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Details: Written by: Brent Butterworth; Created: 01 December 2020

We seem to be experiencing a minor revolution in audio product testing. For the last two decades, audio product testing has been almost entirely subjective, rarely based on anything more than the opinion of a single listener, formed in uncontrolled, sighted tests. Until recently, SoundStage! was one of only a few audio publishing outlets presenting controlled, objective testing—specifically, audio measurements. But recently, measurements have become more common on websites, online forums, and YouTube. As someone who, since the late 1990s, has been nagging for more audio measurements in reviews, I should be happy about this—and I am, but it has me concerned, too.

Details: Written by: Brent Butterworth; Created: 01 November 2020

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Two recent experiences have reminded me of an old and very important lesson about audio I and many thousands of other audio enthusiasts learned decades ago. But the lesson seems mostly forgotten. The first experience was a couple of “run-ins” with other audio writers -- one directly, on Facebook, and the other indirectly, through an editor friend of mine. The second was recording and mixing I’ve done for what will soon be my first jazz album: a collaboration with saxophonist Ron Cyger under the name Take 2.

Details: Written by: Brent Butterworth; Created: 01 October 2020

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With a few rare outliers excepted, there are two different types of earphone drivers: dynamic drivers and balanced armatures. Although great earphones have been made with either type of driver, and often contain both types, the two drivers are very different in form and performance. Most headphone enthusiasts understand the concept of dynamic drivers, which are basically just miniaturized versions of conventional speakers, but many do not understand how balanced armatures work, or what their advantages and disadvantages are.

Details: Written by: Brent Butterworth; Created: 01 September 2020

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I think I just heard the future of headphones -- and I wasn’t really even listening to headphones. Technically, the product I was listening to is a PSAP, or personal sound amplification product: the Nuheara IQbuds² Max, which I’m measuring for a technical publication along with some other PSAPs. The Nuheara IQbuds² Max earbuds ($399 USD) are basically a set of true wireless earbuds with features added for hearing enhancement. Like many audio products that have come before them, the IQbuds² Max earbuds seek to adapt their output to best suit the listener’s hearing characteristics. The difference is that this product actually seems to work.

Details: Written by: Brent Butterworth; Created: 01 August 2020

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My column last month, “The Biggest Lie in Audio,” sparked lots of commentary, but it also raised questions that are tough to answer. While most of the people commenting on the article here and elsewhere found it to be a welcome relief from what some have called the “faith based” approach of many audio publications, some weren’t so complimentary. A few derided science-oriented, “objectivist” writers as “narrow-minded” because they criticize audio products that don’t conform to generally accepted performance standards. Some insist that there’s no such thing as “accuracy” (they always put that word in quotes) in music reproduction, so audio writers have no basis on which to criticize outlier products.

Details: Written by: Brent Butterworth; Created: 01 July 2020

19 Comments

You can’t get far into an audio forum or the comments sections of audio websites without encountering the statement “Some products that measure well sound bad, and some products that measure poorly sound good.” Depending on who said it, it’s at best uninformed and at worst a lie. And it’s a lie that sometimes sticks listeners with underperforming audio gear.