The Audio Science Review (ASR) approach to reviewing wines.
Imagine doing a wine review as follows - samples of wines are assessed by a reviewer who measures multiple variables including light transmission, specific gravity, residual sugar, salinity, boiling point etc. These tests are repeated while playing test tones through the samples at different frequencies.
The results are compiled and the winner selected based on those measurements and the reviewer concludes that the other wines can't possibly be as good based on their measured results.
At no point does the reviewer assess the bouquet of the wine nor taste it. He relies on the science of measured results and not the decidedly unscientific subjective experience of smell and taste.
That is the ASR approach to audio - drinking Kool Aid, not wine.
@prof |
This post was inspired by answering a question about power conditioners. In reviewing the Puritan Audio PSM 156 on ASR, the author says "as always, we attempt to tease out the transfer function of the conditioner using normal audio level signals" and after many measurements with test signals concludes with "as you see, I have run a number of tests to give the PSM156 ample opportunity to show it can do something to improve audio but it can’t even move the dial one hair. There is no indication or logic that would tell us that it can make an audible improvement." It is important to note that at no point was it mentioned that music was played through a system with and without the PSM 156 in the circuit. I don’t spend my hours of relaxation listening to test signals - I listen to music. The ASR review failed to assess the impact on music reproduction. |
I also think there’s a little bit of Kool-Aid at play within ASR. There was a poll conducted in Reddit’s r/audiophile which asked the following: You just purchased a MHDT Pagoda DAC that Amir from ASR said: “It goes without saying that I can’t recommend the MHDT Labs Pagoda stereo DAC whatsoever.” It however sounds lovely in your system and more to your listening preferences. You’re truly smitten by this poor performing DAC. What do you do? 1. Sell the DAC 2. Keep the DAC 62 subscribers to this subreddit would have kept this DAC while 20 would have sold the DAC. Imagine selling a DAC that sounds great in your system simply because a guy, who if I remember correctly, measured this DAC, never listened in his review, and subsequently couldn’t recommend on his forum.
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I make no claims that suggest anyone should agree with me. I’m a vocal proponent of learning to choose on your own to suit your tastes. Fortunately, I don’t make a living suggesting audio products to others. I simply express my opinions on a forum when inspired to do so. When it comes to audio, I aim only to please myself, and I’ve come to trust my ears to do that, because that’s been my method for deciphering sounds since birth. It’s an amazingly sensitive natural system that can pick up on nuances...much tougher for microphones, measuring devices, and machines to pick up on those subtle cues that separate a sax from a clarinet. "Good sound" to me is what tricks my brain into giving me an aural experience that’s similar to attending a good live musical performance. There’s an emotional connection that inspires and captures my attention. It’s natural, organic, textured, full of nuance, motion and emotion.... unlike microphones, measuring devices, and machines. Even though it’s a highly personal selection that truly should be done by each of us, there are probably several members here who I’d trust to pick a system for me if it was necessary. Amir, would not be among them, because I simply do not trust that he could choose a system that would be satisfactory to me. Specs alone aren’t going suffice for picking my gear. |
