Yes, certainly. But, with limited time and resources, often one cannot pin down the precise reason for a particular problem, and it must be dealt with empirically to progress. That isn't being anti-science, it's just practical.
After all, virtually every scientific theory is an "effective" theory, one known to work well enough for the situation at hand, but probably not correct outside of a limited context. Again, as with steel conductors, if you don't like them, just don't use them and go on to something more important.
IMX
Hahaha.
There's a perfectly free test called "Identify Mystery X?" or perhaps "IMX".
You just line up two amplifiers, or twenty amplifiers, in a row, hidden of course, then press play randomly, then identify.
With two amplifiers, repeated nine times, 9/9 score correct, that's 1 in 512 chance of pure luck...... I think.
Not easy...... not as fishy as ABX either......
Just a thought.
Hahaha.
There's a perfectly free test called "Identify Mystery X?" or perhaps "IMX".
You just line up two amplifiers, or twenty amplifiers, in a row, hidden of course, then press play randomly, then identify.
With two amplifiers, repeated nine times, 9/9 score correct, that's 1 in 512 chance of pure luck...... I think.
Not easy...... not as fishy as ABX either......
Just a thought.
But, John was saying that he uses his ears as his design tools. Everyone can choose whatever tools they wish for their work. Only the results should be "judged."
Yes, rayma. I only use my ears when I have to make a decision about sound quality. Personally, I would rather do measurement coupled with a good design concept and 'follow through' in the first place. IF I only did this, the Parasound JC-3 phono stage would have been a failure. I HAD to demand changes to the chassis to get it right. The schematic remained the same.
Maybe I can buy two identical constant light LED lamps and try to break one somehow, like removing the capacitor...... so it starts flickering.
If one of the lamps gives me and others attention deficit disorder after a few hours, it's not possible to detect that in any quick Foobar-style ABX.
I see your point...... but I still hold on to mine...... weak DAC chips cause ADD after a few hours.
Just kidding.
Sort of.
Anyone know if the listening tests in this paper are valid or not
http://www.partsconnexion.com/t/claritycap/Reseach_Summary.pdf
http://www.partsconnexion.com/t/claritycap/Reseach_Summary.pdf
They may or may not be, even chance.
But once you listen for yourself, those will be the only results that matter.
Do you have trouble under fluorescent lights? They all flicker. The traditional inductive ballast at twice the line frequency, new solid state ballasts at something above 20 KHz. If they were a big problem there would be a lot of evidence by now. Movie projectors flicker at 48 Hz or 50 Hz.
Maybe this is the cause of the crash of modern civilization. . .
Exactly ...
Good audio reproduction is difficult, there are a vast array of factors, dancing in a complex interplay, which at all times are degrading the sound - the aim is to minimise that degradation. We are not dealing with a fixed, stable product like whisky, say - pull out a bottle at random, anywhere, anytime; unless something has gone terribly wrong what is actually there will always be identical in key areas to another sample of the item, when the same thing is done at another time - it's a relatively trivial process to consistently differentiate, ABX qualities in this case.
Fortunately, there is a barrier of sufficiently minimal degradation, which can be surmounted with enough effort, which allows for the quality that John is chasing to come through. The fact that this barrier can't be stuck on the testbench, to be precisely dissected and analysed, is just a limitation in knowledge and understanding at the current time ...
That wasn't my point. I am master of my own taste and care not one fig about right or wrong. I do try hard to understand the taste of others as that can give income.
I do tend to do a bit better than some people on these tests as I am more relaxed . No great fear of being wrong.
There are two sides to the brain it is supposed. One that learns and one that stores. The learning side needs reinforcing to become permanent. This is to make sure we only hard connect the useful stuff. If unused it deteriorates but seems never to vanish when healthy.
How does the golf professional miss a shot? Apparently when stressed it switches off the stored routine side of the brain. Suddenly the learning side is given the task. None of the programing is there to help. The vehicle ( ourselves ) is running on limp home computer setting. The pro misses his shot. Stress cause poor judgement.
I met a guy from NASA who was a systems psychologist. He said it is amassing how when something becomes expensive the pilot error is more allowed for. His job was to set out instruments in the best order to give fast warnings. His said it is technically impossible to fly a spacecraft on instruments. What is possible is to make the few systems that might matter easy to take control of. He went on to say it is mildly wicked to blame pilot error in aircraft. It is done because it is expedient.
This sort of suggests we should take hi fi as perfect when it is and accept our own limitations? Don't think that attracts me much. Daft, as pleasure and beauty are imaginary. And that's the rub. Where it works is, there is a surprising overlap in how people like stuff. So the science should be. What is it we like?
If one can't tell A from B by ears alone, then "taste" is back to peeking and preconceptions/faith. That's fine if one can admit it. Sadly, there's a strain of gullibility endemic to this field, egged on by frauds and charlatans, which causes otherwise-intelligent people to insist that their illusions are real. This goes beyond the tiny fashion audio niche, but it's unfortunately an archetype of the irrationality that permeates people's thinking and affects important issues in our lives.
EVERYBODY says that. Never met anyone who said: 'my hearing is really below average'.
It's a bit like IQ. Basically everyone feels their IQ is 'above average'. Yet, by definition, half of the people are below average.
Jan
I used to be able to hear 18 kHz 10/10 times. These days, I can just barely do 16 kHz, and it's not going to get any better as years pass.
Doesn't bother me a bit, I still love my music and will for as long as I live, no matter how much - or little - of it I will be able to hear. That comes with the years and there's nothing I can do about it.
In the critical mid range, I can still hear much of what most kids today can't. That's not the years, that's the mileage, I've been at it for over 40 years, had good training.
I do take A Quantum Of Solace (sorry, Mr Bond) in the fact that it took my speakers all these years to get the better of me.
Doesn't bother me a bit, I still love my music and will for as long as I live, no matter how much - or little - of it I will be able to hear. That comes with the years and there's nothing I can do about it.
In the critical mid range, I can still hear much of what most kids today can't. That's not the years, that's the mileage, I've been at it for over 40 years, had good training.
I do take A Quantum Of Solace (sorry, Mr Bond) in the fact that it took my speakers all these years to get the better of me.
How would an average person know what is an average hearing?
It's a bit like IQ. Basically everyone feels their IQ is 'above average'. Yet, by definition, half of the people are below average.
Jan
You mean to say that my IQ of 3 is not the world best list number?
And there I was, feeling so proud of myself ...
My hearing is really below average. Now you've heard it.
No kidding either, it really is bad.
You are right but I love these people. Max Townsend might fit that description to some. Max is a friend and I believe 80% of his ideas are genuine. He is such an unlikely intellectual. He is one. I never caught him out in the quality of his thinking. Execution might be his downfall and mine.
Illusions are real and reality is an illusion. The proof of that might be to gain access to the brain and do a movie that seems real. It could be done.
I suspect most good fiction is not fiction. It is story telling that predicts the future. If presented as fact we from fear reject it. Fiction is baby food and we have been forewarned. As I said yesterday we can arrive at the Fibonacci number is about 20 steps by using the logical steps. Surprisingly we arrive there using mostly any numbers as long as they are not both zero. Any human activity fed with error data due to being a feedback loop is resolved. I do not believe fraudsters do much harm in a properly policed society.
The good stuff commands much money on eBay. The bad stuff dies. Sadly some get caught. As with so much of life it is peer group and interconnection that determines things. Something seems to one as a confidence trick is the opposite to another. I have the choice of an iPhone and a $30 Nokia. I like the Nokia and the iPhone gathers dust. It never occurred to me to question the taste of others. The Nokia is work of art and minimalist. The calculator is a genuine scientific one better than my real one as it can do 15 digits ( >pF ). It has buttons.
The big problem is Ivory tower hi fi. Kids think we are a joke. Now that is a problem. They buy Marshall amplifiers but not hi fi. Now who is the fraudster? The one who is esoterica about the power of illusion? That's all it is about. If asking I joined this monastery years ago so I am as guilty as anyone.
DSP might be the way out of this. Hand back the taste to the customer. Doubtless they will choose in time a more accurate sound. Richard said this the other day that it is working well.
I heard on the radio today that the DNA of true friends is like they would be from our own families. That is fine until you think a little . Genetics seems to come close to Bible stories in that the original gene pool is not vast. That bit of science seems a bit easy to debunk. How much did that cost ?
My hearing is really below average. Now you've heard it.
No kidding either, it really is bad.
Is your love of music?
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