Power cable long term blind test
Reply #14 – 2006-06-09 16:35:59
Sorry for being picky: you say: "If X is different from B"... I'd say: If X is perceived different from B. Being picky sometimes serves a purpose, no offense taken. The power cable test seems to indicate that X can sound different from both A and B ! I'm trying to understand the implications of this. I'm not sure, there was only one set of ABC cables, so there was one try only. I think the probability that C was actually distinguised from D is very low looking at the test results. Also what kind of psychological effect should be involved here? Listeners only know what cable D is and could only distinguish the other cables from the lettering AFAIK. So unless the letter C brings up certain associations with something that changes the mood, I don't know what could do that.I don't contest the merits of ABX testing. The problem seems to be that of the 4 following possibilities, no.3 is not as unlikely as I (and many others?) have believed: 1) A and B are identical* and there is no audible difference (e.g. lossless codec) 2) A and B are different and there is no audible difference (e.g. transparent mp3) 3) A and B are identical* and there is an audible difference (psychological effects?) 4) A and B are different and there is an audible difference (* as far as analogue stimuli can be identical) I'm not sure if the nature of ABXing ever allows #3 to happen. Psychological effects also need a cause (for example knowing that cable A costs [fill-in-a-very-large-number-here]$), I don't see what in ABX testing could be that cause.