they must know that just as some people have good faces for radio, some have good voices, if not softened a bit with a pop-shield and a little more distance from the microphone, for press journalism.

[Ellipsis]

Same with HDTV. You can now see their nasal hairs and bits of food stuck in the teeth.

LW is a bit of a kludge solution. Isn't it terrible at night? Also it will not be around forever:

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/oct/09/bbc-radio4-long-wave-goodbye

What you need long term is LW-like audio but from a digital source. Pushing it through a graphic equaliser might help.

[Colmc54]

jno

I have tried ear plugs but increasing the silence has the opposite effect on me. I think that's normal enough though when you think about it.

I remember walking the dog with my wife in the Tamar valley. I stopped and said 'listen'. What we heard was total silence. I don't believe I have ever heard/not heard it before or since.

[CokeTulip]

Colmc54... I do think there might be something going on with me but I do not know what and I'm not even sure how to describe sometimes.
I also think that I am not easily understood as others are OK with these things. First time I've heard of LLI so thanks for mentioning. It must be good to know what it is. I can appreciate how you feel though.

A dripping tap would be a very effective form of torture on me. I find it unbearable when background noise or converstation is introduced to a main radio interview on Radio 4. I have no choice but to turn off even though I really want to listen to the main conversation - it is like torture. I cant bear aggressive tones in someones voice and someone else might find that fine. Generally it may be just a heightened sensitivity to things.

I can sense or feel when things are really wrong with a person and I feel completely overwhelmed and cant shift it. I ignored this most of my life but I dont now. (experiences have taught me not to).

Websites where they play music that you can't switch off - I have to leave as I find it painful on a sensory level. Loud hand-dryers also cause me to feel very uncomfortable - again (no idea why I have this reaction). I phase out in group settings and feel very uncomfortable most of the time (dont know why) but I can cope if I am having a one to one conversation within that group.

I get really physically distressed when Chris Evans uses that sqeeky toy while speaking on his Radio 2 breakfast programme - have to switch off and neither can I listen to Lisa Tarbuck - she uses that sort of toy aswell. It is like torture.

[Wordist]

I have similar problems when I wear my hearing aids - no problem without them except I can't hear much at all.
I spoke to someone recently, who had much more sophisticated hearing aids than mine. His were connected to a small box which could be tuned in to individual voices. I wonder if something similar may be of use to you.
Mine were free on the national health, while his were also n.h. but he had to pay a bit extra.
It might be worth enquiring.

[Colmc54]

Paradoxically enough, I have to thank an episode of BBC's Horizon for informing me about LLI. When we think of ourselves we have to consider the spectre of spectra if you like.

We are too diverse to be simply defined, so science has developed spectra such as the Asperger's spectrum, or the more disturbing Psychopathy spectrum... to quantify the many traits embodied in the way our brains end up being wired up.

This small question shows I am not alone as I expected. I am completely normal- for me, just the same as an autistic child is normal (but of course more challenged than the rest of us) for him or her.

I would love it if the BBC could consider a bit more the effect their attempts to drive their new toy DAB to the extreme could have on the listening experience of many of their obligated licence payers.

PS in my original post EQ stood for graphic equalisation.