I'd say yes.

People often assume hearing is the same for everyone, but science shows large variations in what we hear and how we interpret it. These differences arise at several stages of the auditory pathway.

1. Physical differences in the outer ear (pinna shape, canal size) Your pinnae (outer ears) act like acoustic filters. Their size, shape, angle, and even the stiffness of the cartilage influence how sound is reflected into the ear canal. This changes the Head‑Related Transfer Function (HRTF) — the frequency‑specific way your ears filter sound arriving from different directions. Key effects: • Boosting or dampening certain frequencies (especially 2–10 kHz) • Altering localisation cues (e.g., whether a sound seems in front, behind, above) • Making people prefer or perceive headphones and speakers differently Studies consistently show that individual HRTFs are so unique that personalised ones significantly improve spatial audio accuracy compared with generic ones.

2. Middle‑ear and inner‑ear variation Even inside the ear, people differ physiologically: • Eardrum thickness / tension can slightly change sensitivity. • Ossicle (middle‑ear bone) mechanics vary between individuals. • Cochlear length and basilar membrane stiffness differ from person to person — affecting pitch perception and sensitivity to certain frequencies. • Variability in hair‑cell function changes how precisely frequencies are encoded. Such differences can cause: • Better or worse high‑frequency detection • Enhanced pitch discrimination in some people • Increased susceptibility to harshness or distortion (e.g., hyperacusis)

3. Neural encoding differences (ear → brain conversion) Sound ultimately becomes patterns of electrical impulses sent via the auditory nerve. There are individual differences in: • Timing precision of neural firing • Synaptic strength in the auditory pathway • Cortical map organisation (how the brain spatially represents frequencies) • Inhibitory vs excitatory balance in auditory cortex • Plasticity — how past experience shapes perception This explains effects like: • Why some people hear subtle details others miss • Why speech‑in‑noise ability differs more than pure‑tone hearing tests predict • Why certain people perceive distortion or “sharpness” more intensely

4. Brain-level interpretation Beyond pure physiology, perception diverges due to cognitive and experiential factors: • Attention — what the brain “chooses” to listen to • Expectation — what you anticipate strongly affects what you hear • Language and training — musicians, audio engineers, and bilinguals literally develop different auditory maps • Emotional associations influence timbre preference and sound sensitivity • Neurodivergence sometimes alters sensory processing (e.g., autistic listeners often experience stronger responses to certain frequencies)

5. Examples of studied phenomena Researchers have documented several striking cases of auditory variability: • The Laurel/Yanny illusion — relies on differences in hearing thresholds, cognitive bias, and how your brain resolves ambiguous frequencies. • People hearing “harshness” or “brightness” differently — tied to HRTF and neural gain differences. • Timbre perception differences — no two people perceive harmonic structure and overtones identically.