Shannon's Journal Discussion Thread, Vol. 8

[Shannon]

Can anybody point me in the right direction to the post that explains the difference between formats (masked, ultrasonic, and hybrid)? I've been thinking I should adjust and play with that more to lessen some of the resistance/anxiety I have been having with multiple subs that last few months.

The formats work like this.

Ultrasonic is the standard format.  It uses pitch differencing to make the audio fall into the "umbra ultrasonic" range, meaning that it's too high pitched for your conscious mind to pick up, but it's still possible for your subconscious to pick up and decode it.  Because it uses pitch differencing, the volume is higher, and it will have a bigger impact on most people.  It is also the most convenient to use in most cases, but isn't suitable for use in headphones or earbuds because it is too easy to use too much or too little volume, or even have it turn off or on when you don't want it to without noticing that it's playing or not playing.  People who have issues with control are the most likely to find themselves resisting this format, but that is not a given.

Masked is the secondary format.  It uses volume differencing to hide the subliminal instructions in another sound, which is in this case Trickling Stream or Ocean Surf. The masking audio is audible at normal levels, but the masked audio is a lower volume, and this effectively hides it from the conscious mind, but not the subconscious mind.  The subliminalized audio is much lower volume than Ultrasonic format, so it has much less "perceptory pressure" than the ultrasonic.  Masked format is useful for when Ultrasonic is too aggressive and triggers resistance or you cannot handle the ultrasonic audio at the intended usage volumes because it causes tinnitus (make sure you're using it on a cell phone through the speakers at the instructed volume) or makes your ears hurt (which is usually the result of a form of resistance where your subconscious causes you pain trying to get you to stop using it; see here for more information).  It works with a gentler approach to presenting the instructions, which typically works significantly better for people who have serious control issues or try to resist Ultrasonic format for any other reason.

Hybrid is the tertiary format, and is a combination of Ultrasonic and Masked.  It is useful for when you do not respond well to either Ultrasonic or Masked format because you have a lot of fear causing your subconscious to resist too much.  This is the format with the highest perceptory pressure, and it also doubles the amount of data input per unit of time.  Most people want to use it because they assume that "moar is bedder"; in reality, this format is typically only useful if nothing else works for you.  Otherwise it is too much and will generally result in overload if you don't actually need it.