The Audio Science Review (ASR) approach to reviewing wines.
Imagine doing a wine review as follows - samples of wines are assessed by a reviewer who measures multiple variables including light transmission, specific gravity, residual sugar, salinity, boiling point etc. These tests are repeated while playing test tones through the samples at different frequencies.
The results are compiled and the winner selected based on those measurements and the reviewer concludes that the other wines can't possibly be as good based on their measured results.
At no point does the reviewer assess the bouquet of the wine nor taste it. He relies on the science of measured results and not the decidedly unscientific subjective experience of smell and taste.
That is the ASR approach to audio - drinking Kool Aid, not wine.
Measurements ≠ Subjectively Good Sound I suspect that those who believe measurements are everything are deceptively bias against costly “unaffordable” components. For some, it may be emotionally easier to digest a lie and talk oneself into believing the lie than to face the unpleasant truth of unaffordability of desired components. |
I find ASR useful, more or less for the same reasons @analog_aficionado mentioned earlier. What I find tiresome there is the constant bickering, the constant subjectivity bashing (the most popular threads!), and the general disputatious mood that pervades the discussions; many members are arrogant and too ready to argue rather than discuss. Amir calls for "happy" people interested in fun & learning, but it seems that he has attracted many "unhappy, bitter, and argumentative" members instead. Too bad! Regarding testing & the ratings, the ASR formula is simple: whatever measures better in the battery of tests performed rates better. However, unless the reader knows how to correlate the measurements to his (her) auditory tastes, the measurements are meaningless indications -- entertainment material at best. You may or may not like the sound, i.e. the rating does not necessarily indicate which device you'll ultimately prefer, so you are hardly going to use said measurements as the ultimate buying choice. Neither do many of the members. IIRC Amir himself uses old ML class A monos, not high SINAD NCore or Purifi based products.
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The problem with any of these measurement-oriented sites is that so few of the principles seem to have any deep acquaintanceship with acoustic music. Even the online reviewers nowadays just talk about features rather than the music. From what I’ve seen of ASR, they do the same thing. If someone’s measurements say it’s good but the component can’t differentiate between a Yamaha flute and a Gemeinhardt, it’s not a great component to me. And if the reviewer or the site can’t recognize this, their musical knowledge doesn’t help me at all. People were measuring components LONG before ASR. I wrote for two magazines - yes, the BIG ones - and we did measurements to confirm something we heard by listening. Even Stereophile does measurements. That said, I have yet to meet a serious designer who didn’t use measurements, but then did the final testing thru listening tests. And yet, so many young people sneer at those of us who have trained ears. I can read, write and play music and have 60 years of either band or symphony experience. Yet, people want to dismiss my knowledge base because ASR says something different. Are they joking? ASR does not strike me as having ANY demonstrable actual music knowledge, while my training started before most of these kids were even born. THEY still see fit to be dismissive when they can’t differentiate a lute from an oboe. And they are passionate that I’m deaf due to my age. (That makes me chuckle). I have to remind them that I got my training when I was 25 and then ongoing after that, and that I already knew how to play music, long before I got into audio. It doesn’t deter them. Fascinating how people with such short lives know SO much more than those of us who've been around twice as long as them. After observing the forums, I remembered what I told some clients in the past. I told them that happy people don’t spend their time sneering at other people. That’s what UNhappy people do, and their are a lot of people whose goal is just to sneer - and nothing else. And to just ignore - and not invite - that kind of person into their lives. After reading some posts, I just sit there wondering how badly their system must be set up to NOT hear something. ASR is just a part of a trend nowadays towards reading test results online (no matter how anonymous) and using that as gospel, instead of using their own ears, and learning how to listen carefully. Stupidity has replaced actual, empirical experience in many fields. Why should audio be different?
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