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Have You Ever Put Your Golden Ears to the Test??

First let me say that I'm not one of the naysayers that Twl refers to in his thread about "Sonic Relativism", so please no attacks. I have no agenda.

I'm just curious if any of you have (or would be willing to) put your ears to the test in the way of a blind comparison. If so, what were the results? It can be quite rewarding to know that you can discern differences between things such as cables, DACs, etc.

I was at a good friend's house this weekend and we decided to do some blind comparisons of CD vs. SACD. We had three discs of various types of music (Friday Night in San Francisco, Keb' Mo and Harry Connick Jr.). I sat in the sweet spot and my friend switched discs playing one cut from each disc CD/SACD at random.

I could discern the CD from the SACD every time, but I have to say that the differences were more subtle than I expected. Of course, I'm no scientist so my methods may be open for scrutiny. I'm just curious how many of you try similar tests?

I always find it interesting when people say that they "heard" a cd player (or other component) and it was really great or really crappy or not very exciting. This almost always refers to having heard it at a dealer. How do they know they didn't "hear" the other components? What's the point of reference? The only way to really listen to components or accessories is within the confines of a "reference" system. For most of us that simply means our own system. And even then, the only way to confirm that we're hearing what we "think" we're hearing is to do some sort of blind test.

So...How many of you have put your ears to the test? If you haven't...Would you? If not...Why not?
danheather
twl
3,251 posts
 
Hi, Dan. I'm glad that someone else is thinking about this. First, I have done blind listening tests on many occasions, particularly at the audio store I used to work at. When business was slow, we would do that for fun, just to see if we could tell what equipment was being played. But the way we did it, we remained blindfolded while an entire system was set up and played for us. We then would try to indentify every piece in the system without ever looking at it. Many times we were successful with every component. When only one component was changed in a known system, it was no contest, and we quickly tired of that easy game.Ok, so we were very familiar with the sounds or the stuff we sold. Fine, but we could tell the difference blindfolded. So, yes I have done it, and yes I could do it.

I don't believe however, that blind testing is the only or even the best way to determine listening differences. When you make a change, or especially a tweak, you don't know which way it is going to go. You cannot possibly assign a mental value to the change. So this idea of the vision of equipment making imaginary sonic changes is at best some form of unvalidated conjecture. You just listen and you tell if there is a difference or, not. Simple. It is empirical.

And, I am not opposed to the simple act of blind testing, if that is what you want to do. But I am opposed to the incorrect supposition that it will lead to some kind of "fact" that there is really no difference in the sound of equipment. And that all this is just "in our heads". That is where I am coming from.
p_mmk
70 posts
 
I have tried it. I have blind tested myself with CD players, amps, cables, etc. Sometimes I could hear a difference sometimes I couldn't. Like you said when hearing it at a dealer, things sound different. It could be the room, the gear, etc. So how can someone tell what they are hearing? When I play with gear in my own system the differences are often small, at least to me. There is another thread that is going on titled "electronics don't matter" that brings up similar issues. So I'll refer everyone who is interested to check that out.

I have to say however I take absolutes like "the best" or claims that differences are "Huge" or "Blow you away" with a grain of salt.

Paul
marakanetz's avatar
marakanetz
5,473 posts
 
SACD equipment is made the way that SACD sounds better but in reality good CD-player can do much better than SACD player so this test for golden ears as absolutely irrelevant.

If you ask me if I ever put my golden ears to the test I would say no since I have no golden ears. I only have my own made up from drum acceptors with a-little hair grown and flexible tissue shell covered by tan skin.
newbee
4,794 posts
 
how exactly would you conduct a blind test? in my listening room? i have no problem detecting differences in any equipment i use, good or bad i'm not predisposed, but in an unfamilar environment there would be just too much new information to process, at least for me, and that is how i see most blind tests conducted and i consider those worthless.
bomarc
501 posts
 
Setting up a truly objective blind test (one that eliminates all of the biases that scientists claim are inherent in sighted comparisons) is not a trivial matter. Plus, you need at least a smattering of statistics training to properly interpret the results. That makes true blind testing a nonstarter for most audiophiles. And this being just a hobby, there's no need for that kind of rigor.

One important thing to remember is that blind tests can prove there's a difference, but they cannot prove that there isn't, or that you can't hear one. That's a basic law of statistics. (On the other hand, if you do a whole lot of blind tests that come up negative, the evidence does start to point in a certain direction...)

That said, if you're interested in the limits of what humans can and cannot hear, and why blind testing is essential in determining this, you should pick up a basic text in psychoacoustics. Used, older editions can be had cheaply, and it might save you some money on audio gear.
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