Robin Bowes;296009 Wrote: > > Assuming the SB+DAC / Klimax DS / Transporter are all fairly similar in > > performance, i.e. the differences are minimal, then a 10-minute test > would be largely pointless. > > Extended listening is the only relevant way to evaluate these things. >
I agree it's possible that some difference might be hard to discern in a short listening test. Rather unlikely - it goes against all the research I know of, which indicates differences are much easier to hear with quick switches - but logically possible. Ten minutes was a bit of an exaggeration. You'd probably want to listen to a fair number of tracks, so lets say the short-term test is an hour. Here are four scenarios for the outcome of such a test: 1) Phil doesn't hear any difference during an hour-long sighted listening test in his home. 2) Phil thinks he hears a difference sighted. He tries a blind test, and fails to successfully identify the source more than about half the time (i.e. consistent with guessing). 3) Phil thinks he hears a difference sighted and prefers the Linn. To his surprise, he can hear a difference blind, but he consistently prefers the SB+DAC (this happened with another poster here when comparing the SB to some more expensive source). 4) Phil prefers the Linn both sighted and blind in the short-term test. What do you think he should he do in these cases? Do all of them warrant a longer-term listening test, or only some? -- opaqueice ------------------------------------------------------------------------ opaqueice's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=4234 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=38815 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
