Party + listening tests = folks snoring on sofa.
well, I'm always wanted to ask about this:
How do you deal with ventilation/air conditioner noises , when listening to music/swapping cables/resitors/capacitors etc.?
Do you hear it all?
We in Germany usually don't have forced ventilation/air conditioning at home.
Regards
Listening tests require a lot of concentration, so it is necessary to eliminate as many distractions as possible. Once you have limited distractions to the body and mind (like stress, work, irritation, caffeine, alcohol, discomfort, etc.), you do require having a minimum of sounds that can mask the audible differences you are looking for.
For me, I do a listen for interfering noise with my system muted - that checks out all noises related to fans, traffic, CD player motors, hum. If any of these seem noticeable, then I must reduce them. That means that the tests must be often done at night, fans and other motors switched off, sometimes the equipment I'm testing is placed outside my door, and the cables run through the crack between door and floor.
If I can just hear the background hiss from thermal agitation, and the noise of blood pumping through my ear isn't too noticeable, then I can rely on a minimum of external noise interference. Sometimes I can't reduce the noise as much as I want - the temptation is to use a higher level of music. ...Don't... Once the level becomes slightly uncomfortable, you will not be able to focus properly. Once your focus is compromised, stop the tests. "Masking" is much worse at high sound levels, and will limit your ability to discriminate sounds.
In your listening environment you have a top end level where your neighbours complain, or it's an uncomfortable level, or masking effects blur your tests. You have a bottom end level that is set by ambient noise and your body (blood pounding, ringing, background ear noises). There's an acoustic "ceiling" and "floor" that your music has to fit in between. That ceiling and floor also varies with frequency, and to make matters worse, your hearing ability varies with frequency (Fletcher-Munson). Your listening environment may dictate what tests you can perform!
I'm lucky that in our location the ambient sound level at night is such that we can hear ordinary speech outside at 100-500m distance. If you cannot reduce the noise levels sufficiently, then you are limited to the degree you can discern small effects. Your choice of test sounds will affect this as well. Knowing the psycho-acoustical effects of sound masking will help your choice of test conditions. Some music or sound choices will be better than others for component testing. For example, if testing for the effects of ceramic capacitors, you need a source with deep clean bass, since you will be listening for harmonic distortion at the bottom end of the audio spectrum. If your background sound level included that range of frequencies or lower, then your abilitiy to discern small component differences would be ruined.
Your switching setup is very critical - there are a number of non-electronic issues that must be dealt with:
- minimizing physical switch/relay click noise
- ability to have no audible, visual, tactile manifestation of A/B setting
- ability to indicate A/B setting - when needed
- ability to alternate between A/B
- switches FAST (milliseconds)
- random selection of A/B (still can alternate)
- switching setup doesn't compromise comfort, position, or tidiness
- it allows you to test at any time, for any duration
- the testing must be as pleasurable as possible!
Most of the above are not electronic issues. Once you introduce electronic issues, it turns into a real can of worms!
-Paul
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