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1.36.2.22
In Reply to: RE: Students he didn't like posted by geoffkait on April 01, 2022 at 09:17:02
A DBT only tells you that person in that particular test could not (or did) tell the difference between A and B within that particular test.
The result of the said test can't tell you thing one about A and B with a different person listening outside that particular test environment.
Follow Ups:
You're not following my reasoning. If a person can't tell the difference in a DBT it doesn't mean there is no difference. So what good is the test? You can't claim test article A failed the test. That's why I often say a single DBT - or any type of test - that has negative results has no meaning. If the results are positive for one test it might mean something, but for all we know he might be hearing things. Perish the thought. So, we won't know anything more until a lot more tests are done on different systems with different people.
Edits: 04/02/22 04/02/22 04/02/22
Well, there is value in a blind test and that is to make sure people are being ripped off by manufacturers who make crazy claims.
People suffer from all kinds of biases (looks bias, price bias, name brand bias, science bias, personality bias, weight bias).
Product A looks so much beefier and better than Product B and Product A is priced at $2,000 and Product B is $200, and product A is made by a famous name, and Product B is made by Best Buy, and Product A is made by a gifted salesman who can talk the talk and Product B is made by a seeming smarmy used car dealer.
Testing blind eliminates all that crap and compares who it sounds and ONLY how it sounds.
As a consumer - if I am not wealthy I don't want to spend $1800 more for something unless I know it's actually going to sound not only "better" but at the very least different.
A lot of people go in and can hear a difference sighted (with all the bias influencing them - not least of which audio dealers who will play the expensive unit slightly louder which is also known to impact preference).
So Product A which is supposedly a MASSIVE improvement in every way should be a massive improvement in every way when auditioned blind and level matched - if Product A is truly so great it should be truly so great when auditioned blind and level matched.
Ie; you should be able to select it as the pick of the litter with just your ears and without bias. You should be able to select better than a mere coin flip.
That's the whole point of listening blind. I am not opposed to anyone who wants to do it this way because it's their money and they don't want to be fooled by the many many hucksters in the audio industry who if they weren't selling BS products wouldn't be able to get a job at a gas station.
My issue isn't with any of the above - I am for the above - what I am against is the mediocre rubbish tests like the single speaker on a speaker selector in the middle of a room that Harman does (complete worthless BS that is IMO so shoddy it was clearly designed to just help them sell their products) and people trying to jump to conclusions like - "these people in this test failed to distinguish a difference between these two cables so that means no one can tell any difference between any cables anywhere"
The science behind the DBT isn't wrong - it's the crappy ass implementation and conclusions people make about the results that leave much to be desired.
Moreover, the fact that Joe and Sally chose X speaker in a Harman controlled test with one speaker in the middle of a room against 5 other speakers doesn't say crap all about what Richard will choose with stereo speakers against 5 other completely different loudspeakers in a different room with different music.
Harman tests one speaker mid-room - my speakers are designed for corner placement - how does Harman fairly test for that? Does their shuffler have a backing corner? Doubt it. Who chooses the competing speaker? Do they choose blindly the competing speakers or do they choose them with pre-knowledge that they will perform badly mid-room and by themselves? Not mentioned in the report? Why are not all the competing speakers listed with serial numbers?
I'm afraid you still don't get it. That's OK, I'm plum wore out. This conversation can serve no purpose any more. As Bob Dylan says at the end of his records, good luck to everybody.
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