What covid research can teach us about audio measurements.


Recent studies in Canada for patients with so-called long covid show us on how science and measurements and research actually works.

Patients with long covid suffering from limited ability to exercise passed most "normal" tests but it took a new type of test to positively identify a mechanism that explained why the patients suffered.

 

Honestly there is a lot of snake oil and charlatanism in our hobby, and I don't claim to discount that fact.  What I do want to say is that science doesn't rest with 50 year old measurements.  It evolves to measure and explain constantly. 

The reason I am personally dissatisfied with audio measurements in the common literature is exactly because of this stagnation, and when these fail us we trust our ears and gut for lack of better tools. 

Anyone who runs the same 20 measurements on an amplifier or DAC and claims it is science and that these measurements are all that can be known is fooling themselves into believing that they are scientists or that we have reached the limits of understanding.

And above all, caveat emptor!

erik_squires

Conventional measurement data does not give one ANY meaningful information about the sound of the amplifier (except, perhaps output power).  Any company reporting specifications will have an amp whose distortion and noise lie well below the supposed threshold of audibility.  Does it matter if an amp has .02% harmonic distortion vs. another amp with half that measure?  If, as a subjectivist, you insist on evaluating based on measurements, you have to also accept the extensive research and testing that shows that humans are unable to detect pretty high levels of harmonic distortion, particularly low order harmonic distortion.  Levels like 10% or more of 2nd order harmonic distortion is undetectable at certain audible frequencies.

It would be easy for the measurement crowd to win the argument by simply doing an experiment that shows a statistical correlation between measured distortion at the levels seen in consumer amps and either listener preference or even listener ability to distinguish between two amplifiers.  i have not seen that demonstrated.   

 

@dbagstrick 

You can always contact Admin directly by

  • hovering your cursor over Forums
  • move it over to the right to Contact Us,
  • scroll down to How Do I Contact Support?
  • choose Support Ticket
  • compose your thoughts, and be nice but accurate 😄

They always respond this way.

All the best,
Nonoise

Hold a seance and try to get Julian Hirsch to respond! I bought my Perreaux 2150B amp after reading his test/review.

What a depressing thread.WHO REALLT CARES!!

Ah, the usual enlightening, uplifting, and grammatically correct post from energetic bm.