There is a good-sounding sound system and then, there are the off-the-deep-end audiophiles who think nothing of spending $1,999 for a power cable or a mere $10,000 for 12 meters of ethernet cable (and I'm not even mentioning the $485 Volume Knob made from the finest beech wood)
There is a kind of testing called double-blind which audiophiles detest (here, here, here, and here to start) because their supposed high end gear fails more often than they like. From Infogalactic:
Blind experiment
A blind or blinded experiment is an experiment in which information about the test is kept from the participant until after the test. Bias may be intentional or unconscious. If both tester and subject are blinded, the trial is a double-blind experiment.
Blind testing is used wherever items are to be compared without influences from testers' preferences or expectations, for example in clinical trials to evaluate the effectiveness of medicinal drugs and procedures without placebo effect, nocebo effect, observer bias, or conscious deception; and comparative testing of commercial products to objectively assess user preferences without being influenced by branding and other properties not being tested.
Well, some people did a double-blind test with violins and the results are very interesting - from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Listener evaluations of new and Old Italian violins
Old Italian violins are routinely credited with playing qualities supposedly unobtainable in new instruments. These qualities include the ability to project their sound more effectively in a concert hall—despite seeming relatively quiet under the ear of the player—compared with new violins. Although researchers have long tried to explain the “mystery” of Stradivari’s sound, it is only recently that studies have addressed the fundamental assumption of tonal superiority. Results from two studies show that, under blind conditions, experienced violinists tend to prefer playing new violins over Old Italians. Moreover, they are unable to tell new from old at better than chance levels. This study explores the relative merits of Stradivari and new violins from the perspective of listeners in a hall. Projection and preference are taken as the two broadest criteria by which listeners might meaningfully compare violins. Which violins are heard better, and which are preferred? In two separate experiments, three new violins were compared with three by Stradivari. Projection was tested both with and without orchestral accompaniment. Projection and preference were judged simultaneously by dividing listeners into two groups. Results are unambiguous. The new violins projected better than the Stradivaris whether tested with orchestra or without, the new violins were generally preferred by the listeners, and the listeners could not reliably distinguish new from old. The single best-projecting violin was considered the loudest under the ear by players, and on average, violins that were quieter under the ear were found to project less well.
Now this is going to ruffle a few feathers. The full text is behind a paywall but the abstract tells us what we want to know. Technology marches on and the advances that it brings extends to violins as well as everything else.
Leave a comment