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This is exactly right...and wrong

If there's any hope in blind testing using music--and I think there is, though I'm not sure--it's in finding the passages that are most revealing. That sort of assurance--that there are, in fact, differences--is a great starting point.

If you can hear--repeatably and blindly--a difference in a particular part of the music, that means you can characterize the difference, and then generalize it. You can begin to use it to account for SUBJECTIVE differences that you might perceive over time in listening to whole pieces of music. You can begin to span the gulf between objective and subjective evaluation.

So why is it also wrong? Because it's for digital audio. Is there anyone alive who questions the efficacy of DBT (in particular, ABX) in testing compression CODECs? OF COURSE it works for that. Why? Because listening is so damn easy! You can do the test over and over again in a matter of minutes. The logistics of testing audio components are MUCH more challenging, and logistics are important. Since you can't switch instantly back and forth, those tests are a lot harder. Small differences are more difficult to reliably distinguish.

It's a start, but only that.

Jim

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