Do you trust your ears more than measurements?


I have a lot of audiophiles that say the ear test is the best. I believe them. Some of us have to do blind tests etc. I’m in the camp of trusting your own ears because no matter how something measures. Is it more pleasing to you with a particular cable, placement tweak etc. What are your thoughts everyone? 

calvinj

This all assumes there is one objective or subjective standard for SQ that we would all agree on. That will never happen!

There is no one objective standard nor one subjective standard... This is common place fact...

But this common place fact dont justify those who called their gear choice my "taste" and conclude that the job is done...

There is a process of necessary and possible correlation for each of us between objective measures and our subjective physiological biases and hearing history and training..

Then this is true :

Measure once.
Listen twice.
Repeat.

It’s the opposite of construction.

 

 

Psychoacoustics standards concerning all acoustic factors are established by a set of CORRELATED experiments where all parameters are varied with different subjects...

No subjects will perceive "timbre" the same way... but they can  train themselves as acousticians and musicians do in their own way at their own rythm...I did it...

Timbre is a multidimensional factors experienced it is experience by  fis specific  ears/brain and only measured in a multidimensional way in varying controlled conditions......

All this does not means that we cannot for ourself in our own room modify the measures parameters at play and then created for ourself an experience of timbre which will be satisfying for us...

Using acoustics experiments and concepts and parameters  is better than purchasing an upgrading amplifier and called this "our taste" as if it is the end of the job and the end of the audio road...

i trusted my ears in my acoustics experiments when i changed parameters in an incremental way... Then if there is no one objective nor one subjective standard there is a a numbers of tools  and parameters we can use in an incremental process which we will all agree on, like all acousticians agree on the way to create a good room and agree on the necessary possible  tools and process to do it from some starting point ...

Being stubborn and justifying laziness by saying each one of us differ by taste is only a way to procrastine what must be acoustically done ...

This also assumes we hear the same.  We don't.  When I look at a red car do you see the identical color red?  Probably not. Thus we all adjust to our own unique perceptions and, in turn, make adjustments for this uniqueness in our prefered SQ. For me It's more about just having fun with the gear and enjoying the music than striving for a single "best" result.

Do you test drive a car that you are considering buying, or do you make a buying decision based on the Road and Track test?

Yes. Both.

The R&D test (objectives) narrow down the field. The test drive determines if everything is satisfactory. How does a car enter your sphere of consideration without first knowing its most important objectives? You can't always tell by looking. A Corvette may look fast, but a Civic Type R may smoke it around the track. That's why you need to look at measurements.

"We don’t listen to square waves on purpose, but that is one measurement from the old days that is still a valid predictor of sonic performance."

 

Ahhh, but we do! Can you show me even one analog synthesizer that doesn’t include a square wave pattern in its oscillators?