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As digitalized and mediatized music through streaming services to mobile devices has become the main source of music for the younger generation today, what they hear is just the "sound" of music. Therefore, we should take "sound expertise" and perhaps even "sound preferences" seriously. As in this study and in some other informal studies, we witnessed the fact that the sound aesthetic of playback quality may not be absolute. In light of the conclusion that the high playback quality of CD and even higher qualities being likely an "acquired taste" for the younger generation, the findings of this study is in fact quite a "common sense" among the audio technology and sound engineering community. How sound quality affects different listeners´ enjoyment and appreciation of music has not yet been sufficiently studied until today. Apparently, "sound expertise" should be better studied in the near future and treated as one other moderator variable besides music expertise.

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Meng Wu holds a Bachelor´s degree in mechanical engineering and a Master´s degree in audio communication and technology from the Technische Universität Berlin. His research interests lie in the human cognition of sound and music playback quality, individual music/sound preferences and expertise. He´s also an expert for intercultural communication.

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