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Audio equipment testing is the measurement of audio quality through objective and/or subjective means. The results of such tests are published in journals, magazines, whitepapers, websites, and in other media. Those who test and evaluate equipment can be roughly divided into two groups: "Objectivists", who believe that all perceivable differences in audio equipment can be explained scientifically through measurement and double-blind listening tests; and the "Subjectivists", who believe that the human ear is capable of hearing details and differences that cannot be directly measured.〔("Basic Issues of Equipment Reviewing and Critical Listening: Our Present Stance," ) Peter Aczel, ''The Audio Critic,'' issue number 16, page 31 (PDF page 25), accessed 2007-05-18.〕 Summary of Objective versus Subjective Audiophiles, in general: *Both agree that measurements are not a substitute for listening tests. *Both agree that different audio components may have different sound qualities. *Disagree that subjective listeners can overcome placebo and confirmation bias in non-blind listening tests. *Disagree about whether perceived sound quality can be measured through objective means. ==Objectivists== Objectivists believe that audio components and systems must pass rigorously conducted double-blind tests and meet specified performance requirements in order to validate the claims made by their proponents. *Objectivists point out that properly conducted and interpreted double-blind tests fail to support subjectivists' claims of significant or even subtle sonic differences between devices in cases where measurements predict that there should be no sonic differences in normal music listening.〔(Paste This in Your Hat! - What Every Audiophile Should Know and Never Forget ), Peter Aczel, Biline.ca, Accessed 2007-05-11〕 *Objectivists feel that subjectivists often lack engineering training, technical knowledge, and objective credentials, but nevertheless make authoritative claims about product performance. () *Objectivists are likely to stress the importance of accounting for the influence of placebo and confirmation bias in subjective listening tests (). *Objectivists reject arguments that are based on accepted physical principles but applied to circumstances where they are irrelevant. For instance, the skin effect, which relates the efficiency of cables to the frequency transmitted, is often applied to audio frequencies where it is insignificant (). *Objectivists believe that subjectivists' preferences are often driven by gullibility and fashion—e.g., the late eighties' vogue for marking the edges of CDs with a green felt marker〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Bewaring of the Green )〕 or suspending cables above the floor on small racks—and bear no relation to well-known laws of physics. *Objectivists claim that subjectivists often reject attempts to notate differences in sound using objective measurements, despite the evidence of their effectiveness. *Because measured audio distortion is higher in electromechanical components such as microphones, turntables, tonearms, phono cartridges, and loudspeakers than in purely electronic components such as preamplifiers and power amplifiers, objectivists generally do not accept that very subtle differences in the latter can have an appreciable effect on the perceived quality of reproduced sound. British audio equipment designer Peter Baxandall, who is often considered an objectivist, has written, "I ... confidently maintain that all first-class, competently designed amplifiers, tested under completely fair and carefully controlled conditions, including the avoidance of overloading, sound absolutely indistinguishable on normal programme material no matter how refined the listening tests, or the listeners, may be; and that when an inferior amplifier is compared with a very good one and a subjective quality difference is genuinely and reliably established, it is always possible, by straightforward scientific investigation, to find a rational explanation for this difference." Baxandall also proposed a "cancellation test", which he claimed would prove his point.〔Baxandall, Peter J. ''Audible amplifier distortion is not a mystery''. Wireless World, November 1977, pp. 63.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Audio equipment testing」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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