Binaural blind comparison test of 4 loudspeakers

[oivavoi]

How much of this pertains to the efficacy of Youtube reviews/comparisons of speakers? I've heard some reviews where the mic'ing seems to be giving a sense of the "speaker in a room". Is there any utility to this type of comparison?

Hm, good question. We're fast approaching the limits of my understanding as a a layman who dabbles in reading scientific papers! Better to ask some of the real experts on the forum, like @j_j and others

 

[Thomas_A]

You may be right about that. But if you record speakers A and B in a room, there is high chance that if people will prefer a recording of A over B, they will also actually prefer loudspeaker A over B in reality. The question is not if binaural recordings sound exactly like the loudspeaker-in-room (they don't), but whether the relative ranking of loudspeakers changes because they get recorded. Probably not.

I am not sure. A bright speaker may sound more neutral and a neutral too dark if playback is not done through binaural headphones. Now the recording room may be ”flat” to avoid that problem, but then the speaker-room curve would not harmonize with the average preference (i.e. an anechoic flat speaker in a normally reverbant room).

 

[LTig]

I'll just mention that it's a fairly common procedure for speaker testing these days to do it exactly like this: Make binaural recordings of loudspeakers, play them for people through headphones, ask them to rate what they hear. I remember at least one such test which was done with Sennheiser 650, without any equalization. These preference tests seems to correlate well with preferences for listening to actual loudspeakers, according to this study: https://www.aes.org/e-lib/online/browse.cfm?elib=16086

Yep - and looking at our results here it seems that science really works.

 

[LeftCoastTim]

I am not sure. A bright speaker may sound more neutral and a neutral too dark if playback is not done through binaural headphones. Now the recording room may be ”flat” to avoid that problem, but then the speaker-room curve would not harmonize with the average preference (i.e. an anechoic flat speaker in a normally reverbant room).

I think multi-speaker test and calibration to in-room test would solve this issue.

If binaural headphone listening reduces highs too much, then on a relative bases, speakers with boosted HF would do better, but in-room test would disagree with that.

Also, Harman speaker tests had the listeners rate tonal balance as well, I think among 5 or 6 bands. If tonal balance matches well between binaural headphone vs in-room, then there is not much to worry about.

 

[Haint]

I'm assuming B is the overwhelming favorite because it sounds the most "right" on BOTH tracks. A and D are rather comparable to B on different single tracks (perhaps even mildly preferred), but sound quite "wrong" on the other track.

 

[Thomas_A]

I think multi-speaker test and calibration to in-room test would solve this issue.

If binaural headphone listening reduces highs too much, then on a relative bases, speakers with boosted HF would do better, but in-room test would disagree with that.

Also, Harman speaker tests had the listeners rate tonal balance as well, I think among 5 or 6 bands. If tonal balance matches well between binaural headphone vs in-room, then there is not much to worry about.

Hm but again Sean Olive is quite careful when he talks about the Harman curve for headphones. The curve is a preference curve that mimics the overall room response of a neutral speaker. Both are originating from the source music file. A binaural recording of speakers in a room listened through headphones with a similar sloping room curve would ”add the room twice” and sound darker than the speaker-room itself. From the description of the setup the room has no special acoustic treatment like that of a studio.

 

[richard12511]

I'm assuming B is the overwhelming favorite because it sounds the most "right" on BOTH tracks. A and D are rather comparable to B on different single tracks (perhaps even mildly preferred), but sound quite "wrong" on the other track.

This was the case for me. I only slightly preferred B over A for one track, and slightly preferred it over D on the other.

Something like:

B > A >> D >> C
B > D >> A >> C

 

[LeftCoastTim]

I'm assuming B is the overwhelming favorite because it sounds the most "right" on BOTH tracks. A and D are rather comparable to B on different single tracks (perhaps even mildly preferred), but sound quite "wrong" on the other track.

To me, none of them were "right". B was the picked on a relative basis.

 

[Zvu]

^It is not about what sounds right (you couldn't possibly know that), but what sounds the least wrong, in my opinion.

Even then, there are effects and echoes added. Someone will like that, others will not regardless of if it sounds right or wrong.

 

[eyes-on-you]

We are still waiting the speaker names

 

[Triliza]

You can tell us aproximely how much does each speaker costs, it would be interesting if speaker C cost more than any of the other 3.

 

[thewas]

You can tell us aproximely how much does each speaker costs, it would be interesting if speaker C cost more than any of the other 3.

Sure, the new recommended prices of all 4 pairs were between 7000 and 14000 Euro and C was the most expensive.

 

[thewas]

Ok thanks. One general impression is that the sound is a bit honky or nasal. As the sound is coming from a megaphone.

Is it possible, if known, to disclose what the music is? I don’t think I’ve found the correct version of the Bach yet.

The tracks are:

Johann Sebastian Bach
Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied
Sächsisches Vocalensemble, Matthias Jung;
from the CD "Die Motetten BWV 225-229", Tacet

Ludwig van Beethoven
Sinfonie Nr. 7, 4. Satz: Allegro con brio
Polnische Kammerphilarmonie, Wojciech Rajski
from the SACD "Sinfonien Nr. 7 und 8", Tacet

 

[EAXAE]

C was the most expensive.

No wonder nobody preferred them — we are here to save an extra buck!

 

[thewas]

No wonder nobody preferred them — we are here to save an extra buck!

All wooden ears cheapskates I'm telling ya!

 

[Thomas_A]

The tracks are:

Johann Sebastian Bach
Singet dem Herrn ein neues Lied
Sächsisches Vocalensemble, Matthias Jung;
from the CD "Die Motetten BWV 225-229", Tacet

Ludwig van Beethoven
Sinfonie Nr. 7, 4. Satz: Allegro con brio
Polnische Kammerphilarmonie, Wojciech Rajski
from the SACD "Sinfonien Nr. 7 und 8", Tacet

Thank you!

At last I can do the correct recording.

 

[Triliza]

Sure, the new recommended prices of all 4 pairs were between 7000 and 14000 Euro and C was the most expensive.

They are all way more expensive that I was thinking. I wonder in what context would speaker C have any chance not to stand out as the worse of them all, in non-vocal jazz maybe? I am puzzled because there is a chance when we learn which speaker that is, that there will be people that love them (maybe not here in ASR), and I can't see how that can happen with their performance in this little experiment.

 

[Thomas_A]

Sure, the new recommended prices of all 4 pairs were between 7000 and 14000 Euro and C was the most expensive.

My tweeters cost 10 Euro each.

 

[Blumlein 88]

My tweeters cost 10 Euro each.

Depending upon the speaker brand that may be the same amount as the tweeter used in these 4 speakers.

 

[LeftCoastTim]

Imagine how cool it would be if Amir would do these "virtual auditions" along with his measurements.