cliveb wrote: > Wow, I had no idea that relating my little experience would stir up such > a sh*tstorm of vitriol. > > I agree that the "test" I performed could never be described as > scientifically valid. But can we apply a little common sense here, > please? > > 1. During a sighted comparison, I heard a difference between two DACs. > 2. During a casual single-blind comparison (when I didn't know which DAC > was playing), I failed to detect that previously-heard difference. > > It seems that jkeny is saying that my casual single-blind test has no > validity at all. All I can say is that it strikes me as having somewhat > more validity than a fully sighted test. It says to me that what I > personally hear is influenced by knowledge of what device is playing. > And my understanding is that decades of psychological research has > discovered that the same applies to most people (ie. that I'm not a > freak in this respect). > > jkeny: you're not seriously suggesting that a proper DBT would show that > those differences heard in (1) above would magically reappear, surely? > If not, what's your beef? > > The audiophile at home is in no position to conduct a scientifically > valid DBT. So does this mean he should not make any attempt whatsoever > to try and eliminate non-auditory cues when comparing equipment?
I Agre with you , this is usually the best effort you can do at home . you still need an assistnat that can toss a cion and flip a switch somewhere If the casual single blind still had given a positive . Then a more rigurous test would be called for , or some research online if the product have been blind tested by someone else or rework the setup small level diffrences can creep in to the test . best case is if there exist several well done blind tests of the same thing ,then you can put the data together . Hower infinite number of audiophile anecdotes of a sigthed test does not give more information than one such anecdote , they are both close to 0 . They are descriptions of one persons subjective experience but there is no "external" information to share the question does it really sound different to other observer can not be answered . Nor can the question does it really sound diffrent at ll be answered . I do like to resort to first principples . Can anyone piont to just one case where diffrences -100dB under the signal levels have been audible (while playing music) . Any kind of diffrence analog digital thd noise ? jitter, phase, whatever . Then we can discuss the audible merits if special cases such as DAC's or amplifiers or whatnot . Example there is no piont in trying to discern the audible diffrences in digital inputs , before the first case is proven these differences are of technical interest but can not possible give you "congested midrange" or sibilances or my favorite "digital sound" :P -------------------------------------------------------------------- Main hifi: Touch + CIA PS +MeridianG68J MeridianHD621 MeridianG98DH 2 x MeridianDSP5200 MeridianDSP5200HC 2 xMeridianDSP3100 +Rel Stadium 3 sub. Bedroom/Office: Boom Kitchen: Touch + powered Fostex PM0.4 Misc use: Radio (with battery) iPad1 with iPengHD & SqueezePad (spares Touch, SB3, reciever ,controller ) server HP proliant micro server N36L with ClearOS Linux http://people.xiph.org/~xiphmont/demo/neil-young.html ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mnyb's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=4143 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=103776 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
