We still can't measure everything. The ultimate measuring stick is your ears.
Why HiFi Gear Measurements Are Misleading (yes ASR talking to you…)
About 25 years ago I was inside a large room with an A-frame ceiling and large skylights, during the Perseid Meteor Shower that happens every August. This one time was like no other, for two reasons: 1) There were large, red, fragmenting streaks multiple times a minute with illuminated smoke trails, and 2) I could hear them.
Yes, each meteor produced a sizzling sound, like the sound of a frying pan.
Amazed, I Googled this phenomena and found that many people reported hearing this same sizzling sound associated with meteors streaking across the sky. In response, scientists and astrophysicists said it was all in our heads. That, it was totally impossible. Why? Because of the distance between the meteor and the observer. Physics does not allow sound to travel fast enough to hear the sound at the same time that the meteor streaks across the sky. Case closed.
ASR would have agreed with this sound reasoning based in elementary science.
Fast forward a few decades. The scientists were wrong. Turns out, the sound was caused by radiation emitted by the meteors, traveling at the speed of light, and interacting with metallic objects near the observer, even if the observer is indoors. Producing a sizzling sound. This was actually recorded audibly by researchers along with the recording of the radiation. You can look this up easily and listen to the recordings.
Takeaway - trust your senses! Science doesn’t always measure the right things, in the right ways, to fully explain what we are sensing. Therefore your sensory input comes first. You can try to figure out the science later.
I’m not trying to start an argument or make people upset. Just sharing an experience that reinforces my personal way of thinking. Others of course are free to trust the science over their senses. I know this bothers some but I really couldn’t be bothered by that. The folks at ASR are smart people too.
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We can go opposite way: if audio waves are unmeasurable and so sophisticated for current audio measuring equipment, how companies then produce the equipment then? Do they measure the results at all? Or maybe they just use alchemy, philosophic stone and any other magic when engineering the equipment to reproduce audio for out fragile ears :). Sure no need to measure, just price it $1,000 000 and it will instantly become the best “audiophile” product or the year, lol. |
I have a few products that ASR have trashed and a few they most likely would and they all sound great. The other night I wanted to go to a local restaurant.... my lady said " I heard that place is horrible" I said " who told you that, it's great " She said "Chris" I said " I thought Chris is a vegetarian?" This hobby has far too many variables to make choices without listening to the gear you want to buy. Buying based on ASR recommendations is kind of like having a vegetarian tell you that a steak house is bad. |
@jssmith , arguably it does especially since after recording the RF radiation and sound at the same time they simulated the RF radiation and no sound was heard. A few tried and no sound was heard. Correlation was assumed to be causation and it turns out that was not the case. The current theory is it is a thermal effect from visible and IR radiation. Scientists have recreated the measured levels and have been able to generate an acoustic effect similar to reported incidents. I understand one issue with the RF theory was lack of an identified receiver that could generate an acoustic effect, especially true as the effect has been reported for centuries dating back to a time when very little was made of metal. |
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