I'm kind-of loath to get involved in this old argument, but it seems to me that the 'hi-fi sceptic' view of dbt is rather flawed.
The notion of dbt originates from scientific testing - specifically drug trials. However, drug trials don't usually take the form of pop-a-pill wait 5 minutes, pop-another-one and see if you feel any different - and neither should audio equipment testing. If you really want to do dbt with audio components you need to design a test that is relevant to the way that people normally listen to music. IMV, this should take the form of listening to music over, at the very least, a few days or weeks, and using some kind of objective response to the music as a gauge - like how much time is spent listening, or how many times you tap you feet, or what your brain wave patterns are, ... or something. Unfortunately, to do that kind of experiment is expensive, and given that we are not talking about a sector that commands the revenues of the pharmaceutical industry, impractical. >From my experience, some changes are readily detectable within a minute or two of listening, and some are much less obvious and 'determinable', but nevertheless do become apparent over a longer period. However, detecting a difference is only part of the story - you then have to work out which one is better, and I think you definitely need at least a few days to make that choice. There is a proportion of the industry that appears to be selling snake-oil, and a proportion that are selling things that genuinely do make a difference, but are wrapped up in pseudo-scientific bullshit. To some extent customers are getting what they deserve, because customers do seem to prefer to buy equipment with fancy spec-sheets and 'dark-art' circuitry, blind. In general, too much honesty doesn't pay. There is no good way to buy high-end audio equipment from the internet. There just isn't any substitute for experience and for listening, and if you don't want to spend the time and do the graft, you just have to go with someone you trust and take your chances. But, be aware, that those who shout loudest are not always right, identical equipment does sound different in different setups, and different people do like different things. -- Patrick Dixon www.at-tunes.co.uk ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Patrick Dixon's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=90 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=26306 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
