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Propeller Head Plaza Technical and scientific discussion of amps, cables and other topics. |
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Propeller Head Plaza Technical and scientific discussion of amps, cables and other topics. |
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In Reply to: I don't totally disagree... posted by Jim Austin on March 9, 2007 at 07:06:59:
"It's interesting to me that, as that article indicates, sometimes things that techy folks think are impossible end up being not just possible but demonstrable via blind tests."Well here's the thing: people assume (including engineers) that numbers like 0.01% distortion or +- 3db Must be irrelevant or relevant, respectively when in fact it might very well be the other way around. The resaoning is that 0.01% is a SMALL number and 3db is a LARGE number but it all depends on its relationship to what we hear.
Engineers tend to see a small number for THD and assume that it must be inaudible because of its perceived smallness. By the same token +- 3 db is often thought of as a large amplitude deviation for a speaker; however in room measurements can vary easily by 10 db or more, especially in the bass, rendering the speakers "native" response to be relatively unimportant.
The point of my post is that unless the numbers are aligned to something meaningful then it is perception that governs people's opinions about their significance.
In my field I have a similar problem when I report a % of an impurity in a drug product. Not only is the amount an issue but its toxicological relevance must put the number into perspective. Otherwise you have no idea if it is a lot or a little relative to its effect. Dealing with managers who are not technically competent makes this correlation all the more critical so that they don't make silly decisions based on irrelevant data. I think audio suffers a similar problem. If a number looks small everyone (including a lot of engineers) assume that it must not be relevant. If it looks large it is assumed it must be relevant but this is by no means guaranteed.
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Follow Ups
- The problem with numbers... - morricab 09:57:32 03/09/07 (1)
- I would only add - Jim Austin 10:09:32 03/09/07 (0)
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