There’s no perfect human so yes I acknowledge my limitations and that’s what it means to be humble as human
.................... my perception can distinguish between 2 DACs that are 118 dB SINAD with ease or without any strain or needing concentration ......... by listening sighted like 99.99% of critical listeners out there
Again the disconnect.
Bias can explain the scenario in the above quote, bias that you acknowledge but then proceed to ignore. Perhaps you acknowledge it but don't understand the power of it because you brush aside the results of blind controlled testing as fundamentally in error not in fact demonstrative of the power of bias.
You THINK you can tell them apart easily because that is what you perceive but have no desire to actually test if what you perceive and what you hear are the same thing, I guess because you KNOW you can so there is no desire to confirm that because you see the methodology to do so to be flawed.
Maybe there is a difference that you easily hear, if so why, is one designed to have a "sound" and perhaps actually does a technically inferior job despite that it is expensive gear, or maybe you can't hear a genuine difference at all you only THINK you do due to bias of some sort.
What 99.99% of people do isn't really a judge of what is correct, only what is common.
What is a critical listener ? Allowing bias to influence perception doesn't sound very critical to me.
What happens if the outcome of controlled listening isn't wrong and your theory about why you might fail a blind test is incorrect ?
On what basis do you decide such testing is wrong and you are right that you need to SEE the gear to HEAR it properly ?
Based on what you have said over the last little while it seems that the above two sentences are central to your argument that you know what you hear and you trust your ears and that what they tell you is real. You are placing a lot of importance on your own theory about hearing, perception, bias and the test method, do you have appropriate knowledge to make that assessment or is it simply your logic because it ties your experiences together nicely without unravelling your belief system in audio ?
I was happy to find that controlled listening was different to sighted casual comparison because I felt I learnt something. I guess you believe I came to the incorrect conclusion ? Oddly when I blind compare and add an intentional small difference like a subtle volume difference or a bit of gentle EQ those things are still present in a blind comparison, it isn't like known subtle but tangible differences disappear when I can't see the device I am listening to at that time.