opaqueice;151461 Wrote: > Well, here we're mainly trying to determine if there is a difference at > all. Deciding which is better, as you are pointing out, is tricky and > another question entirely. > > I was worried that one SB might simply be slightly louder than the > other. This could happen > > 1) because one of the SBs is intrisically louder than the other due to > some variations in the calibrations of the DAC chip outputs or > something, or > > 2) because the two power supplies output a slightly different average > voltage, which might change the SB output voltage slightly but have no > other effect. > > Case 1) I think is ruled out as an explanation because (if I understood > correctly) they switched the two half way through, but is still > important to get straight. 2) however could explain the results, and > while it would mean there *is* a difference, not in a very interesting > way (for example if this was the case you could make the linear supply > sound worse or better in the test by changing its voltage).
I think strict A/B is useful to establish if a difference exists, as you say. But sometimes the difference is very, very obvious, in which case A/B becomes pretty meaningless. Sometimes A/B with level matching is used to try to appoint a winner in a test, and that is a big no-no, IMO. Also, a negative A/B doesn't prove one iota. The real test of a system's quality is how many hours at live level one can listen without getting tired. (Unless one has defective hearing, in which case all tests are meaningless.) -- P Floding ------------------------------------------------------------------------ P Floding's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2932 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=29058 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
