@cd318 Autism is my gift, tool and best feature for vast most part, so much to thank. I just have some quarks, some find them funny and some they do not know what to do and get kind of scared so they don't get to know me. I have a great partner, son, adopted daughter, very good friends, and colleagues. To be frank I can't ask more from life.
Why Do So Many Audiophiles Reject Blind Testing Of Audio Components?
Because it was scientifically proven to be useless more than 60 years ago.
A speech scientist by the name of Irwin Pollack have conducted an experiment in the early 1950s. In a blind ABX listening test, he asked people to distinguish minimal pairs of consonants (like “r” and “l”, or “t” and “p”).
He found out that listeners had no problem telling these consonants apart when they were played back immediately one after the other. But as he increased the pause between the playbacks, the listener’s ability to distinguish between them diminished. Once the time separating the sounds exceeded 10-15 milliseconds (approximately 1/100th of a second), people had a really hard time telling obviously different sounds apart. Their answers became statistically no better than a random guess.
If you are interested in the science of these things, here’s a nice summary:
Categorical and noncategorical modes of speech perception along the voicing continuum
Since then, the experiment was repeated many times (last major update in 2000, Reliability of a dichotic consonant-vowel pairs task using an ABX procedure.)
So reliably recognizing the difference between similar sounds in an ABX environment is impossible. 15ms playback gap, and the listener’s guess becomes no better than random. This happens because humans don't have any meaningful waveform memory. We cannot exactly recall the sound itself, and rely on various mental models for comparison. It takes time and effort to develop these models, thus making us really bad at playing "spot the sonic difference right now and here" game.
Also, please note that the experimenters were using the sounds of speech. Human ears have significantly better resolution and discrimination in the speech spectrum. If a comparison method is not working well with speech, it would not work at all with music.
So the “double blind testing” crowd is worshiping an ABX protocol that was scientifically proven more than 60 years ago to be completely unsuitable for telling similar sounds apart. And they insist all the other methods are “unscientific.”
The irony seems to be lost on them.
Why do so many audiophiles reject blind testing of audio components? - QuoraShowing 5 responses by astolfor
At home is a different history :) but in general in my ears the qualities of the a component transfer and by this time I already have a good sound map on the different rooms. Don't you believe that if 2 rooms are properly arranged for your ears they will sound fundamentally similar but with their own signature?
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As for the simple question why those who refuse to do a blind test/audition to me there could be a few reasons, and 2 come to mind, being afraid to chose the component that "is best", or being afraid to realize that your position on a subject, for example like you say you can(n’t) distinguish the difference in AC or Ethernet cables is wrong. I have never bought a component without a blind test, my audio dealer facilitates that. All of his 6 audition rooms are set up for blind testing, all you need to say is I want to audition x,y,z he will also include one or 2 of his choice and then call you so you can audition until you have an ordered/ranking of the components you like best. If you tell him what components you have will will do his best to reproduce them so at the very least you have the reference. I have walked out many time spending a lot less, and many others spending a lot more :) The process is as long or short as you want, this is why to me blind auditioning is the best way to let my ears do the choice, and I have yet to walk away with a component that does measure great. As always, there are exceptions, like a PS audio powerplants, I know very well that will not do anything to my components' sound side because they are on the DC domain, but they are a nice looking power strip. |
@mahgister Speakers with blind masks like the ones some people use to sleep. :) components are behind curtains(?)/drapes. I love the masks, my brain and ears focus a lot more. Yes, I can cheat by looking but then no need to cheat myself 🤣 The rooms setup are very smart, you can audition 3 different speakers on the same room, they are in a carousel that they can rotate quickly and adjust angles. Some have the ability to test 2 different set of components some 3, all can fit 2 turntables.. At the end if you are not sure on the components, you can get them installed in your listening place, there is a charge for the setup, that gets waived if you buy or are a repeating customer. The family is in the business since the late 30s one of the older audio stores in Barcelona and Spain. Every other month or 2 there is a full day on listening on the store, you can sign up in advance, he also has launching products and clothing and lingerie parties for our wives or partners. I do not mind paying a little more not just for the addons but because their customer service is incredible too. I wish there was something like this in the Seattle area.
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The thing with extended auditioning is that there is a lot of adaptation and not working using short term memory. Kind of like going to the eye doctor, the changes in the lenses magnification is deliberately quick because one's brain is working in short term memory and very good at knowing what is good for him. Eye doctors don't send you with a lens to test for a week and see how your eye feel. There are a lot of papers discussing this subject in the Audio Engineering Society. I wish I could post some parts but my petition was denied. If one is really interested in these subjects it is worth joining, but be prepared to read long papers with a lot of math and statistics. Fun story, a few years back, I had my eye doctor and his dad, also an eye doctor, and I asked the young one if he knew why they change the lenses so fast and he said because he usually want to finish quickly, his father almost gave him a spank and asked if I knew or I was being me curious so he told me that short memory key in finding the right lenses, because the short memory comparison is key. Many times with my dealer we discussed why he plays one short passage and switch, and he says that after their blind test you should have 2 components you like over the others, and if you are unsure then buy the cheapest. My dealer also referrers to the long auditioning as a good way to find those things that bother one, like interfaces, switches, esthetics, and anything that is in the functionality domain and see if you like the sound in your home. All the times I leverage the long term, I only bought something else because something bothered me, I am autistic and some things just don't fit in my brain. Even if the component sounds better, whatever it is distract me from listening. English as nth language. |