What Audiophiles Could Learn from Food Scientists

Product development, engineering, and human preference are multiple related but not identical practices which for some reason eludes a lot of audiophiles, including some very highly educated one’s. I was thinking recently that the development of new snacks was an ideal analog (pun intended).


There are many types of food scientists, but the two I think are relevant are quality assurance, and tasters. The taster’s job is to measure the goodness, or desirability of the snack. Mind you, they are highly trained, and use detailed criteria to describe food, but their job is to be the mouth/brain/wallet interface. To put the snack in their mouths, experience it, and help guide a business to determine how competitive this snack is going to be on the shelves.


The other side of it are the scientists who figure out how to manufacture the snack en masse as well as the one’s who measure the quality of the snack coming out of the conveyor belt. They are the tool users and technicians. They may taste it also, but when making snacks by the ton, you probably want a machine to tell you the saltiness and sugar content as well as correct level of crispness. Heineken for instance h as a machine which pours beer into a glass and measures the height of the head.


This dual role DOES happen in audio. Harman, Bose and other organizations spend a great deal of money to measure desirability across many factors. This connection from measurement to wallet is critical for them. Nelson Pass does this as well somewhat. He has written regularly about foregoing absolute technical measurements for the sake of ear succulence.


Part of what has made me think of this is the site, Audio Science Reviews, which thinks of themselves as a scientific site. They aren’t. They are practicing quality control without the research. In fact, their basic practices of measuring first, then listening after wards is what I call "confirmation bias."


What is my overall point? Don’t put metrics, by themselves, on a pedestal. A metric is not pleasure. It is not happiness or joy or a step towards enjoyment of musical culture. It is a tool. It is far removed from experience, and we should remember this. It takes several more steps, like the food taster, or the audio science researcher to put that together with desirability, value or enjoyment. Of course, the ultimate arbiter of a snack, or a speaker, is you. Buy what you like, so long as it doesn’t shorten your lifespan. :)


Best,

Erik