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Amir and Blind Testing

Let me start by saying I like watching Amir from ASR, so please let’s not get harsh or the thread will be deleted. Many times, Amir has noted that when we’re inserting a new component in our system, our brains go into (to paraphrase) “analytical mode” and we start hearing imaginary improvements. He has reiterated this many times, saying that when he switched to an expensive cable he heard improvements, but when he switched back to the cheap one, he also heard improvements because the brain switches from “music enjoyment mode” to “analytical mode.” Following this logic, which I agree with, wouldn’t blind testing, or any A/B testing be compromised because our brains are always in analytical mode and therefore feeding us inaccurate data? Seems to me you need to relax for a few hours at least and listen to a variety of music before your brain can accurately assess whether something is an actual improvement.  Perhaps A/B testing is a strawman argument, because the human brain is not a spectrum analyzer.  We are too affected by our biases to come up with any valid data.  Maybe. 

chayro
teo_audio
2,197 posts
 

Should I just ignore that and look on the bright side of life, or drown in the koolaid?..... :P

mahgister's avatar
mahgister
12,961 posts
 

Acoustic/psycho-acoustic is a single heart with 4 irreducible chambers:

 

Objective aspect of measurements...

Subjective aspects of measurements...

Objective perceptive evaluation ( collective consensus)

Subjective perceptive evaluation...

 

Not one of these chambers can be reduced to the other one...

Amir dont take  into account these 4 factors, only the playing with his measuring  tools matter for him, then all his disciples erase completely the two subjective factors...

 

 

j_livingston
7 posts
 

The very, incredibly ironic thing about him and his "Audio Blind Testing: You're Doing It Wrong" video?  The fact that HE doesn't even do blind listening tests.  

 

The dude waxes on and on about how reviewers aren't reviewing speakers correctly because they aren't doing A/B tests and they aren't conducting blind tests.  But what does he do?  Sits a speaker in front of him and listens to it.  He does this while both seeing the speaker itself AND he even has already seen the data on the speaker.

 

hy·poc·ri·sy

/həˈpäkrəsē/

Learn to pronounce

noun

  1. the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform; pretense.

 

I can't take him or that video seriously.  How people aren't jumping down his throat about something so blatantly obvious and hypocritical just shows how scared anyone is to speak up on that forum.  It's sad, really.  

 

I'd rather he just perform his measurements and keep his chest-puffing out of it.  He's no better in this regard than the Michael Fremer(s) of the world.  

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laoman's avatar
laoman
434 posts
 

I can do without the obvious conflict of interest and ego, though. 
Yes that is difficult to do with the ASR master and his minions. Ask yourself why certain brands always score highly and get recommended.There is a distinct conflict of interest.

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