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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Oct 2009
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    Maple Ridge, BC Canada
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    Default OT: How Good Are Your Ears?

    Hello,

    Rick Beato: Audiophile or Audio-Fooled? How Good Are Your Ears?

    Note: Actual Listening test here

    Other than that...some interesting information.

  2. #2

    Default Re: OT: How Good Are Your Ears?

    I liked the video, and I completely agree with what Rick says in it.

    Somewhat more than 15 years ago, Chris Smith (through whom I think I got the first version of SAW) played an interesting demonstration for me. He had burned a CD that had two or three songs on it, each of which had three versions. One was the original .wav file, another had been encoded to mp3 at a high rate and then decoded, and the remaining version had been encoded at a somewhat lower rate and then decoded. I was not familiar with the music. I could hear differences between versions, but I could not say for certain which was the "clean" version, only what I liked best when I heard it.

    Now, when I do an mp3 for a client or a collaborator, I encode at the highest rate (320k). It is unlikely that any of us will hear that big a difference between that and the original .wav file.

    The whole "objective golden ears" thing from an "audiophile" perspective is somewhat suspect from my point of view. I believe that what a self-proclaimed audiophile listens for is quite different from what anyone who mixes for a living perceives. The ear training involved is just very different.
    Cary B. Cornett
    aka "Puzzler"
    www.chinesepuzzlerecording.com

  3. #3

    Default Re: OT: How Good Are Your Ears?

    I did not take the time to check this out but the title debate is not new. In the '70s I was in the consumer HiFi business. When Monster Cable speaker wires first came out one of the magazines, Stereo Review I think, set up a blind listening test. They made up a panel of 'experts' from their staff and contributors who wrote the actual articles published in the magazine. They had access to some of the most highly rated stereo equipment available at the time. The variable in the test was the speaker wire. The standard speaker wire at the time was 16 ga. lamp (aka zip) cord. In the listening test their 'experts' could not tell the difference between the standard zip cord and the premium high strand count 12 ga. Monster Cable in the blind test.
    Last edited by Wink0r; 08-08-2018 at 10:08 AM.

  4. #4

    Default Re: OT: How Good Are Your Ears?

    Quote Originally Posted by Wink0r View Post
    I did not take the time to check this out but the title debate is not new. In the '70s I was in the consumer HiFi business. When Monster Cable speaker wires first came out one of the magazines, Stereo Review I think, set up a blind listening test. They made up a panel of 'experts' from their staff and contributors who wrote the actual articles published in the magazine. They had access to some of the most highly rated stereo equipment available at the time. The variable in the test was the speaker wire. The standard speaker wire at the time was 16 ga. lamp (aka zip) cord. In the listening test their 'experts' could not tell the difference between the standard zip cord and the premium high strand count 12 ga. Monster Cable in the blind test.
    You might hear a difference in speaker wire if it was 20 feet long or longer.
    10 feet or less I think you're just wasting your money.
    I've used 16 ga lamp cord for years and never heard any difference between that and the higher end cable I've had left over from installs where the customer insisted on expensive cable.
    My speaker runs have always been 10 feet or less.

  5. #5
    Join Date
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    Stuck in FL for now...
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    Default Re: OT: How Good Are Your Ears?

    Great video! I posted here so people can watch it here.


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