occam;190702 Wrote: > Given the brevity of aural memeory, (borrowing the phrase from Sean) > I'll bet dollars to donuts, that few of you have conducted a valid > hardware DBT audio test. 30+ yrs ago, I did nothing but set up the > switching mechanisms for (admittedly non audio) tests at Hopkins > Medical School and the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. Whatever > anecdotal results have been discussed here wouldn't pass peer journal > review criteria of those days, let alone whatever minimal criteria are > acceptable today.
We're not talking about scientifically acceptable results here - just a minimal, good-faith attempt to verify there really is an audible difference. As some people never tire of pointing out, a negative result on such a test doesn't prove it isn't audible - but a single positive result provides pretty compelling evidence it is (although of course it doesn't prove anything either). So the deck is really stacked in favor of someone that claims there might be a difference. You're complaining audio memory is short, so the difference might get lost due to too-long switching times. Just think for a moment about that. A volume difference of 1 dB, and probably a lot less, is easily identifiable in these tests. Something which isn't is therefore more subtle that a slight change in volume. It's so subtle you can't keep it in your mind long enough to tell the difference after a few seconds. At that point, do we (as audiophiles) really care? If the answer is yes, we'll have to work harder to make DBTs which are capable of overcoming that (and they exist, for example computer-based tests). But for me if I can't hear the difference after a second or so spent switching something, I'll find better things (like speakers and room treatments) to spend my time and money on. > I've banned discussions about DBT in the Lab Circle at AudioCirle, not > discussion of actual DBT tests. I'm a strong believer in valid testing. > Its appears that folks find it far prefferable to invoke the shibboleth > of DBT rather than actually perform a valid one. Personally, I find > such discussions 'about' a boring, repetitive, fruitless exercise in > Onnanism. But if talking about it, rather than actually doing a valid > experiment, floats your boat, enjoy. That's your perogative as moderator, but personally I don't think censorship is ever a good idea (and that applies equally to the hydrogenaudio forum policy). I'm glad there is no such policy here, and I don't find it worthwhile to read or post much on either of those fora because of those policies. -- opaqueice ------------------------------------------------------------------------ opaqueice's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=4234 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=33547 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
