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.
Amen. I fully support all your comments, but I want to draw particular attention the fact that recording "engineers" do not adhere to scientific standards (well put) and they are often not trained as electrical engineers and cannot be expected to have technical answers to many questions that vex audiophiles. Even well-respected engineers have, for example, backed expensive cable. Worse yet, as I have pointed out, many recording engineers are a vested interest in new formats adopted by their employers.

Bottom line is that the new bit-wasting playback formats have not be shown empricially to be superior in a controlled test and also have zero theoretical reason superior AUDIBLE performance.