• 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!

Master Thread: Are measurements Everything or Nothing?

frullo

Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2022
Messages
68
Likes
10
E se il cervello stesse inventando questo effetto spiacevole? Non dovresti assicurarti che ciò non accada?
I do not exclude this at all. I'm not making it a philosophical question. However my position is the following: if a person has thousands of hours of listening and in different contexts, as an experience; if he has a good musical sensitivity - and it does not matter at all that he is an expert - he will be able to judge well enough, at least at a first level. Understanding better requires a second and third level of experience. And measurements never hurt (I'm not against measurements, quite the contrary).
 

voodooless

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jun 16, 2020
Messages
10,432
Likes
18,441
Location
Netherlands
For similar reasons noise floor seems to vary based on sampling rate in other measurements I've seen of the same DAC.
But it was not a different sample rate, was it? Noise floor difference between full scale and -60dB is more than 20 dB with the same sample rate.
 

Purité Audio

Master Contributor
Industry Insider
Barrowmaster
Forum Donor
Joined
Feb 29, 2016
Messages
9,238
Likes
12,580
Location
London
Ahh yeah, now I remember better why I don't bother posting here. Sorry, I go away.
You could have got away with too if it wasn’t for those pesky kids.
Keith
 

anotherhobby

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Dec 17, 2021
Messages
649
Likes
1,423
I do not exclude this at all. I'm not making it a philosophical question. However my position is the following: if a person has thousands of hours of listening and in different contexts, as an experience; if he has a good musical sensitivity - and it does not matter at all that he is an expert - he will be able to judge well enough, at least at a first level. Understanding better requires a second and third level of experience. And measurements never hurt (I'm not against measurements, quite the contrary).
It's funny... you'd think that. However, the actual scientific research shows differently. Experienced listeners were not reliable (link goes to a PDF of Sean Olive's Differences in Performance and Preference of Trained versus Untrained Listeners in Loudspeaker Tests: A Case Study).
 

frullo

Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2022
Messages
68
Likes
10
It's funny... you'd think that. However, the actual scientific research shows differently. Experienced listeners were not reliable (link goes to a PDF of Sean Olive's Differences in Performance and Preference of Trained versus Untrained Listeners in Loudspeaker Tests: A Case Study).
I have a lot of respect for those who have no experience, but "ear" let's put it that way. Often they feel immediately if something is wrong. They don't always find the words to say it. I could give many revealing examples by the way.
Even at the expense of hardened measurers and listeners like me who have a lot and in a certain sense too much experience (this hardens and leads to some errors, of course).
 

frullo

Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2022
Messages
68
Likes
10
Always have respect for unwary listeners and users without too much technical knowledge.
 

voodooless

Grand Contributor
Forum Donor
Joined
Jun 16, 2020
Messages
10,432
Likes
18,441
Location
Netherlands
Dude, you really needs a better translation tool..
 

Robin L

Master Contributor
Joined
Sep 2, 2019
Messages
5,320
Likes
7,758
Location
1 mile east of Sleater Kinney Rd
You could have got away with too if it wasn’t for those pesky kids.
Keith
I like the "Medellín kids" version in "Scooby Goes Latin!" [1990].
 

GiFi

Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2021
Messages
93
Likes
35
Location
Rome
I hope that in the future we can add representative measurements of the whole and complex functioning of a DAC
 

BDWoody

Chief Cat Herder
Moderator
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 9, 2019
Messages
7,103
Likes
23,667
Location
Mid-Atlantic, USA. (Maryland)
They don't always find the words to say it.

They also typically can't provide actual evidence.

... I could give many revealing examples by the way.

Any that involve the use of controls? It's that dead horse again... Match levels precisely, make sure you can't know what's playing, then see if that treble is still so shrill.
 

anotherhobby

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Dec 17, 2021
Messages
649
Likes
1,423
Nonetheless you understand, right? Don't you say "need"?
I did not understand what any of that meant. I just assumed you didn't or couldn't read the research and so you responded with some sort of meaningless drivel. I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just not sure why you hang out on an audio science forum if you aren't going to bother to read the science. Even if you have to translate it, it's incredibly good research.
 

frullo

Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2022
Messages
68
Likes
10
They also typically can't provide actual evidence.



Any that involve the use of controls? It's that dead horse again... Match levels precisely, make sure you can't know what's playing, then see if that treble is still so shrill.
You put it simple.
I could be even simpler, but here the eternal question would arise: is it better a class D amplifier or a nice receiver from the 60s, or even better a tube?
Sure it's a dead horse. Because no device can make music: it just plays it. Put billions of graphs on it, it always does.
 

frullo

Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2022
Messages
68
Likes
10
I did not understand what any of that meant. I just assumed you didn't or couldn't read the research and so you responded with some sort of meaningless drivel. I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just not sure why you hang out on an audio science forum if you aren't going to bother to read the science. Even if you have to translate it, it's incredibly good research.
No sorry! I misinterpreted what you were saying! As for the inexperienced listeners, I repeat: I have the utmost respect for them. Sometimes an inexperienced listener understands and immediately reveals the existence of a problem, a defect, or more.
Downloaded, I will further read that study, because I am really interested in this subject.
 
Last edited:

anotherhobby

Addicted to Fun and Learning
Forum Donor
Joined
Dec 17, 2021
Messages
649
Likes
1,423
No sorry! I misinterpreted what you were saying! As for the inexperienced listeners, I repeat: I have the utmost respect for them. Sometimes an inexperienced listener understands and immediately reveals the existence of a problem, a defect, or more.
Yeah, none of that really relates to the research I posted, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
 

BDWoody

Chief Cat Herder
Moderator
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 9, 2019
Messages
7,103
Likes
23,667
Location
Mid-Atlantic, USA. (Maryland)
You put it simple.
I could be even simpler, but here the eternal question would arise: is it better a class D amplifier or a nice receiver from the 60s, or even better a tube?
Sure it's a dead horse. Because no device can make music: it just plays it. Put billions of graphs on it, it always does.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean, but I have new and old gear, and I'd love a nice 60's or 70's receiver, and I'll likely buy a tube amp in the future because I have a strong masochistic streak (I also own 4 turntables), but I'm not going to do it expecting it to be 'better.'

The issue here is that the differences between these signals are so very small, that to claim to hear a difference is akin to claiming to see a 1mm difference in the height of two 1km tall towers. If someone claimed that, would you ask for evidence?
 

frullo

Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2022
Messages
68
Likes
10
I'm not sure exactly what you mean, but I have new and old gear, and I'd love a nice 60's or 70's receiver, and I'll likely buy a tube amp in the future because I have a strong masochistic streak (I also own 4 turntables), but I'm not going to do it expecting it to be 'better.'

The issue here is that the differences between these signals are so very small, that to claim to hear a difference is akin to claiming to see a 1mm difference in the height of two 1km tall towers. If someone claimed that, would you ask for evidence?
I am not sure I have fully understood. Do you mean: the differences between these signals coming from tube amp, receivers and modern gear? Or you are just referring to modern amplifiers?
 

frullo

Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2022
Messages
68
Likes
10
Yeah, none of that really relates to the research I posted, so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The musical experience is a very complex business. Making music also depends a lot on the culture you belong to. The same goes for dance. Having listened to a lot of music in different contexts certainly brings advantages, when it comes to judging a performance, for example. But many times a listener who is inexperienced or not accustomed to the musical genre he listens to (or the device it plays) will immediately notice things that have become habitual for us.
He will notice very strong differences, which he may not like, or he will not be able to decide whether he likes them or not.
But I can assure you that many listeners without too much passion for audio are often able to react with a strong mood to something they hear (pleasant or not). Understanding and describing it is another matter. But in their own way they are not wrong: they hear clearly.
 
Last edited:

BDWoody

Chief Cat Herder
Moderator
Forum Donor
Joined
Jan 9, 2019
Messages
7,103
Likes
23,667
Location
Mid-Atlantic, USA. (Maryland)
I am not sure I have fully understood. Do you mean: the differences between these signals coming from tube amp, receivers and modern gear? Or you are just referring to modern amplifiers?

I did mix a lot of that together...

Modern gear is what that is referring to...between two well measuring DACs for example.
 
Top Bottom