|
|
|
|
Why DBTs in audio do not deliver
(Audio Guy) wrote:
.....snips for relevant content only ......
"Harry Lavo" writes:
And that is the
primary reason music reproduction is not simply electrical and physical
engineering. Their is no way to measure *music*. Ultimately whether the
music strikes our brain as right, or the brain tells us something is amiss,
is not "objectively" measurable. The only way to objectify it is by
allowing humans to interpret it as music, and then to develop tests to try
to record that *subjective* response in ways that can generate some
*objective* results in the statistical sense. And there is the rub. It
demands context for the brain to interpret what is going on.
But Music as an art form can be evaluated and interpreted without sound at all.
People who are truly interested in the Music can often appreciate same through
sheet music. One can appreciate the arrangement of the band before they play a
single note.
Something similar happens with music but even more complex. Because
scientist now know that the brain is hardwired to respond to this thing we
call "music", both rhythmically and emotionally.
Disregarding that Harry hasn't given us a reference for this assertion I think
there's an even more important issue here. To evaluate the sound quality
throughput of a given audio reproduction system the "music" can get in the way.
There are some programs that are so beautiful or so easy to portray that they
sound good on ANY system.
There are some programs to which a subject may have such a deep emotional
attachment that it interferes with him/her giving a response more closely
related to the program than the sound system.
That's one of the reasons that pink noise and test tones are often far more
sensitive to real differences in sound quality than music .... because they
have no 'content' other than pure sound. And, in the case of pink noise, cover
the entire audible spectrum all at once thereby greatly increasing human
sensitivity to the 'sound' and not other factors.
And I am not an "amps is amps" person, I know I have heard differences
between amps, preamps, CD players, etc. But I also know people are
programmed to find differences when none exist.
That is a major point. Give a listener the same sound twice and you'll get
differing responses a majority of the time. In uncontrolled listening you often
have no idea of whether the differences reported are due to the sound quality
or some other cause.
|