DAC blind test: NO audible difference whatsoever

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If you by checking you mean confirming the emotional assumptions your ears have made, then no. If by checking you mean confirming that the money you spent was well placed sorry they cannot do that either. If by checking you mean checking to see how your headphones might be EQed for a flatter response, then yes although measurements can certainly not tell you if that flat response has improved the sound your ears hear.

It’s just you and your subjective emotional ears...it’s really the best way, image if you needed a computer to tell you steak is delicious....
 
I'am not saying it's true or not, BUT ~one year ago i finished my dual ak4490 dac[DimDim's]... I did an AvsB not blind test with my grown up 23yeargoodears son back then and we could clearly hear that the ak dac was more detailed and better to have a listning to compared to an "good" quality pihat dac.

I did not spl/level match with mic. (only by hearing) back then, will try when summmer vecation is over... Excited to hear if there will be no difference when 100% gain matched, but i really don't belive, but let's hear it in a couple of weeks... :)

Jesper.
 
... ABX tests are not useful for discriminating between audio components (DAC's, amps, cables, not speakers).
...
The only valid test is to listen to A for an extended period (many hours), then listen to B for an equivalent amount of time. If necessary go back to A. IME, you will hear differences and most likely have a favourite.
That A/B test would be valid ONLY IF it is done (double) blind. Nevertheless, A/B type of test have some shortcomings.
ABX test do not forbidd extended period of listening! And yes, double blind ABX tests are very useful for discriminating between audio components, if done right.
 
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Who cares about this. If you dont hear any difference, stay at the cheaper one. So simple. I have been working as an audio technican for 22 years and i have to admit, that often differences are very subtle, but i choose what i PREFER. Often more expensive hardware sounds more "aggressive" and sterile to me. Newer DACs tend to be created with measurements in mind, but who cares... If a 25$ DAC sounds fantastic to me and i can hear a difference to a 2000$ DAC, i choose the cheaper one. No matter if YOU can hear a difference or not. And we are in a DIY forum, where the fun of creating something with your own brain and hands is a very driving factor. Who cares about blind tests...
 
Many can. Then when the levels are matched and they are unable to see which DAC is in use, suddenly those same people can't hear a difference. They blame the stress of test but not during the test of levels unmatched and seeing which DAC is in use.

is that a fact or your opinion?

DAC Blind Test Series | Super Best Audio Friends

maybe you cannot differentiate, doesnt mean other's can't
 
Who cares about this. If you dont hear any difference, stay at the cheaper one. So simple. I have been working as an audio technican for 22 years and i have to admit, that often differences are very subtle, but i choose what i PREFER. Often more expensive hardware sounds more "aggressive" and sterile to me. Newer DACs tend to be created with measurements in mind, but who cares... If a 25$ DAC sounds fantastic to me and i can hear a difference to a 2000$ DAC, i choose the cheaper one. No matter if YOU can hear a difference or not. And we are in a DIY forum, where the fun of creating something with your own brain and hands is a very driving factor. Who cares about blind tests...
You'd prefer people kept their subjective opinions to themselves?
 
is that a fact or your opinion?

DAC Blind Test Series | Super Best Audio Friends

maybe you cannot differentiate, doesnt mean other's can't


That's certainly an interesting result, and while the number of trials and participants are extremely limited (5/5 for Marv, 1/1 for Julie), I'm satisfied that at least a couple of people can probably distinguish between those two DACs.


Now the obvious follow-up question is: can these perceived differences be tied to any particular kind of measurement result? Can these differences be quantitatively characterised? And if so, where are these differences coming from in the DAC? The Chip? The Op-Amps?


Because it's clear that measurement equipment is more sensitive than our own apparatus, but perhaps we're not making the right kinds of measurements which truly correlate to our own subjective experience.
 
Cymbals and applause...
Interestingly this is a trick that i learned in the eighties of a well known HiFi store in Sweden Gothenburg. At first I thought they where crazy, but after some comparison and listening it was remarkable differences between equipment. And I think I know some of the key things here, that might sound a little odd.

At first our ears and brain has heard applause live many many times IRL, and they are not processed nor amplified, just naturally. We KNOW how they should sound like. Its a wide band sound and dirac pulse like, much transients. Timing is important here. In the shop they told me to close my eyes and listen if it sounds like real hands clapping, or a sound of frying flesh in a frying pan. Still today almost 40 years later I do listen to "Jazz at the pawnshop" recorded live with some modified Nagra tape recorders and Neuman microphones, and you can judge for yourself if they are tapping up and serve dark beer or pale ale in the pause between the takes.... :)
Do not forget cymbals and applause...
 
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Cymbals and applause...
Interestingly this is a trick that i learned in the eighties of a well known HiFi store in Sweden Gothenburg. At first I thought they where crazy, but after some comparison and listening it was remarkable differences between equipment.
They sound remarkably different between different environment. Unless it's comparing live vs recorded in the same environment and location, it's not apple to apple comparison.
 
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