Blind Comparisons

Sound and tests are important, sure, of course. However to me there is a ton more to it than just sound. I want to compare the sound, as good as I can within reason, but I do believe it can be taken way too far. When it gets to the point that we are worried more about that extremely slight, and I mean extremely slight performance differences (I don't say better because to who's ears is it better); but when we worry so much about the ever so slight differences we forget about what is the most important two things. The music and the enjoyment.

We do this to enjoy music. So sound is important but also is the look, the feel, the warm and fuzzy feeling that a piece of gear may give me. If it is the compact industrial look and feel of Benchmark, or the flashiness that some do (Devialet, Burmester, etc. :)), or the preferring a particular designer such as Nelson Pass in Pass or First Watt; maybe you like the tradition, the history, look and feel of McIntosh. What is most important is what makes you happy.

I have gotten rid of some gear not because the sound was not good, but instead because I just never got a good feeling (i.e. PS Audio). It is all part of the over all enjoyment, the sound, look, controls, the feeling the gear gives you; all is important. This is why blind comparisons are not very important to me. The more I get back into this hobby the more that these two things are increasingly proving to be the most important thing to me.
 
W9TR said:
It is about the most un-fun thing you can possibly do as a hobbiest. Lethal buzz kill at its finest.
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Hmmm, the ear training courses like Klippel, Harman, Philips, etc I've done have been quite enlightening.
The informal group ones I have participated in, such as with the local audiophile club, have been a riot. Lots of smiles and laughing.
Guess it depends on the personalities...and egos, etc. involved.


p.s. I have yet to sit in an easy chair, listening to stereo music...and feel "stressed". YMMV.
 
Alkyogre said:
The problem is: there are more and more people believing in this dogshit, amd sadly it hurts the quality of audio.

If they say:

No double blind test on audio proves difference means

Dacs make no sense
Amps no blindfold tests
Wires, copper is copper, all sound the same
Oversampling: Myquist proved that 44 kHz is good enough and the disturbance is outside the hearable frequency.
Powersupply: lol
Source: ones amd zeros, a chromecast audio is the cheapest choice and sounds the same as expensive streaming devices

Problem with this: correct me if I am wrong: if people spend 10k on audio: they do it like this
9.6k on speakers
300 on the cheapest amp wit the most of properties
60 on a chromecast audio
20 on wires
3 on voltage
And last but not least, the cheapest spotify connection at 320 kbps.

Sad 
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Wow, you need to improve the quality of the booze you drink .........
 
mep said:
Blind test threads on most audio forums are as popular as STDs at an orgy. It’s better to strike up a conversation with a stranger and discuss politics, money, and religion than to discuss blind tests on audio forums.
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LOL

Blind tests have a stress factor in them that suppresses capability of hearing differences.

Sometimes they do work:
Quite recently an audiophile tested on me two DACs blindly, they were pink noise volume matched. I could pick them out reliably almost each time, no matter in which sequence they were played.

But I have also failed miserably at blind tests before.
 
In that case I am always drunk. It is not fun anymore, discussions about: if no one hears a difference between cables blind, they are the same. And: a few euro dac sounds fine, nobody in blind fold tests... etcetera

This is why I joined this forum, to talk about good audio stuff and not about double blind tests...

Hope I hear differences between audio components right and it is not because of the quality of my beer...

Cheers!
 
Blind and double blind tests are so old hat. Let’s just do deaf testing while watching an LED spectrum display.

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DBT is no more ridiculous than some manufacturer charging 10k for a pair of IC's. But then there's always someone willing to drink the Kool-aid !
 
Mike said:
And it’s ok to just like what you like and not give a crap about how it compares to A, B, C or D.
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That’s where I am now. I suspect a different vendor might produce a slightly different sound, but certainly nothing worth spending money on.
 
You know these always start with the same troll which let’s call it the launch of the missile. The missle always follows the same trajectory of legit conversation then the descent into slurs and projections. And then there is the inevitable explosion of vile name calling as the missile impacts the ground.

Nothing new or revelatory here and no one’s mind will be changed. Just pull up the thousands of such threads and read those.

And then the certainty of a locked thread.

Useless
 
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