Quote:
I will be posting detailed results elsewhere, since the inevitable conclusions are, given my limited experience here, likely to be censored and thus my posts will not be representative of my opinion (I have already had some of my posts "helpfully" edited for me without my permission). I will offer a brief summary:
Using a simulated headphone load to replicate the HD800 impedance curve, and a loopback as control, there is no change in frequency response, distortion, noise, or crosstalk. DC resistance, inductance, and capacitance are exactly what one would expect for a plug and a jack wired together. The internal coating (which should be noted is painted over metal!) is a mixture of silver paint and crushed quartz and has no measurable function.
In listening, I could hear absolutely no difference with the "device" in or out of the circuit. The earlier report of severe degradation may well be due to a defective solder joint or other connection- there is nothing in measurements or listening to corroborate it.
If someone wants to waste time doing an ABX test, feel free, but be aware that it's easy to cheat the foobar plug-in. A better DBT method here would be sequentially recording the test material with the "device" randomly in or out of the circuit (coin flip randomization) and then having the listener attempt to sort the tracks into two piles. But in my opinion, the time could be better spent counting how many cars go past in an hour with license plates containing the number seven.
I missed this post. I agree with Anakchan about expectation bias: I've been caught both ways personally, expecting and not expecting things and being wrong. Anything I post, I have no way to prove I'm hearing unless I construct a box allowing me to test it. I figured I could construct multiple boxes, each wired differently (A/B, B/A, A/A, B/B for example) but externally identical then mix them up in a bag, have someone else label them 1 to 4 or more and pick one out. Then, after writing up my experiences with each one open them up and see what the result was. Right now I don't feel the effort it worth it, because I don't feel the device is worth it.
But here's the thing, taken from the above quote:
I will be posting detailed results elsewhere, since the inevitable conclusions are, given my limited experience here, likely to be censored and thus my posts will not be representative of my opinion
I don't get how a genuine opinion is "Likely to be censored". If it were, these threads wouldn't be here. What I have a problem with now is that because Anakchan and I have posted our genuine opinions and experiences, we got a flood of accusations that we are "on the take", that he is "convinced" that we are "corrupt" and defending a product from a protective sponsor, even though, as everyone should know by now, neither of us are employed by Head-Fi, nor receive any financial benefits from being here, so whatever Ted or anyone else does regarding sponsorship neither affects nor matters to us. What seems apparent to me is that people here want to lynch both Synergistic Research, Ted, and trash the HOT and everything he makes to the point that people are snide, rude and abusive towards anyone who posts anything other than a completely negative comment about the company, Ted and his products.
I don't recall personal attacks, abuse and rudeness to have anything to do with science.
@SunTanScanMan If, because we are Head-Fi staff, we can't post our honest opinions about a product as a member, then that is crazy. What you seem to be implying is the same thing as other people have: That it is bad or dishonest that we say anything other than negative comments about the device, rather than our own opinions.
Back to topic, when I first had the HOT here, any difference I felt I heard was so slight I don't believe I'd pass a blind test. I'm sensible enough to know that! It'd be interesting if Tyll was to test a pair of headphones with and without it plugged in and see if something like the distortion goes down at all. Regardless, since people are worried that I'm defending it (which I'm not) it isn't a product I'd at all recommend at the moment, for a number of reasons.
