No. If it sounds good there is a good chance it will measure well too.
I personally have panned a few items here. One was a tweak that did nothing, the other was a DAC that has many fans but did nothing for me. I think the key words were “I NEVER”. You may never, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen.
1 Like
Ok, forgive me. How about 97% percent of the time?
1 Like
I guess there are more than a few people who hide behind “It’s just a placebo effect” and even more who “Hear a great difference”. The hobby has grey areas…
2 Likes
Majidimehr’s ASR forum is fulla lotta young whipper snappers who follow the old-n-wise dear leader. Many are likely newly-squeezed engineering students that have the conviction of their WELL-PAID-FOR bsee or computer science degree. Yeah … they leaned it in their $250 1300-page textbook REQUIRED for Introductory Electromagnetics BS302,
A similar mind-f is goin’ on over at SBAF … with similar-age dear leader Marvey (Changstar, Purrin’)
While I am not a huge fan of SBAF, they are nothing like ASR! They care about how something sounds. Also, the guys at Schiit spend some time there and like the forum and what it does.
In fact, SBAF is much worse than ASR … and I couldn’t give less of a Schitt about where “the guys at Schiit spend some time”.
1 Like
Speedy likes to argue aggressively. No biggie.
I recently listened to a podcast interview of a representative from Audio Precision. AP is focused on the production of test equipment in support of the audio industry. During the interview he was asked how effective measurements are at predicting how well a piece of equipment will sound. His response was that measurements won’t allow him to predict how a product will sound but that they can help explain why a component sounds the way it does. I think this distinction is important and explains why good design requires a balance of objective testing and subjective listening. Each informs the other. It’s clear to me that the engineers at PSA get this and why they make no claims of producing the best measuring products - that’s not their objective.
9 Likes
Stereophile’s John Atkinson has a video discussing this issue. A relevant quote from the video:
"I’ve now done audio for 40 years, thirty of them as a professional. I learnt over the years that just listening to a piece of audio gear can create inconsistent results. We’re humans and Mother Nature gave us a valuable feature to cope with excessive information. We thus pre-process all incoming data.
We do this not only with our hearing but all our senses. The optical illusion is a fine example of what our brain can do to us. In audio, pre-processing or personal bias makes it difficult to if not impossible to offer ANYTHING to a customer whose mind isn’t already open to new experiences. Some hard facts like measurements may then only help if only on a rational level."
Here’s a link to video; John Atkinson speaks on Measurements vs Musical Enjoyment to Connecticut Audio Society - YouTube
4 Likes