Unfortunately no, I have a lot of knowledge and not least a lot of listening experience with hi-fi equipment that I have built from scratch. And i have plenty of experience making measuring instruments that are common quantity with sound, but also crucial differences.
There are different perceptions of what hifi is combined with different experience levels this can make a big difference, in discussions and results
The goal for ASR as I understand it is for the sound to reach the listener with as little measurable impact on the signal as possible.
Others don't care about this, hifi is what they like, and after the rebirth of EQ it is now easy to meet this requirement
Myself and others see hifi as a representation/illusion of a current musical event where there is a reference, a reference one should have a good knowledge of. Recordings must be found, or one must make them self.
The ASR approach more or less closes itself around what can be measured and the threshold one sets for human hearing.
If no difference can be measured, the conclusion is no audible difference, or maybe the difference may be so small that it is below the human hearing threshold.
The problem with this approach is that many of the sound differences that millions of hifi enthusiasts have heard, also in blind testing, including myself disappears, the evolution one experiences by modifying the same designs over time disappears. Sound differences on cables, components, resistors, capacitors, power cables, opamps , devices whose measurements give values below the threshold of what a human can hear. DAC , amplifiers partial power amplifiers, all these sound differences disappear and apparently only loudspeakers and acoustics make a difference,
I could cite countless examples of this approach not being consistent with reality.
But will just mention one where three guys test class D the new Hypex Purifi and ICEpower
YES! The first live stream of this year! And we're going to make it another great one! This time: 3 x NEXT GEN class D. The latest Hypex Nilai, the latest ge...
www.youtube.com
The Hypex and Purifi measure very similarly, and many of the measurements are below audible, yet the three hear crucial differences in sound, depending on music selection among other things.
Yes, no blind tests etc, there are actually people who can profitably judge hifi without blind tests and achieve progress and correct ratings. Believe it or not
I would also claim that I can change the sound significantly on all three amps in a short time without the measurements changing, very small changes can occur but would not explain the massive perceived sound difference.
Therefore the ASR approach to hifi is not appropriate in my opinion, but it is the only thing we have at the moment besides the ear and the brain, good measurements are nice to have ,agree , strive for it myself, ,but it is no guarantee for a good illusion/reproduction but not a hindrance either , the direct opposite , bad measurements and low Sinad on the other hand can curiously give a sound experience in the absolute top class , thinking here of tubes and gramophone.
It would also be interesting to investigate how much bias belief in measurements affects what is heard , does Amir measure before he listens or what .
