AudioBanter.com - View Single Post - A model of the brain, & quick-switch

wrote:
I recall from a few weeks ago Stewart saying that he was just as moved
by a performance of the Elgar cello concerto on a car radio as on his
big system (I'm explaining from memory of reading it). Also, in a
recent post Bob said he didn't think the sound qualities of a system
(within normal ranges) influenced the experience of music. In the
thread "analog vs. digital--not" Stewart and "bear" said something to
the effect that a table radio can convey a musical performance as well
as anything else ("bear" was writing about what a conductor is
interested in). Since I don't have the exact posts to follow up,
please take these comments of mine as provisional until Stewart, Bob,
and "bear" confirm them. I just want to respond to the model implied
by this perspective (I'm sure SOMEBODY, SOMEWHERE holds this
perspective).

....

What is curious to me is that each of us has arrived at a model
representing our own experience.. and these models have very different
implications about how comparisons (of any type, sighted or blind)
should be done.

You can listen to audio on several levels. You can listen for
differences in the sound of components under test, you can listen for
overall evaluation of the realism of the system, or you can listen to
the performance itself, ignoring the system. Listening to one aspect of
the sound does not obviate, or negate, the possibility of listening on
other levels or for different things.

When we do difference testing, we are interested in only one thing: is
there a difference in the sound of the two devices under test. It is
certainly possible for any intelligent listener to focus on this aspect
of the sound, and it has indeed been done successfully a few times
(kidding). When we do blind testing, we are not interested in who is the
better composer or who is the better drummer. We are listening to the
system only, and listening for any aspect of the sound that is audibly
different between the two devices. If you think, as some have proposed,
that some components bring out the emotion of the performance better
than others, then feel free to use that criterion as the difference you
are listening for.

Also, listen to each component for as long as you like. That has nothing
to do with whether the test is valid or not. You can switch quickly
between components, or you can listen for long periods. It's just that
we have found over a period of time doing these tests that it is much
faster and easier to tell differences if you switch between them
quickly, and often, during those passages that tend to bring out the
differences.

Gary Eickmeier