Actually, I pretty much agree with you. Your explanation is thorough and accurate. Of course, these things vary a bit, depending on the study. Medical experiments that rely on DBX usually do have a control and the results are, generally, rather easy to interpret.
On a scientific level, almost any kind of study is problematic and requires rigor that we do not apply in everyday life. Again, this is a standard method; my spouse, a physician and researcher, would be breathing down my neck at the moment. However, there is no doubt -- none -- that scientific studies are extremely rigorous and that the problems you mention are very real. However, we're talking about a more or less informal testing of home audio equipment. Broadly speaking, I think there are three results: 1) A is better than B, and 2) the differences are nuanced and neither is necessarily better and 3) I have no idea what's going on. For personal, at-home use, double-blind testing of, say, a couple sources works pretty well. I find that I can usually distinguish A from B (not that I do this often!) and so can most people. All you're doing is listening to two pieces of audio gear and, if practicable, discerning the difference between them without reference to something that could bias you (ie, confounding information). In the end, I think it is a good exercise. Is it the be-all, end-all? Of course not. Too many things to into making these decisions: budget, physical aesthetics, how something works with your system, whether you even want such a thing in your system, etc. Having said that, when I have done this, I have done it more for the fun of it. I have pretty decent ears, I don't tend to be blinded by reviews, and I can pretty much listen to two or more things, knowing what they are, and make up my mind. That isn't to say that people listening to two audio components, blind, are likely to make a bad decision; it's rather like tasting two glasses of wine, not know what they are, and just saying which one is yummy. In the end, really, it boils down to your ears. Tom made a good argument for actual ear training. -- highdudgeon Relax. It's about the music. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ highdudgeon's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=2195 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=29912 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
