On Sun, 5 Mar 2006 01:25:46 -0000, "Paul B" wrote:

Thus spake Don Pearce:
There were those who thought my protocol inadequate, although they
didn't actually come up with anything better - any more than they
could actually identify the problems. I wouldn't want to waste my time
using it unless there was pretty universal agreement that it covered
all the bases.

http://www.donepearce.plus.com/odds/dbt/

I would prefer any proctor to be "neutral" rather than "sceptic" personally.
Why do people seem to think that all interested parties have already made up
their minds?

If you think about what kind of information the proctor and observer
might convey subliminally, you will appreciate that my choices are
there for a reason. It is important that a proctor understands what is
going on in the test, and anyone who does is very likely to have an
opinion of his own - hence the choice of bias.

Surely any test has to be trusted by both the proctor & subjects? I, for one
have grown to harbour reservations regarding DB testing's efficacy on
anything other than drug therapy effectiveness. My suspicions are that the
results will never show any significant scores because the differences are
possibly just too subtle to be picked out by memory alone which is of course
a great pity. How would you propose calibrating the test to gain some idea
of thresholds where subjects can hear calibrated & repeatable differences in
sound apart from suggesting these tests are for those subjects who declare
the differences between cables to be huge (unless I've got the wrong end of
the stick?)

No calibration is necessary because my test is only for subjects who
makes claims of ability to hear differences easily, and in the case of
the two who so far have expressed some sort of willingness, have
claimed to hear differences in blind testing. Given that the test
would be conducted at their home, using their gear and records, you
can see that sensitivity calibration would be superfluous.

If I had a preference for Coke over Pepsi & failed a DB taste test, would
that invalidate my preference?

I'd be very surprised if you did fail - I'd put it down to your having
a cold, or somesuch.

As for coming up with something better, I'm sorry to say that I can't. I'm
not even certain that this little nut is indeed crackable. I would dearly
love it to be. This page gives some idea why:
http://www.ilikejam.dsl.pipex.com/audiophile.htm


Even without reading the page I agree. No matter how many people
claim, try and fail, there will always be another.

d

Pearce Consulting
http://www.pearce.uk.com