what value listening tests
Reply #95 – 2010-03-11 08:06:20
However, at the same time you conveniently sweep under the carpet the obvious psychological impact that knowing they are in a test will have on the mood of the listeners, and which must also affect their judgement and affect the results of the test. It is surely impossible that a listener will be unaffected by the difference between a normal listening situation, where they are listening for pleasure, and one where they are focussing their attention of the music in order to render an objective judgement on it. Like I said before, you still have not provided any proof that this is happening and that this has a significant influence.This affect which cannot be compensated for by the scientific method is skewing the tests to some extent, and to an extent which is hard to determine, and this invalidates the tests. False. Generally medication doesn't suddenly stop working because it is taken out of testing and put in the real world.The reality is that the majority of the area of sound as experienced by human beings is subjective - i dont think this has to be proved - is obvious. Some aspects of sound can be objectivised and measured, but some cannot. To suggest that people cannot even talk about the subjective bits, or perhaps even make any form of reference to this aspect of sound, without providing "proof" is rediculous. Just as rediculous is to suggest that the only bits that matter are the objective bits that we think we can measure in a listening test. Or that anyone who brings up this other area in a conversation is either a troll, or someone who is inherently unscientific. (The latter is particularly funny since science is my second love, next to music.) It's not really interesting to talk about the subjective bits, because it all ends in: "This is your opinion and this is my opinion".