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Stereophiles editor Jim Austin publicly disagreeing with Kal Rubinson

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617

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Nope. One can structure a controlled and double-blinded test in which individual subjective listening impressions are collected, compiled and analyzed to provide statistically-supported and useful data. Not a trivial task but doable.
Has this actually been done with loudspeakers? The famous harman trials were blind, correct?
 

kemmler3D

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Can you explain what a subjective opinion of a device that does exactly the same thing as another device would tell us?
You could use that to measure the subjective effect on perceived sound of cool-looking housings, for example. You think I'm being funny, but that would be a very worthwhile test for someone running product for an audio company.

"What finish on this housing sounds best" is not a goofy question at all if you understand and appreciate the importance of placebo effect in the audio industry!
 

SIY

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Nope. One can structure a controlled and double-blinded test in which individual subjective listening impressions are collected, compiled and analyzed to provide statistically-supported and useful data. Not a trivial task but doable.
Thanks; and yes, hedonic testing is a bear.

"Subjective" is a word that's so abused that (unfortunately) one cannot assume it passes the Inigo Montoya test.
 

Kal Rubinson

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Interesting! Are we talking about trained listeners? Or are we talking about off-the-street-college-kids-and-Joe-the-plumber type listeners?
Either. It depends on what you want to know.
And what sort of listening impressions are we considering as having value? I have always considered descriptions referenced to measurements to have some validity. But I have always considered impressions (and resulting descriptions) such as " .... "bright", "hollow", "dry", "forward", "tubby" and "loose", "incisive" and "warm" as having no value, simply because no two people define them the same way nor hear them the same way.
It may involve defined choice constraints or prior training to insure agreement on terminology. It definitely will not allow for free-form commentary. That is all part of what experimental design is about.
 
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Either. It depends on what you want to know.

It may involve defined choice constraints or prior training to insure agreement on terminology. It definitely will not allow for free-form commentary. That is all part of what experimental design is about.

Subsequent posts provided me with the answers I sought. Thank you. Jim
 
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617

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Interesting! Are we talking about trained listeners? Or are we talking about off-the-street-college-kids-and-Joe-the-plumber type listeners?

And what sort of listening impressions are we considering as having value? I have always considered descriptions referenced to measurements to have some validity. But I have always considered impressions (and resulting descriptions) such as " .... "bright", "hollow", "dry", "forward", "tubby" and "loose", "incisive" and "warm" as having no value, simply because no two people define them the same way nor hear them the same way.

So my curiosity is definitely piqued ;) ; what sort of subjective listening impressions support an analysis that provides statistically-supported and useful data?

Jim
Subjective trials are done all the time in the social sciences and, you know, marketing. A group of people tasting different spaghetti sauces in a mall can provide very good subjective data about preferences, and their adjectives can be useful data points. You just need a ton of data, to account for the fact that different people use the same word to mean different things.

Experimental design, and questionnaire design is really a fascinating topic, and is used all the time to measure things far more difficult to describe than what Dire Straits sounds like. Just think of those mental health screening questionnaires.
 
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To those who notice that a post seems lost ..... it is.

In answer to the post by @Kal Rubinson:

" Nope. One can structure a controlled and double-blinded test in which individual subjective listening impressions are collected, compiled and analyzed to provide statistically-supported and useful data. Not a trivial task but doable."..........

..... I posted the following. Then I deleted it, thinking it was worthless and no one had noticed it .
I was wrong.... :oops: .... again. :facepalm:

For those who want to see the post, here's what I deleted, in its entirety:

Interesting! Are we talking about trained listeners? Or are we talking about off-the-street-college-kids-and-Joe-the-plumber type listeners?

And what sort of listening impressions are we considering as having value? I have always considered descriptions referenced to measurements to have some validity. But I have always considered impressions (and resulting descriptions) such as " .... "bright", "hollow", "dry", "forward", "tubby" and "loose", "incisive" and "warm" as having no value, simply because no two people define them the same way nor hear them the same way.

So my curiosity is definitely piqued ;) ; what sort of subjective listening impressions support an analysis that provides statistically-supported and useful data?

Jim

p.s. - @SIY mentioned hedonic testing, which, in my understanding, only relates to acceptance based on like/dislike, not accurate/inaccurate. Is this the analysis to which you refer?
 
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kemmler3D

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Subjective trials are done all the time in the social sciences and, you know, marketing. A group of people tasting different spaghetti sauces in a mall can provide very good subjective data about preferences, and their adjectives can be useful data points. You just need a ton of data, to account for the fact that different people use the same word to mean different things.

Experimental design, and questionnaire design is really a fascinating topic, and is used all the time to measure things far more difficult to describe than what Dire Straits sounds like. Just think of those mental health screening questionnaires.
Dead-on.

Also, it's instructive to change nothing and then ask people what their impressions are. I once shipped a firmware update that changed a few things, but not the sound, on some bluetooth headphones. Most users reported the sound got better anyway.

In order to make subjective impressions statistically useful, you usually have to use multiple-choice questionnaires. So the questions would probably look something like:

Speaker A:
I could clearly hear the trumpets: Strongly disagree --|-- neither agree nor disagree --|-- Strongly agree
I could clearly hear the drums: Strongly disagree --|-- neither agree nor disagree --|-- Strongly agree
I thought it was easy to understand the lyrics: Strongly disagree --|-- neither agree nor disagree --|-- Strongly agree
I heard more details in the sound: Strongly disagree --|-- neither agree nor disagree --|-- Strongly agree

Speaker B:
etc.
 

poxymoron

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"Listening to music is believing"
Love it. JackL is a funny guy.
Reminds me of a fond subjectivist audiophile colleague of mine who always ends our Hifi discussions (debates) with "trust your ears" or "it's all about the music".
 

birdog1960

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Mr. Widget

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Dead-on.

Also, it's instructive to change nothing and then ask people what their impressions are. I once shipped a firmware update that changed a few things, but not the sound, on some bluetooth headphones. Most users reported the sound got better anyway.

In order to make subjective impressions statistically useful, you usually have to use multiple-choice questionnaires. So the questions would probably look something like:

Speaker A:
I could clearly hear the trumpets: Strongly disagree --|-- neither agree nor disagree --|-- Strongly agree
I could clearly hear the drums: Strongly disagree --|-- neither agree nor disagree --|-- Strongly agree
I thought it was easy to understand the lyrics: Strongly disagree --|-- neither agree nor disagree --|-- Strongly agree
I heard more details in the sound: Strongly disagree --|-- neither agree nor disagree --|-- Strongly agree

Speaker B:
etc.
Absolutely... clinical drug trials are always set against a harmless placebo.

We humans are amazingly sensitive to micro changes or differences, but we are also far from infallible.
 

birdog1960

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To those who notice that a post seems lost ..... it is.

In answer to the post by @Kal Rubinson:

" Nope. One can structure a controlled and double-blinded test in which individual subjective listening impressions are collected, compiled and analyzed to provide statistically-supported and useful data. Not a trivial task but doable."..........

..... I posted the following. Then I deleted it, thinking it was worthless and no one had noticed it .
I was wrong.... :oops: .... again. :facepalm:

For those who want to see the post, here's what I deleted, in its entirety:

Interesting! Are we talking about trained listeners? Or are we talking about off-the-street-college-kids-and-Joe-the-plumber type listeners?

And what sort of listening impressions are we considering as having value? I have always considered descriptions referenced to measurements to have some validity. But I have always considered impressions (and resulting descriptions) such as " .... "bright", "hollow", "dry", "forward", "tubby" and "loose", "incisive" and "warm" as having no value, simply because no two people define them the same way nor hear them the same way.

So my curiosity is definitely piqued ;) ; what sort of subjective listening impressions support an analysis that provides statistically-supported and useful data?

Jim

p.s. - @SIY mentioned hedonic testing, which, in my understanding, only relates to acceptance based on like/dislike, not accurate/inaccurate. Is this the analysis to which you refer?
hedonistic testing is best. if it feels good, it is good.
 

birdog1960

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You could use that to measure the subjective effect on perceived sound of cool-looking housings, for example. You think I'm being funny, but that would be a very worthwhile test for someone running product for an audio company.

"What finish on this housing sounds best" is not a goofy question at all if you understand and appreciate the importance of placebo effect in the audio industry!
Bang and olufsen anyone? But I love speakers that look like furniture. Double art. Is that wrong?
568C4759-A9FA-4247-97E6-82DEFED45C3B.png
 
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dorakeg

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Problem is, Kal was telling people not to go out and waste their time and money on things that don't add to the musical enjoyment.
Jim Austin is saying that all you have to do is tell people that they can enjoy music without wasting money and it will cause them to not enjoy their music.:eek: And Jim Austin is right, because Stereophile made those people.

Oh ok. Thanks for pointing it out to me. I really do not see why one has to spend lots of money to enjoy music and audio quality need not be a factor. My wife is a living example.

She has her favourite singers and songs. She enjoys listening it from her phone speakers!! Eeks! For her, she is more interested in the lyrics (the meaning of it) and the way the song was sung ( tune I guess?). She is not interested in how it sound (as in audio quality). When I played it on my system, she did admit it did sound a bit better but she didn't care. She still prefers her phone.

I think i can safely say she is not alone and there are many out there like her.
 

birdog1960

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Subjective trials are done all the time in the social sciences and, you know, marketing. A group of people tasting different spaghetti sauces in a mall can provide very good subjective data about preferences, and their adjectives can be useful data points. You just need a ton of data, to account for the fact that different people use the same word to mean different things.

Experimental design, and questionnaire design is really a fascinating topic, and is used all the time to measure things far more difficult to describe than what Dire Straits sounds like. Just think of those mental health screening questionnaires.
Psychiatric studies are almost all subjective. Not worthless but subjective. Hamilton depression scores are neither sensitive nor specific but CAGE screenings for alcoholism are pretty good. Go figure. 2/3 of depressed pts got better on placebo in one study. It is fascinating and you make a great point. Ok, I'll stop now.
 

preload

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Nope. One can structure a controlled and double-blinded test in which individual subjective listening impressions are collected, compiled and analyzed to provide statistically-supported and useful data. Not a trivial task but doable.
Exactly.
Has this actually been done with loudspeakers? The famous harman trials were blind, correct?
Yes and yes. This is how we know how well objective loudspeaker (and headphone) measurements correlate with subjective listener preferenes.
People get upset when I point out that the correlation is not perfect, and that Harman's paper could only show that objective loudspeaker measurements explained a lot (but not all) of the differences in subjective listener ratings, so I'll stop now.
 
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