Ultimate listening test - trial no. 3

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Only one positive ABX result in this last test so far, from our local forum. This might be a tough test.

Downloaded pearapple; went straight to foobar for ABX:

pearapple ABX.png


$10 ear buds, E-MU 0404 USB.

Now for a look under the hood.....
 
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I tried this again this morning and still can not really find anything to latch on to.
Here are my results taken at different points in the same test. It seemed like I was on to something but then not :D
 

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One of the files sounds to me more pleasant, relaxed and full.
The second one sounds to me more harsh, thinner and stiff. That's how I distinguished between these 2 files

Don't you know which is which??? I thought these are your files so you should know which is which. I'm wondering because... You seem.... don't "like" a direct sound??

I still don't understand where this ABX will lead to...
 
Of course I know which is which, but why should I tell it so soon? :D
In case you have a tip which is original data and which is D/A --> A/D, please feel free to tell us.

ABX leads to conclusion if one is able to tell the difference reliably. Even if I know which file is which, I do not know what ABX has put as 'X' and 'Y' in every trial and I have to say if X = A or X = B and then ABX comparator tells me if I was right or wrong. If I made 9 selections correct from 10 attempts, my probability of not guessing is 98.9% and this I consider enough. If I only told that the difference was clear at first moment and A or B is clearly better bla bla, it would be only an unconfirmed claim.
 
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In case you have a tip which is original data and which is D/A --> A/D, please feel free to tell us.
I believe the one that you considered as thin and stiff is the direct. Do you want me to tell which file is it ;)

ABX leads to conclusion if one is able to tell the difference reliably. Even if I know which file is which, I do not know what ABX has put as 'X' and 'Y' in every trial and I have to say if X = A or X = B and then ABX comparator tells me if I was right or wrong.
Here's the logic flow
1) you know A is direct (and B is not of course)
2) you can do the ABX well, hence you can differentiate the characters of each files (for example thin versus full).
3) you can run playback of A and B outside of ABX
4) it is automatically that you know which file, A or B, which has thin or full character :)

If I made 9 selections correct from 10 attempts, my probability of not guessing is 98.9% and this I consider enough. If I only told that the difference was clear at first moment and A or B is clearly better bla bla, it would be only an unconfirmed claim.

If you follow me by reading between the lines, you should have understood that my "expectation" is higher than just being able to differentiate sounds.

You cannot believe, can you, if I told you that my ABX result is better than all of you, without proof? :D

Don't worry I promise you I will post my ABX once you have a test that nobody else can give positive result. Just for fun, because I have no non-technical interest.

What interest me is why you like that bloody full sound of one of the file?? If we have different preference, can I force my opinion that my preference is better because bla bla bla? Or why is it not enough that the existence of AD-DA chain adds nothing but distortion?

I only listened thru $2 hand phone at office today so didn't focus on fatigue, only musicality.

Please tell me, is it okay to prefer the additional AD-DA chain?
 
Oh no, to me the original file is more relaxed, more pleasant, more full, less harsh and has better decay into silence.

Yes, please tell me which is which.

Tommorow I will as I don't have the files here at home.

As I told you, I only focused on musicality not fatigue. To be precise with my preference I need to focus on fatigue aspect with my speaker at home.

I may be able to do it now if you post a wav instead of zip. My android can download file but no zip and the charger just broken so only few hours of life. My iPod, hehe, I don't know how to download files with it.

You are the one who used "full" versus "thin and stiff" perceptions. I believe that you can show like previously that one file has slight higher response in most part of the music. This file with higher spl is I believe the one that you consider as having "full" sound. And from musicality pov I believe the one with (slight!) spl is non direct. Want to show us the comparison?
 
Pavel, I think we have progress here.

We can proof the "validity of preference". The assumption is that direct sound deserves more preference than additional circuitry that serve no purpose for quality improvement.

So we can mention our preference (somebody else must repost the files with random names if you want to join too). If I for example prefer the additional circuitry instead of direct, you can say that my all other preferences (such as class-a, no class-d, no opamp, etc) are just unique to me and should not apply to everyone but me.

If it sounds good enough, we can lengthen the test period.
 
Pavel, I think we have progress here.

We can proof the "validity of preference". The assumption is that direct sound deserves more preference than additional circuitry that serve no purpose for quality improvement.

Jay, I believe this is true, but only in case that the original data - original file have high quality and were well recorded, and, of course, good hardware is used for playback.

In case of poor recording and poor playback chain I admit that some added noise and distortion may make the file more acceptable. But I do not agree with such approach, IMO the system should be as transparent as possible.
 
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