Music, emotions and stress by Marco Kolks, a listening experience

An interview with Norbert Maurer about the new Ground Optimizer from Vortex HiFi

Hörerlebnis tested the new 2nd generation Ground Optimizer from Vortex HiFi and was surprised at how big the difference is compared to the first generation. Basically, the Ground Optimizer reduces low-frequency fields that negatively affect people. According to measurements by Vortex HiFi, a special grounding technology eliminates interference from the device ground by up to 98 percent. If you look at the differences between the two generations of Ground Optimizer, you can read a lot about communication in the body, about stress and this associated with microscopic images of the red blood cells. The developer, Norbert Maurer, has assured that nothing has changed in the technical structure. The significant differences are due solely to other, so-called information. How can there be such differences without the signal having changed?

HE: Mr. Maurer, your website uses the slogan: "How music becomes emotions." How do your products transform music into emotions?

Norbert Maurer: Through the uninfluenced perception of music. As recent scientific studies clearly show, music triggers a wide variety of emotions. These can include joy, sadness, relaxation, excitement, nostalgia, or even euphoria. This range of emotions is naturally not associated with the same music and also varies from person to person. Music can stimulate the sympathetic nervous system by releasing norepinephrine and adrenaline, making a person euphoric. That is, it generates positive stress. The body then activates a lot of energy, which is then available for activities. But the opposite can also happen. Relaxing or calming music can help reduce stress and soothe the autonomic nervous system. This music can slow down breathing and heart rate and trigger the release of neurotransmitters such as oxytocin.

HE: How do these feelings arise?

Norbert Maurer: When listening to music, various neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, norepinephrine, and endorphins are released in the brain. These neurotransmitters play an important role in regulating emotions and experiencing reward. Dopamine is released primarily when listening to pleasant music and is associated with the brain's reward system. The release of dopamine triggers positive feelings such as joy and happiness. Serotonin is associated with relaxation and mood regulation and is also released when listening to music. Oxytocin is a particularly important hormone. It is released during social interaction and bonding. It can also be released when listening to music and contribute to building a deeper emotional connection to the music or to other listeners. Norepinephrine is a neurotransmitter released during stress responses and can help increase attention and alertness. Last but not least, there are the endorphins. Endorphins are the body's own painkillers, which can also be released when listening to music. They have a pain-relieving and relaxing effect. For this reason, music is now successfully used in pain therapy.

HE: Do the studies show whether this applies to music listeners or only to musicians?

 

Norbert Maurer: Basically, this applies to music listeners and musicians. For example, the striatum activates (Note d. Red.: The entrance area of ​​the basal ganglia is the striatum, which is also known as the striped body. This part of the brain is networked with the motor nerve tracts and is the first switching point for the interconnection of specific movements. Degeneration of the striatum can occur in the context of Parkinson's or Huntington's disease and usually has the effect of either hypo- or hyperkinesis.). The striatum is often activated when people listen to music associated with positive emotions, and it appears to play an important role in generating music enjoyment and cravings. Maybe that's why non-musicians like to play air guitar (Note d. Red.: Norbert Maurer laughs.). But joking aside, many emotional responses are the same according to scientific studies.

HE: So, in addition to the auditory system itself, other areas are also involved, for example in the brain.

Norbert Maurer: Not only is the central nervous system with its various brain regions involved, but also other parts of the nervous system. I already mentioned the autonomic nervous system, which regulates heart rate and breathing. That's why we acquired a computer system for heart rate analysis, our heart rate variability ECG, over ten years ago. With it, we can see whether someone is relaxed or not. But many brain regions are also involved. Above all, of course, the auditory cortex. The auditory cortex is the primary brain region responsible for processing acoustic information. The auditory cortex is divided into different regions that specialize in processing pitch, rhythm, volume, and other acoustic characteristics of music.

But the prefrontal cortex is also stimulated. This is a brain region responsible for a variety of cognitive functions such as memory, attention, decision-making and emotional control. Since hearing is a very active process in which experience is used and acoustic situations must be analyzed so that music can be perceived in a concrete and differentiated way, the prefrontal cortex is an important brain region. All acoustic localization via timbre (HRTF) and other complex structures responsible for distance localization are based on experience and analysis.

The prefrontal cortex is often activated when people listen to music associated with positive emotions. Another brain system activated by music is the limbic system. The limbic system is a network of brain regions that plays an important role in processing emotions and forming emotional memories. The limbic system includes structures such as the hippocampus, the amygdala, and the nucleus accumbens, all of which play a role in processing musical emotions. I have already mentioned the striatum. The striatum is a brain region involved in processing reward and motivation. The striatum is often activated when people listen to music associated with positive emotions, and it appears to play an important role in generating music enjoyment and, as mentioned, music cravings.

HE: We know that music evokes emotions and why. But how exactly do Vortex HiFi products help music to create emotions, or why do fewer or different emotions arise from music without Vortex HiFi products?

Norbert Maurer: I'd like to present this systematically. To understand the connections, it's helpful to first look at stress and how it changes our emotions. There are also interesting scientific studies on this. For example, negative emotions are intensified by stress. Stress leads to an increase in negative emotions such as fear, frustration, anger, and sadness. Stress can also lead to us feeling overwhelmed and having difficulty coping with stressful situations. Conversely, stress has a negative impact on positive emotions. Stress causes us to experience fewer positive feelings such as joy, enthusiasm, or relaxation. This can lead to us feeling depressed or down and having difficulty motivating ourselves or enjoying things that we normally enjoy, such as listening to music.

Stress leads to a narrowing of the emotional spectrum with a shift from positive to negative feelings.

As we all know, emotions are transferrable. We have antennae for the emotions of others, and those emotions are transferrable. Stress now causes us to perceive or interpret emotions differently. For example, we can perceive negative emotions in other people where there are none, or we can perceive our own emotions as stronger or different than usual. This is fatal for listening to music, because the central ability and task of music is to convey emotions, which, of course, must have been recognized beforehand.

HE: Let's take it a step further. What does it mean for our perception of music when we are stressed?

Norbert Maurer: Although scientific research mainly focuses on how music affects stress, there are also studies that deal with the reverse causality, i.e., how stress affects music perception.

A 2017 paper entitled "Stress and music: A systematic review of recent research" examined the influence of stress on the perception of music and found, among other things, that stress can influence the perception of music by reducing attention and impaired memory. You remember the prefrontal cortex, the importance of which I mentioned earlier. Stress also affects the ability to recognize and evaluate the emotional aspects of music. This is to be expected given the research on stress and emotions mentioned above. This is fatal for listening to music, because in my opinion that is the central function of listening to music. to convey emotions.

Another 2014 study, entitled "Stress effects on music perception," examined the impact of stress on music perception in people with and without musical training. The results showed that stress impairs the ability to recognize and process musical details and subtleties. That's exactly what I experience every day. Musical details disappear to a large extent under stress.

In 2013, another study entitled “Stress and Music Preference” was published. She examined the connection between stress and music preference. The results here showed that stressed people are more likely to prefer styles of music that are perceived as calming or relaxing, such as New Age music. I experience that again and again, especially in the high-end sector. The same records are always put on, which in case of doubt are simply knitted. Complex works from the rock area or classical music are too complex and are annoying on most systems. Complex music is therefore played less often at trade fairs and heard less at home or stopped after a short time. Listeners sit with their iPads on their laps in front of the system and hear one “highlight” after the other – from various classical works, mind you. Many people are no longer able to give their full attention to a single classical work. I was able to read a letter to a Vortex HiFi dealer describing exactly that. He was happy about how, for the first time in years, he was able to listen to an entire classic CD from start to finish with our building biology-oriented mains filters and not just individual passages. He got into a flow (the brain is challenged but not overwhelmed) and listened late into the night. Incidentally, no filters were installed in his listening room, only one floor below, where he measured the greatest disturbances on the power line. Our concept is not about the hi-fi system, but about the stress that affects the listener from the outside. The source doesn't matter.

HE: Now we're talking about music. Stress is a crucial factor in the perception of music, including on an emotional level. But how does Vortex HiFi help eliminate stress as a limiting factor?

Norbert Maurer: Each of our products has two tasks: 1. to eliminate interference and 2. to reduce stress. We call this AIO, which stands for All in One. The combination of these two functions is always present in all our products. Vortex HiFi exists solely because we want to reduce stress for music listeners. This is what drives us, and we develop new tools year after year to eliminate problems that occur in modern households and stress music listeners. In doing so, we constantly question our techniques and are always on the lookout for new ones. We are open-minded. These can be techniques and findings from building biology and environmental medicine. They can be power filters or shielding, or even techniques from quantum medicine and other disciplines. The main thing is that it works. But for some problems, there was no solution anywhere, as was the case with the Ground Optimizer. Here, we had to think completely differently, because simple grounding via cables has advantages, but also significant disadvantages. Therefore, for example, grounding via a galvanic isolator is frequency-selective according to building biology principles, which is why the Ground Optimizer is rather expensive. We have produced several quality grades so that practically everyone can afford a Ground Optimizer and benefit from the enormous advantages of a clean ground connection.

HE: Hörerlebnis magazine already reviewed your Ground Optimizer product some time ago and wrote about its positive effect on sound. But what's different about the new MKII models?

Norbert Maurer: We cannot improve the technical design of the Ground Optimizer for field reduction, i.e., measures of classical building biology. However, we have learned a great deal about field modulation in the sense of information in recent years. In doing so, we have intensively studied the ideas of quantum medicine.

The challenge was to systematically introduce and improve the products using these new ideas and techniques. Of course we can hear, but our products have the problem of initial deterioration, that is, in terms of sound, any change in configuration temporarily leads to a worse sound. In extreme cases, this can take days. It is therefore very difficult, if not impossible, to rely solely on hearing during development. We need something like reliable early indicators of an effect on people. There are no physical measurement methods here. In principle, our building biology measuring devices, which represent the latest state of the art, cannot resolve these changes in the interfering field sources. Humans filter, or rather isolate, interference from the environment that measuring devices simply cannot filter out. And this despite the fact that we do not know exactly what such a biologically relevant disorder looks like. Our level of knowledge is constantly changing. We are surrounded by many natural and unnatural fields that do not affect us biologically.

Others, with slightly different vibrational patterns, are biologically/acoustically extremely relevant. We once placed an activated iPad on our device feet and listened to music two rooms away. We could hear clear differences whether the iPad was lying directly on the table or on its feet. That's exactly the phenomenon. The field radiated by the iPad wasn't gone, it was also modulated electrically differently by the other mechanical vibration. No measuring device in the world can measure these differences. Field strength and frequency spectrum are completely identical for measuring devices.

HE: And how do you measure it then?

Norbert Maurer: We don't just measure the cause, i.e., the field, but also its effect on humans. Since we began studying fields (electrosmog), we've learned from Dr. Magda Havas that practically every type of electrosmog leads to the clumping of red blood cells. This is called the rouleaux effect. When we started demonstrating the connection between electrosmog and the rouleaux effect, we were constantly accused of suggesting that there are many causes for the rouleaux effect, not just electrosmog. That's correct. Eliminating these effects is an experimental challenge. Electrosmog also occurs in geopathically influenced living spaces, where the disturbances can be based on entirely different physical factors. What is always the same, however, is stress. Our HRV measurements have confirmed this. It is likely a chemical effect (hormones) rather than a physical one (fields) that leads to the rouleaux effect. Thus, the red blood cells continued to clump even when...

when the blood has long been removed from the body and physical exposure and no longer exposed to the field. This and other effects, which go too far here, speak in favor of this thesis. Since we made high-resolution video recordings of the blood samples, we were able to observe this behavior very well in both directions. So once in the clumping process and once in the de-clumping process. Completely different physical stimuli can lead to one and the same result. After more than 600 microscopic examinations, we were also able to detect gradual differences in stress levels in the blood. This gave us a leading indicator of how well our products relieve stress.

In this way we can evaluate any quantum physics concept and its effect on stress. If such a principle works, we can take the time to check it acoustically. We also work with other test methods, such as kinesiology or the strength and coordination test on people. A blood test is the clearest.

The result of our lengthy research is a highly optimized system of information (vibration patterns), which certainly has a major impact on the stress level and trouble-free hearing in everyone. We call our premium system Sigma technology, the sum of all knowledge. You tested two technically identical (in terms of building biology) Ground Optimizers, the blue GO 2 MKII and the green GO 3 MKII. I think the difference is big for you too. This is aural proof that it works. However, all three GO's have also been greatly expanded by our latest findings in quantum medicine. The entire GO series is basically a ground optimizer on steroids.

HE: So it seems there's a way to find a more emotional, more authentic approach with less stress using Vortex HiFi products. But why is the sound so different? Why do I perceive the timbres of the instruments as more accurate? Why is the listening room no longer so reverberant – even when speaking? Why is the transparency clearer, or why don't the bass torrents sound as boomy when the acoustics are the same? What does this have to do with emotions?

Norbert Maurer: Emotions don't directly affect it, but stress and its effects do. I'm not aware of any scientific studies on this, but one could make an intelligent guess based on what's been said here and the findings of psychoacoustics. In workshops, I always ask what you hear when a violin and a trumpet are playing in the room. I often get puzzled looks, but then someone dares to answer that they hear a violin and a trumpet. For us, it's self-evident. But why don't you hear "trumpets"? You don't hear a mixture of sounds, but two separate patterns: a violin and a trumpet. Your brain has to recognize two patterns and correctly assign the direct sound and, much more difficult, the indirect sound. Otherwise, the timbres of the instruments are reproduced incorrectly.

A basic statement of perception psychology is that people do not want to record the sound as precisely as possible with their sense of hearing, but rather have to recognize the cause of the sound. What's behind the sound? That means sound analysis. The senses evolved to be better at finding food and avoiding enemies who see us as food. So it's not important to pick up the sound perfectly, but to understand who made the sound and then prepare the organism for fight or flight. For this purpose, a hormone is released with a corresponding acoustic stimulus. In the fight or flight case, adrenaline is released to activate energy reserves.

In order to determine the location of a sound source, a precise analysis of the sound is necessary. In our case for two instruments, the violin and the trumpet. And that doesn't work well under stress. The sound components of the instruments are incorrectly assigned. You have to be able to concentrate to do that. But stress means less concentration. The violin gets a bit of "trumpet" and the trumpet gets a bit of "violin" or the surround sound mixes with the direct sound. Suddenly more or less reverberation can be heard. This cannot cause a signal change from a hi-fi component. If you look at the reverberation physically, a hi-fi component, a foot or even a cable can neither make the reverberation disappear nor conjure it up. But we hear these differences. However, a wrong / bad interpretation of the sound and the suppression by the human hearing system can easily change that.

Regarding changes in the bass: If a bass rattles (e.g.: high level), the listener certainly does not want to hear it. He concentrates on the instrument and that's where the cocktail party effect comes into play again. Everything you focus on is amplified by the cocktail party effect and everything you don't want to hear is toned down. Since the position of the speaker is different from the virtual position of the instruments, the speaker's distortion is localized differently and then suppressed. This also applies to room modes and reverb! Of course, all this depends on a correct and efficient analysis of the sound location. However, this is highly dependent on stress. This means that when we are more stressed, we hear more distortion (because we are not suppressing it). At the same time, timbres can be distorted, spatial information is lost and transparency and reverberation suffer. Something like this has never been scientifically investigated, but it is a reality in hi-fi.

In practice, this is easy to understand for anyone who uses our products systematically. The differences are now very large.

HE: Thank you very much for the interview.

Here is a PDF for the test:

Listening experience Vortex HiFi norbert maurer interview_ new