Amir and Blind Testing


Let me start by saying I like watching Amir from ASR, so please let’s not get harsh or the thread will be deleted. Many times, Amir has noted that when we’re inserting a new component in our system, our brains go into (to paraphrase) “analytical mode” and we start hearing imaginary improvements. He has reiterated this many times, saying that when he switched to an expensive cable he heard improvements, but when he switched back to the cheap one, he also heard improvements because the brain switches from “music enjoyment mode” to “analytical mode.” Following this logic, which I agree with, wouldn’t blind testing, or any A/B testing be compromised because our brains are always in analytical mode and therefore feeding us inaccurate data? Seems to me you need to relax for a few hours at least and listen to a variety of music before your brain can accurately assess whether something is an actual improvement.  Perhaps A/B testing is a strawman argument, because the human brain is not a spectrum analyzer.  We are too affected by our biases to come up with any valid data.  Maybe. 

chayro

Showing 1 response by adambennette

Hello,

not much discussion here about statistics...  well, it's not an exciting subject really.

I thought the point of blind testing was the sample size.  One person is not enough, maybe you need more than 100.  If more than, say, 60% of them opted for A you might be able to say that A is better than B, and if it's 50/50 then that's a pretty good indication that A and B are close to the same thing.  I would venture that when only one person attempts AB you will not get conclusive results unless one of A or B is truly terrible.  

It's hard to get 100 audiophiles into the same room, and you would need good security to prevent fights breaking out.