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I Don't Get This Obsession with "Detection"........

"Why do so many night and day differences become undetectable in double blind listening tests?"

For the hundredth time, double blind tests don't test *detection* of differences.........

If the differences between the test samples and placebo samples are "night and day," in a real DBT, this might come forth as the test group exhibiting a demonstrably greater degree of satisfaction, relative to the control (placebo) group..... But that in itself doesn't really "detect" anything..... Every listener, whether in the test group or the placebo group, is listening to just *one* thing..... So there isn't even a "reference" for detection in real DBT.

By the way, when most people show preference for a given audio product, whether it's a loudspeaker, amplifier, or cable, they're not "detecting differences"..... They're just perceiving an overall presentation that is more to their liking. (They might be "detecting" more things in the presentation they *don't* like..... ..... )

If you want to test "detection," play some classical recording with known "wrong notes" in it, and see if the listener can "detect" them..... If that's up your alley.......

Unless one is an orchestral conductor during a rehearsal, a recording editor or mixing engineer, or a judge at a music competition, "detection" is not really a listening trait that's overly useful..... You're pounding on this as if it's the gold standard for listening..... But it really isn't.

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