I will take my ears over any kind of measuring device. Sight,taste,sound are surely very subjective. Can someone tell you what your favorite food should be? While we might be able to agree that a particular woman might be beautiful,do we all agree exactly why? We also might all recognize the sound of a train. Do we all hear it the same? I think sometimes we might get a little too tied up with how something might measure,vs the reality of what our ears are telling our brains. Is it possible that a good measurement might cause a certain amount of expectation bias? It measures great,thus it must sound great?
True or False?
The following is a common sentiment from some who claim to be audiophiles.
If you hear something but can’t measure it, you only think you heard a difference.
This notion is also common among people who claim to possess an accomplished understanding of audio, especially when achieving a high level of performance for a minimal investment.
So who’s right? On the one hand we have Objectivists who claim if you can’t measure it, you can’t possibly hear it or if you do, its expectation bias and self delusion. Are these people correct? Do they get as good as a sound, or better for far less money by ignoring cables, power cords, mechanical isolation, basically any accessory that many have found to dramatically improve performance despite a lack measurements? Do those who dismiss expensive digital to analog converters as being no better than rather common digital components with decent measurements get just as high a performance level as those of us with MSB and DCS? Do people who claim it’s all about finding perfect speaker placement, do these people outperform those of us with systems that cost multiples more than what they pay (Who also pay close attention to speaker placement as well as everything else)? Or do those of us who pay attention to cables— digital, analog, and power, what we set our components on top of, how we place our speakers, acoustics, and tweaks, expensive DACs and the like, do we get better sound? Who’s right? And how do we ultimately determine sound quality?
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- 106 posts total
- 106 posts total