[StanD]

I could put this behind foobar and its abx plugin:

Spoiler: Warning: Spoiler!

That'd give me bat ears basically listening to nothing but the HF content that mp3 assumes is inaudible under normal listening circumstances. Pretty sure I'd 10/10 every mp3 ABX test this way if I could still hear above 16kHz

That has no basis in reality because you can never even begin to hear this difference when listening to the music in total. Despite many claims, few people can hear above 16 kHz and there isn't all that much real/meaningful musical content/timbre up there.

 

[Joe Bloggs]

That'd give me bat ears basically listening to nothing but the HF content that mp3 assumes is inaudible under normal listening circumstances. Pretty sure I'd 10/10 every mp3 ABX test this way if I could still hear above 16kHz

That has no basis in reality because you can never even begin to hear this difference when listening to the music in total. Despite many claims, few people can hear above 16 kHz and there isn't all that much real musical content up there.

That's why we were discussing this under the context of "cheating in an ABX test" (the question was "how could one cheat an ABX test other than by falsifying the results table?")

 

[StanD]

That's why we were discussing this under the context of "cheating in an ABX test" (the question was "how could one cheat an ABX test other than by falsifying the results table?")

Wiseguy.
How about the smartarses that think the E12 or E18 is dark, despite having a flat FR? One person blurts out something silly and once it hits the forum flash mob it takes on a life of its own.

 

[limpidglitch]

I'd put in an offer to help moderate the sound science subforum... thought it was a pretty long stretch myself but you never know.

One of the reasons given for (what I presume is, for now) my rejection was that "and, being a sponsor, I'm sure the science guys would just LOVE you (not)".

So--what would you guys say to that? Would you have trusted Joe Bloggs not to stamp out all dissenting opinion threatening the portable HiFi status quo represented by FiiO et al?

Or would Joe Bloggs have bent over backwards in over-lenience of the quacks at Science, putting all our livelihoods in jeopardy?

Or would Joe's personal viewpoint and official job position have struck a nice balance cancelling out each other to produce the perfectly impartial Sound Science mod for head-fi?

 
I'll support your candidacy (If you can fix me up with an X3 

). At least it's not Synergistic Research or something like that.

Quite honestly, I think you seem a decent, well grounded guy. The same goes for FiiO as well, in so far as that's possible for a company.

 

[maverickronin]

I'd put in an offer to help moderate the sound science subforum... thought it was a pretty long stretch myself but you never know.

One of the reasons given for (what I presume is, for now) my rejection was that "and, being a sponsor, I'm sure the science guys would just LOVE you (not)".

So--what would you guys say to that? Would you have trusted Joe Bloggs not to stamp out all dissenting opinion threatening the portable HiFi status quo represented by FiiO et al?

Or would Joe Bloggs have bent over backwards in over-lenience of the quacks at Science, putting all our livelihoods in jeopardy?

Or would Joe's personal viewpoint and official job position have struck a nice balance cancelling out each other to produce the perfectly impartial Sound Science mod for head-fi?

 

  I'll support your candidacy (If you can fix me up with an X3 

). At least it's not Synergistic Research or something like that.

Quite honestly, I think you seem a decent, well grounded guy. The same goes for FiiO as well, in so far as that's possible for a company.

 
I think that might work pretty well, but probably wouldn't be allowed either.  The fact that Fiio is comparatively short on flowery language and buzzword compliance might be seen as a conflict of interest since putting forward the the sound science side of the argument as true (even if it actually is...) would be an indirect endorsement of Fiio.
 
Of course such perceived conflicts of interest are nothing new here, but I'm not sure we'd get away with it here in the back up the bus...

 

[Joe Bloggs]

That's why we were discussing this under the context of "cheating in an ABX test" (the question was "how could one cheat an ABX test other than by falsifying the results table?")

Wiseguy.
How about the smartarses that think the E12 or E18 is dark, despite having a flat FR? One person blurts out something silly and once it hits the forum flash mob it takes on a life of its own.

I have to admit that there's more to how an amp sounds than how it measures going into a line load. The low output impedance and use of smart protection circuits in place of coupling capacitors for DC protection are both objectively sound features, but
-High OI tends to boost treble in a lot of BA IEMs
-Coupling capacitors definitely reduces bass going into any low-impedance earphones

The result is that some underengineered headphone output with high output impedance and coupling capacitance can tend to sound more "detailed" or "bright" than a FiiO by virtue of outputting more treble into most headphone loads.

 

[castleofargh]

I'd put in an offer to help moderate the sound science subforum... thought it was a pretty long stretch myself but you never know.

One of the reasons given for (what I presume is, for now) my rejection was that "and, being a sponsor, I'm sure the science guys would just LOVE you (not)".

So--what would you guys say to that? Would you have trusted Joe Bloggs not to stamp out all dissenting opinion threatening the portable HiFi status quo represented by FiiO et al?

Or would Joe Bloggs have bent over backwards in over-lenience of the quacks at Science, putting all our livelihoods in jeopardy?

Or would Joe's personal viewpoint and official job position have struck a nice balance cancelling out each other to produce the perfectly impartial Sound Science mod for head-fi?

you certainly have my vote. humans are only humans and I never expected any moderator to be perfect. but if we could get at times a little more than just anti offending actions, I'm sure it could do some good.

 

[StanD]

I have to admit that there's more to how an amp sounds than how it measures going into a line load. The low output impedance and use of smart protection circuits in place of coupling capacitors for DC protection are both objectively sound features, but
-High OI tends to boost treble in a lot of BA IEMs
-Coupling capacitors definitely reduces bass going into any low-impedance earphones

The result is that some underengineered headphone output with high output impedance and coupling capacitance can tend to sound more "detailed" or "bright" than a FiiO by virtue of outputting more treble into most headphone loads.

Use larger value caps and ones that can carry power without becoming non-linear. I prefer DC coupling anyway and buy that type of amps..
The affect of high OI is best determined by the impedance curve of the can/IEM. Sometimes it can affect bass such as certain Sennheiser cans that have high impedance humps in the mid bass, etc. I don't buy funky amps. I have an E12 and E18, all good, great values in portable kit. Keep up the good work.

 

[castleofargh]

 

I have to admit that there's more to how an amp sounds than how it measures going into a line load. The low output impedance and use of smart protection circuits in place of coupling capacitors for DC protection are both objectively sound features, but
-High OI tends to boost treble in a lot of BA IEMs
-Coupling capacitors definitely reduces bass going into any low-impedance earphones

The result is that some underengineered headphone output with high output impedance and coupling capacitance can tend to sound more "detailed" or "bright" than a FiiO by virtue of outputting more treble into most headphone loads.

Use larger value caps and ones that can carry power without becoming non-linear. I prefer DC coupling anyway and buy that type of amps..
The affect of high OI is best determined by the impedance curve of the can/IEM. Sometimes it can affect bass such as certain Sennheiser cans that have high impedance humps in the mid bass, etc. I don't buy funky amps. I have an E12 and E18, all good, great values in portable kit. Keep up the good work.

most BA armatures tend to have impedance rising like mad at some point in the trebles. I wouldn't make it a 100% thing because I didn't look all that much into it, but it's like that for most.

 

[Steve Eddy]

How did it get decided that high bit rate MP3 has an inaudible difference to uncompressed PCM? When have the people that wrote the codec's ever claimed that?

Ok, from the horse's mouth:

"I don't know for sure, but I'd be surprised if something on the order of castinets/bells wouldn't do it.

The nonuniform quantizer is a dog at high rates, and the block switching isn't short enough to avoid pre-echo on a stressful signal with attacks."

se

 

[StanD]

 
most BA armatures tend to have impedance rising like mad at some point in the trebles. I wouldn't make it a 100% thing because I didn't look all that much into it, but it's like that for most.

And who is going to use a BA IEM that has a low impedance in the mid and low end with an amp that has a high output impedance? Certainly not me.  Use an amp with a low output impedance, which is common, and no problem.

 

[RRod]

Ok, from the horse's mouth:

"I don't know for sure, but I'd be surprised if something on the order of castinets/bells wouldn't do it.

The nonuniform quantizer is a dog at high rates, and the block switching isn't short enough to avoid pre-echo on a stressful signal with attacks."

se

 
That makes sense, and it's also why my mind twitches a bit when people show positives on something like a choral track by hearing a difference in the reverb. It just doesn't seem to be where you're supposed to hear differences in these comparisons.

 

[maverickronin]

  And who is going to use a BA IEM that has a low impedance in the mid and low end with an amp that has a high output impedance? Certainly not me.  Use an amp with a low output impedance, which is common, and no problem.

 

Welcome to bizarre world of HeadFi.

 
 
It's more common than you'd think...

 

[StanD]

   
 
 
It's more common than you'd think...

Bad move.

 

[Steve Eddy]

That makes sense, and it's also why my mind twitches a bit when people show positives on something like a choral track by hearing a difference in the reverb. It just doesn't seem to be where you're supposed to hear differences in these comparisons.

Exactly. And no one would know better than jj where the weaknesses are. Extensive blind testing was carried out in the development of the codec.

se