In DBT you can never prove the null (that there's never a difference), only fail to reject it. It's like trying to prove a negative: it can't be done.
DBTs are meant to see if there are small differences that can be detected. Those small differences aren't easily picked out due to lots of reasons: room interactions, training, acuity, speaker placement, resolving power of system, etc.
Small differences are harder to quantify but are there, nonetheless. Not being able to put it into words doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Those small differences can haunt you as the gestalt of the music can mask the effects. With so much going on in a performance the ability to pick it out every time isn't possible but it's felt.
No one here can argue that we can pick out a difference visually more easily than aurally and yet we don't do it reliably each and every time, yet the differences are there ALL the time for us to see. Has anyone addressed the aspect as to why our brains don't process the very same info in the same manner every single time?
Placebo affect places an undue and inevitable stress on the evaluator that can never be erased from the equation. Casual listening is a much easier way to detect differences. We are not on guard, adrenalin levels are normal.
Formula meant to specify inductance, resistance, etc as pertains to a music signal being transmitted over wire are standardized. Can anyone tell me if the formula assumes that only copper wire is being used and not aluminum, gold, bronze, etc.?
What kind of insulation was used at the time of the standardization? Is it assumed that only one type is to be used or are small variations in metallurgy and insulation a given as long as they fall into the formula?
What happens when other metals are introduced into the equation? As I remember, all metals are not alike. There is a reason why they are separated on the periodic table: each successive metal had one more proton than the one preceding it. Wouldn't that have an effect on signal transmission, albeit a small one? Wouldn't a purer form of a metal give it a slightly different property? Mixing metals certainly would.
On other threads here it has already been established that what makes science so great is that it is disprovable. There are no absolutes. Never.
I know I hear differences in cables. Having someone point and pound on a piece of paper that has some formula or equation doesn't sway me in the least. Maybe my ears are better than theirs. Maybe it's just that my system is more resolving. Maybe I don't have unresolved issues that would bias my hearing. Who knows?
There is a difference, small that it is but enough to change the flavor of music
All the best,
Nonoise
