Quote Originally Posted by krabapple
Sticking just to *playback* (because 'hi rez' recording has reasonable technical advantages) -- recording 'engineers' usually aren't (engineers, I mean). They don't tend to adhere to scientific standards. I've seen recording and mastering engineers tout some pretty ridiculous products (Shakti stones, anyone?). When you guys have actually published some replicable data from well-done *double blind* comparisons, in, say, the AES journal -- which, curiously, even the *developers* of DSD and DVD-A appear not to have done, why is that? -- *then* it's time to believe. We all know even the the most 'trustworthy' ears can be mislead by normal, inescapable human bias.
I do not know any recording engineer who peddles shakti stones, and most of the engineers I know around Los Angeles do not even recommend using them. I don't know where you get your information from. And you cannot make a blanket statement that audio engineers do not adhere to scientific standards, many of them do and have done their own blind comparison before investing in new audio formats.

Also, I am not here to impress upon you the benefits of any format. You can either recognized that they it sounds better than redbook CD, or you don't. That is your business not mine.

Lastly, double blind testing may be great for ending arguements, but it is not always the best way to distinguish between what is good, and what is better. They are VERY stressful, and can put you in a state that doesn't allow you to distinguish anything.

You can't be biased if you don't have an opinion one way or the other anyway.

You post may play well with the naysayers, but most people don't sit in the naysayers or yeasayers camp. They sit somewhere in between.