• WANTED: Happy members who like to discuss audio and other topics related to our interest. Desire to learn and share knowledge of science required. There are many reviews of audio hardware and expert members to help answer your questions. Click here to have your audio equipment measured for free!

Cognitive bias regarding names/marketing of dac chips

H

Human Bass

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Joined
Nov 25, 2018
Messages
796
Likes
873
I'm a bit of linguistic nerd and I have been noting how the the words used in the branding/marketing seem to align way too perfectly with what people claim to hear.

The most glaring example is with ESS Sabre line of chips. First the name of the company already has an SS, what invokes an idea of sibilance. Then you have Sabre, a sword, a sharp object of steel. So quite a funny coincidence that ESS dacs are said to have a cold, analytical, sharp sound, heh?

In opposition of that, there is AKM with their "Velvet sound" marketing. The Velvet already invokes something smooth to the touch, warm. But I would go a step futher and claim that the fact that AKM share 2 letters with wArM already tricks our minds into make this association.

Just some trivial food for thought regarding cognitive bias I wanted to share.
 
All this stuff (relating to cognitive bias) is such a nefarious, duplicitous element in sound - it's downright evil! lol...
 
SECA_alan said:
Does it explain why Schitt get a hard time..? No, don't go there.
Click to expand...
Some Schiit is harder than others, though, you know?

... and here I usually manage to avoid the juvenile Schiit humor.

usually.

:rolleyes:
 
Same for "Burr Brown" where people tend to describe as warm and smooth sounding. The name invokes a fuzzy feeling on me, sounds like a good name for a large soft teddy bear. Even saw someone describing the dac signature as chocolaty, smooth and inviting :p
 
I think similar things apply when people are evaluating expensive speaker cables. If the cables are red, they give a nice midrange, if they are black the improve bass etc.
 
nck045 said:
Same for "Burr Brown" where people tend to describe as warm and smooth sounding. The name invokes a fuzzy feeling on me, sounds like a good name for a large soft teddy bear. Even saw someone describing the dac signature as chocolaty, smooth and inviting :p
Click to expand...
Thats another great example
 
digitalfrost said:
I think similar things apply when people are evaluating expensive speaker cables. If the cables are red, they give a nice midrange, if they are black the improve bass etc.
Click to expand...
Oh, i remember a case of a guy reviewing audioquest cables named after monuments and such. The cable named after the London Tower Bridge sounded had a sound signature "typical of audio gear from british companies". Such a coincidence

6:20

 
Human Bass said:
Oh, i remember a case of a guy reviewing audioquest cables named after monuments and such. The cable named after the London Tower Bridge sounded had a sound signature "typical of audio gear from british companies". Such a coincidence
Click to expand...

You can't blame anybody for good marketing, I suppose (we've all got to eat). But you can blame people for buying cables that remind them of Tower Bridge (or that have a sound signature typical of audio gear from British companies).
 
Ok, I admit my impression of audio brands/equipment has been colored by the name. I admit my mistakes and repent.

My biases...
Benchmark - Top of the Class, standards for others to follow
PS Audio - Always a footnote in Audio history, never the main body
Schiit - The Haagen Daaz of audio. Scandinavian exterior hiding heartland recipe
Okto - Teutonic, clean, sterile, inflexible
March Audio - Progressive, resolute, getting ahead
Magnepan - Good non-stick coating, will last forever
Revel - For the enjoyment of revealing equipment
Hypex - Overhyped amp boards for the nerdy DIYer, comes with LCD lighting for the gamer
Purifi - Cleans your audio sources of all impurities for the cleanest sound
Sound United - SuperPAC with dark money behind glitzy marketing brands
Topping - The sprinkling you need on the top of your audio stack for that extra kick
Parasound - Winner of para-audio competition for customers with special needs
Behringer - What happens when pistol manufacturers get into audio - loud, hot, one heck of a punch
AudioQuest - Always seeking the top in audio, never finding
Tannoy - the equipment you buy to annoy your neighbors
Cambridge Audio - Pretentious equipment for the don flats
Anthem - Equipment for the audio evangelists
NAD - I get nothing from this equipment, no soul, nada
Arcam - Why webcam makers should never get into Audio
...
SMSL - smh
 
Marketing is crazy like that. I've owned AD/DA with both AKM and ESS parts... And if anything, the AKM parts are a touch quicker sounding than the ESS. That said, the differences are so subtle that I guarantee I couldn't differentiate between the two reliably, even with different analog sections.
 
Too bad this thread is not in the speaker discussion subsection. It would open a huge can of worms wriggling with shameless use of superlatives in the naming convention :p

Vasr said:
Arcam - Why webcam makers should never get into Audio
Click to expand...

To me it's: Hand assembled by Scarecrow and The Joker.
 
Last edited:
I used to think Cirrus Logic sounded cold and analytical and lifeless.

And Wolfson sounded warm and organic and full.

Then I did some AB listening with a boyfriend at the time between different sources and my Cowon R... Neither of us could reliably tell the difference.
 
nck045 said:
Same for "Burr Brown" where people tend to describe as warm and smooth sounding. The name invokes a fuzzy feeling on me, sounds like a good name for a large soft teddy bear. Even saw someone describing the dac signature as chocolaty, smooth and inviting :p
Click to expand...
Since the TI takeover it's been all cowboy hats, six-shooters, and rodeos.
 
More common thing I see: Delta Sigma Chips = emotionless, flat, unengaging ; R2R = Analog, Engaging, Full Bodied, Holographic, more flowery audiophoolery terms
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom