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Have You Ever Put Your Golden Ears to the Test??

First let me say that I'm not one of the naysayers that Twl refers to in his thread about "Sonic Relativism", so please no attacks. I have no agenda.

I'm just curious if any of you have (or would be willing to) put your ears to the test in the way of a blind comparison. If so, what were the results? It can be quite rewarding to know that you can discern differences between things such as cables, DACs, etc.

I was at a good friend's house this weekend and we decided to do some blind comparisons of CD vs. SACD. We had three discs of various types of music (Friday Night in San Francisco, Keb' Mo and Harry Connick Jr.). I sat in the sweet spot and my friend switched discs playing one cut from each disc CD/SACD at random.

I could discern the CD from the SACD every time, but I have to say that the differences were more subtle than I expected. Of course, I'm no scientist so my methods may be open for scrutiny. I'm just curious how many of you try similar tests?

I always find it interesting when people say that they "heard" a cd player (or other component) and it was really great or really crappy or not very exciting. This almost always refers to having heard it at a dealer. How do they know they didn't "hear" the other components? What's the point of reference? The only way to really listen to components or accessories is within the confines of a "reference" system. For most of us that simply means our own system. And even then, the only way to confirm that we're hearing what we "think" we're hearing is to do some sort of blind test.

So...How many of you have put your ears to the test? If you haven't...Would you? If not...Why not?
danheather

Showing 6 responses by newbee

newbee
4,751 posts
 
how exactly would you conduct a blind test? in my listening room? i have no problem detecting differences in any equipment i use, good or bad i'm not predisposed, but in an unfamilar environment there would be just too much new information to process, at least for me, and that is how i see most blind tests conducted and i consider those worthless.
newbee
4,751 posts
 
sugarbrie, if i admit to being a darwinist does that mean i can't pray to a god? do i get drummed out of the audiophile corp? i think its safer to try to be a darwinian revisionist while attending regular services. lord, its tuff being agnostic, please help me. :-}
newbee
4,751 posts
 
paulwp, i'm highly suspicious of anyone trying to save me money when i don't hire them to do so - i really think their pushing their own agenda. while i respect engineers and scientists, as well as physicists, doctors, whatever, remember that science itself is a moving target, that it is constantly changing depending on the developement of new facts, laws of nature, theory, etc. a closed minded professional is much more dangerous that the most sujective idiot as people will take the professional seriously - what he sez can seem to make so much sense(!)especially if thats what you are predisposed to hear.
danheather & p_mmk, couldn't agree with you more re hyperbolic comments regarding equipment differences - when i see this i quickly turn the page - it just ell me that the write has something to sell (philosophically or actually).
newbee
4,751 posts
 
brad and danner, love the beer and water analogies. what is clear to me from your posts was that you could tell the differences, just that your preference were not what you expected. just shows that one could be pre-disposed to a certain taste, and for this subject a certain sound. the objective advocates would have you believe all water, beer and my favorite, wine, tastes the same if you can't see a label. by the way, all white wine tastes the pretty much the same to me because i don't like white wine that much and rarely drink it often enuf to recall the taste of the last one consumed.
newbee
4,751 posts
 
salut, i'm an easy sale for the proposition that people hear the same sound differenty. people can be predisposed to hear, or ignore, certain sounds. physically, the hearing apparatus of each individual is different and the brains interpertations of the electrical impulses from the ear will certainly differ from person to person. however, where i begin to be sales resistant is when i am told that there is no scientific basis for a difference which people claim to hear, ergo there can be no difference in fact. science is nothing more than a body of extant knowledge and that body grows larger each day. what science can not explain to day they may be able to explain tomorrow. objectivists only see what it to be reaidy seen and do not consider what may be discovered tomorrow which will challenge their opinions. look no further than the various theories and facts regarding evolution - its obvious that the more we know the more we realize how little we knew before, and how little we know about what we will discover in the future. i'm still on the fence regarding evolution as well as audio. all good food for though.
newbee
4,751 posts
 
inpepinnovations, i agree that people do tend to look to science for answers to questions they cannot understand, (or a god for that matter). i also agree that some people will hear a difference where no difference exists, i.e. your same wire example. the same can be said for a lot of folks who may think of themselves as objectivists, that is "all cables, amps, whatever, sound the same", and all they have as their basis for this is their experience. they simply have not been able to hear a difference therefor their ego demands them to believe that no difference can exist. since the majority of all audio components are made differently why would anyone want to argue that they must sound the same? yet they do, all the time. then they want to do a double blind test to prove their theory but they end up basing the results on things different than the absolute information provided, that is for example my state of mind at the test, my ability to focus, my familarity with the components themselves, ad infinitum. audio reproduction and hearing are both extremely complex issues that i think are not likely to be resolved by any pratical blind test that i have heard of yet. just my 2 cents worth, but for me it really doesn't matter much what other people can't hear, it only matters what we can hear - and in that context why would anyone with any social grace want to destroy someone else's fantasies about the existence of differences in the sound of components, or god for that matter.
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