Heh...I attended a university (undergrad) that's home to the Eastman School of Music. I had some involvement with it in a more technical capacity. If you think that music students understand, or even care about good sound in anything other than a plebeian norm, I'm really not sure what to say. Hell, just the other night a music student was tuning his guitar on stage right before performing.
I was the one who told him when it was finally in tune. Of course he checked it with an electronic device he had with him and guess what? The instrument was finally in tune. Music students. Pfffftttt.
This may be an unpopular view, but I'll say it anyway. IME, we have a kid who's forced to learn how to play an instrument by his parents. He gets to college, doesn't know what he wants to do, can't even pull a low-C in intro to calculus, but he can still play that instrument that he had no interest in to begin with. So, being too dim to organize his intellect, he becomes a music major! Ever talked to music students about music? How about high school music teachers? Good times. That's just the music. Now, talk to them about sound quality....
Edit: my uncle (R.I.P.) and my original musical/audio mentor had his post-doc in mechanical engineering. He also had an EE degree and more patents that fit on his wall. Literally. He had a big system for its time that he compiled using his academic beliefs, without realizing that he really didn't know anything about sound. It was one of the worst systems I ever heard. Better, one summer day his amplifier is shutting down. He can't figure out why. Seemed kinda obvious: the crappy amp is fully enclosed in a cabinet and forced to drive ~50' of 18awg zipcord (per channel). No, couldn't be. Post-doc engineer. Wanna hear more about my family?
Another example of academic expertise: my mother is a MD. I've been suffering from some kind of semi-debilitating illness for years, not really knowing what it is. She referred me to countless physicians, all, supposedly, experts. 7+ years I spent going from one doctor to another, trying different drugs - many of which made me far worse - until one day I came across a real physician. No exaggeration, he had me diagnosed in less than 5 minutes and my health is markedly improved. I'm forever grateful to this man. And the others? Eggsperts.
BTW, my 12 year old son can readily tell the difference between overly compressed recordings and their better counterparts. He's 12, he plays video games and has little exposure to live music, but he does know what to listen for.
