Level matching by ear followed by sighted testing? The difference was likely volume differential and/or placebo. Even small volume increases typically appear to be better SQ.
Try accurately level matching and blind testing and see if the results change.
Level matching by ear followed by sighted testing? The difference was likely volume differential and/or placebo. Even small volume increases typically appear to be better SQ.
Try level matching and blind testing and see if the results change.
well that's fine and all...until you come onto audio forums and be all "there's such a big improvement in sound quality with my new $600 dap compared to my iphone dongle! Totally worth the $$$$!!"
No problem - enjoy your DAP. But you’re not going to get support for “trust your ears” in Sound Science.
Without proper level matching and DBT, you really don’t know if you’re getting any improvement. In this scenario, existing objective evidence says you’re not and probably actually got 0% improvement for $1k.
well that's fine and all...until you come onto audio forums and be all "there's such a big improvement in sound quality with my new $600 dap compared to my iphone dongle! Totally worth the $$$$!!"
No problem - enjoy your DAP. But you’re not going to get support for “trust your ears” in Sound Science.
Without proper level matching and DBT, you really don’t know if you’re getting any improvement. In this scenario, existing objective evidence says you’re not and probably actually got 0% improvement for $1k.
Based on personal experience and I have quite a few daps, there is no correlation between price and sound quality but indeed "sound quality" is not really relevant above a certain amount if you are only focused on no hiss and powerful device as yes you can buy a cheap dac/amp combo and if it is built correctly it will work well enough. Am I able to recognize all my daps in blindest on how they sound only, for most of them yes but it takes quite some time to appreciate their differences . It is the same as for cables, some people say it does not make any difference. Well perhaps there is part of placebo effect but I do hear a noticeable difference between cables (and it's not necessarily always the more expensive which i like most). And by the way we all have different perceptions including but not only for hearing , that's just a fact.
If you’re going to level match by ear, at least use tones to balance the levels. If you’re going to compare two components, at least do a simple blind test with a switcher. If that’s too much work, you either don’t care, or you don’t want to find out your money has been wasted.
if your DAPs are properly amped to match the impedance and sensitivity of your transducers, there shouldn’t be any audible difference. If you’re hearing clear differences, odds are you have impedance mismatches. If the differences are more subtle, odds are you are not applying sufficient controls to your comparison.
Human hearing is finite. Most home audio electronics, even the cheapest models, perform at a quality level beyond the range of human hearing. Clear differences exist in transducers, but not cables, amps and DACs.
How about if everything else about the IEM is perfect for you? You can:
1. Buy an IEMatch (yes, they do work)
2. Get an amp, or
3. Get a DAP
Same train of thought you have for headphones, if it's too power hungry, ditch it and get another headphone! Doesn't that seem a bit silly?
On the other hand, why can't IEM manufacturers make their IEMs just a but harder to drive? The Sony IEMs I have require a fair amount of juice to drive, and the result is it doesn't hiss.
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