Riboge
500+ Head-Fier
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What you say is not hard to accept as what happens a lot of the time under random circumstances and with different sets and emotional states. That's the problem with the Randi thing. The glare and stress of a very public, sporting contest-like listening situation makes what happens quite exceptional EITHER WAY. If Fremer cannot differentiate it could be what many have reported elsewhere about anxiety dulling perception. On the other hand, some thrill to the contest and the adrenaline heightens perception so if Fremer wins, we don't know how that extrapolates to a more usual listening situation--though it would say that it can be done in at least one situation.
The identifying of recordings via broadcast or online airing of compressed recordings has many technical, situational and mental set differences from comparing one thing to another in one's usual setting with ones own equipment. Only the most talented, disciplined pros can do this sort of thing. I once witnessed a world-class wine expert at THE largest and most prestigious international wine event be challenged blind to identify 10 wines of different types and nationalities while on stage before an audience of 1000. He identified the country of origin and the type of all 10 and for most was right on more specific identification including identifying a wine from his own vineyards in Australia naming the particular vineyard the grapes came from and vintage. There may be only a handful that can perform on this level, but it is possible. I say it is the same with fine discriminations in audio.
| Originally Posted by bigshot /img/forum/go_quote.gif The difference between cables is so subtle (if it exists at all) no amount of familiarity is going to help you remember. You aren't going to memorize whether the sheen on the top of the cymbals has a 1dB boost at 12kHz or not. Even performance style or balance isn't totally memorable. Remember the Joyce Hatto affair? Well respected reviewers gushed over her performances, only to find out afterwards that they were direct ripoffs of other pianists' recordings- ones that received tepid reviews from the same critics. In rec.arts.music.classical-recordings, people are always putting up mp3s and inviting people to guess the conductor and orchestra. There are a lot of people there who really know their recordings, and even they often aren't able to name them without clues. I think a little bit of DBT would confirm what I say is true. Perhaps the Randi challenge will convince you. See ya Steve |
What you say is not hard to accept as what happens a lot of the time under random circumstances and with different sets and emotional states. That's the problem with the Randi thing. The glare and stress of a very public, sporting contest-like listening situation makes what happens quite exceptional EITHER WAY. If Fremer cannot differentiate it could be what many have reported elsewhere about anxiety dulling perception. On the other hand, some thrill to the contest and the adrenaline heightens perception so if Fremer wins, we don't know how that extrapolates to a more usual listening situation--though it would say that it can be done in at least one situation.
The identifying of recordings via broadcast or online airing of compressed recordings has many technical, situational and mental set differences from comparing one thing to another in one's usual setting with ones own equipment. Only the most talented, disciplined pros can do this sort of thing. I once witnessed a world-class wine expert at THE largest and most prestigious international wine event be challenged blind to identify 10 wines of different types and nationalities while on stage before an audience of 1000. He identified the country of origin and the type of all 10 and for most was right on more specific identification including identifying a wine from his own vineyards in Australia naming the particular vineyard the grapes came from and vintage. There may be only a handful that can perform on this level, but it is possible. I say it is the same with fine discriminations in audio.
