opaqueice;373412 Wrote: > Certainly a good start.... but if one has the time and resources, a > better methodology is to play sets of sounds with controllable levels > of difference (e.g. MP3s at various bitrates, or a sound processed to > add some distortion, or whatever) and determine the listener's > thresholds. Then you can pick the ones that are the most sensitive.
Yes, I suppose. But our only goal was to find a group of listeners that we felt that we could trust. Yes, based to a large degree on what we "thought" that we heard, and what we wanted our potential customers to hear. Mind you, we mostly used them to evaluate designs that we felt were ready to go to market. We did the more mundane and annoying stuff like what wire, caps, resistors, etc. to use in-house. Although there was one notorious time when we made 2 identical phono stages. One used a very popular (and in retrospect, I can only assume so because of strong-arm marketing approaches) and something that few knew about. I made a dealer buddy listen to both. He had no idea what he was going to hear, only to judge 2 different phono stages. He heard the mystery one first. Then, I hooked up the one that used the famous brand crap that he sold tons of. "Uh......uh......you can keep that one. What a log. It sounds all nasty and rolled off. Flabby bass. I hope that is not what you are planning to switch to. You won't be able to give them away." I took it out, removed the bottom, and I thought that he was going to die of a heart attack. I never so anyone so shocked in my life. The next morning, he called is #1 SS line manufacturer, and told him of the previous night's experience. His reply almost caused his second heart attack in less than 24 hours. "Yeah, I know. Pat has been helping us to find a new wire to use. I suspected that what we were using was really holding us back." I hate it when wires don't all sound alike....... I really do. This business is hard enough without having to to worry about how wire sounds. Could you imagine any "normal" industry having to worry about such ridiculous, petty issues? So, back to my original premise: Do you think that high-end manufacturers would waste all the time and money on this sort of nonsense if it did not affect the final product? There are other, and more sane ways, to make a living. Pat -- ar-t http://www.analogresearch-technology.net ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ar-t's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=13619 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=56712 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list [email protected] http://lists.slimdevices.com/lists/listinfo/audiophiles
