How about sneaky blind tests where one doesn't know that he's being tested?
Like playing vinyl recorded in FLAC through a cheap ADC and letting people think they hear the actual LP (by doing the usual routine, putting on the record etc.) when, actually, the preamp is on the media PC/DAC input...?
It's probably not very scientific, but it's damn fun when you hear the comments about "the superiority of analogue". 😀
[Yes, it's a true story.]
Btw, I'm surprised no one mentioned Floyd Toole and his work yet.
Like playing vinyl recorded in FLAC through a cheap ADC and letting people think they hear the actual LP (by doing the usual routine, putting on the record etc.) when, actually, the preamp is on the media PC/DAC input...?
It's probably not very scientific, but it's damn fun when you hear the comments about "the superiority of analogue". 😀
[Yes, it's a true story.]
Btw, I'm surprised no one mentioned Floyd Toole and his work yet.
The exact circuit schematic has never been published. It was discussed more than 5 years ago between the designers, whether we should publish it, but I decided not to take the responsibility for any problems, so I declined to publish it, after the death of my major business partner. I generally have published my designs between 5 and 10 years after their inception, or they get published by others who copy a physical specimen. So far, Vendetta, the Levinson JC-2, JC-3, the JC-80, and virtually all the Parasound designs have been published somewhere.
In truth, it is almost impossible to properly build a Blowtorch, unless you are an expert with lots of jfet resources. It REQUIRES high Idss, matched complementary input devices. Anything else is a compromise. Almost no amateur has these resources, and so I do not recommend trying to build the Blowtorch directly, but making your own design, based on the same principles that I TRY to convey here, when I get a chance to do so.
In truth, it is almost impossible to properly build a Blowtorch, unless you are an expert with lots of jfet resources. It REQUIRES high Idss, matched complementary input devices. Anything else is a compromise. Almost no amateur has these resources, and so I do not recommend trying to build the Blowtorch directly, but making your own design, based on the same principles that I TRY to convey here, when I get a chance to do so.
Guys,
Now that we more or less clear on dominant distortion mechanisms:
1. Various transient distortions.
2. Various noise sources.
Let's try to discuss a ways to measure / test for them.
Thorsten mentioned that 10k square wave stimulus test is meaningless. Does it really?
Vladamir's paper suggested that presence of second strong signal changes THD spectrum of the 1st test tone. Sounds like a reasonable simple test to run.
Any comments
Sergy
Now that we more or less clear on dominant distortion mechanisms:
1. Various transient distortions.
2. Various noise sources.
Let's try to discuss a ways to measure / test for them.
Thorsten mentioned that 10k square wave stimulus test is meaningless. Does it really?
Vladamir's paper suggested that presence of second strong signal changes THD spectrum of the 1st test tone. Sounds like a reasonable simple test to run.
Any comments
Sergy
TheShaman said:
That doesn't work. It just shows the mind is very open to suggestion. It's a conditioned reflex.
Of course, anyone can be fooled. I have been fooled in much the same way. Usually I am told to listen for a difference and the music changes, as it always does, and I think that there was a change. However, OVER TIME, I learn what changes actually work, and whether they are useful or not. IF this were not so, I would use my JC-80, now residing in my closet, and never bothered with the Blowtorch.
It is not a conditioned reflex!
Yes the mind is VERY open to suggestion, as in every optical and other illusion.
If you can see the shiny bright thick gold wire being plugged in, it is almost impossible not have an expectation as to its sound.
Eureka, we have just found a metal alloy that sounds as good or better than solid gold! (True story)
Even as #10 zip cord? Remember when Julia Child had a metalsmith make a solid gold omlette pan just to see if it worked better and then it was melted down again?
I meant in this occasion (since ABX tests keep coming up in the "Blowtorch Saga"; like many other subjects but still the thread is a nice read 😉 ).
Some of my favorite:
Loudspeaker Measurements and Their Relationship to Listener Preferences: Part1, Part2
Also Audio Science in the Service of Art.
How about his buddy, Sean Olive?
How to Listen: A Course on How to Critically Evaluate the Quality of Recorded and Reproduced Sound
The Subjective and Objective Evaluation of Room Correction Products: Presentation, Article
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Stories like this will get you nothing but brickbats. Like the time a friend snuck into another friends house and swapped his cables with zip cord and he didn't notice until we pointed it out a week later.
For the record, I am referring to connector material on loudspeaker cable contacts.
Also, we do NOT use expensive materials just because they are pretty or expensive. We actually listen for a difference. It is refreshing that some material has been discovered that sounds as good as GOLD! Yet costs much less.
Also, we do NOT use expensive materials just because they are pretty or expensive. We actually listen for a difference. It is refreshing that some material has been discovered that sounds as good as GOLD! Yet costs much less.
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You claimed it's not you prove it! Silly 😛
Better yet, do some reading here: Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT). The definitive site for
How we respond to different sounds and how loud we perceive the sounds is a function of beliefs formed from past experience. We learn sounds. The sensory system, including the auditory system works on feedback - what a novel concept huh!?
There is a ton of clinical evidence supporting the Jastreboff Model and exposure desensitization always works, with practice in treating phonophobia (fear of sounds) and misophonia (dislike of sounds), and other phobias.
So, anyway, you change the conditions you can change the way a person responds to the sound - conditioned reflex.
John
Is that not subjective, beauty is in the eye as they say? I would think the process costs would far outweigh the raw material costs in plating, even Radio Shack has gold plated versions of almost everything. My dentist pointed out that the "base" substitute for gold inlays is palladium, cheaper but still somewhat dear.
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