Editing Introduction to a Self Managed Life: a 13 hour & 28 minute presentation by FUTO software (section)

==== ABX Double blind testing doesn’t matter ====

A key sign you’re speaking to someone who has their head as far up their ass as their ego, or a salesman, is when they refuse to acknowledge the benefits of ABX double blind tests. Hydrogenaudio is '''THE''' place for top tier codec developers &amp; programmers to congregate and showcase their new developments; they have had ABX testing as part of their forum rules for over 20 years. If you post about sonic differences without sharing ABX test results.. you’re gone.

That should tell you something.

The ABX test is a method used to objectively compare audio equipment. It involves three inputs—A, B, and X, where X is randomly selected from either A or B. The listener must identify X without prior knowledge, and if they can’t consistently tell the difference, their input is considered irrelevant.

You have a program where you know what A is(an uncompressed wav file), you know what B is(a compressed 128 kbps AAC file), but you don’t know what X is. Every time you hit the X button, you are listening to either A or B - but you don’t know which. It is your job to figure out what X is, each time.

If you can’t get it right '''''12 out of 16 times''''', you didn’t hear a difference. It was all in your head.

Our memory for people’s voices is exceptional. Our ability to be honest with ourselves about our auditory memory is '''complete garbage'''. The reason for this is that we forget what something sounded like with regards to every sonic detail the moment we stop listening to it. It’s easy for our brain to ''“think”'' it heard a difference when it didn’t.

'''This is a good thing, right?'''

It depends how you see it.

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===== The upside of ABX testing: =====

If you can’t hear the difference between a $200 amplifier and a $20,000 amplifier, you just avoided breaking into your 401k for $19,800 worth of audiophile bs.

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===== The downside of ABX testing: =====

The crushing of fragile egos.

Read youtube comments sections. Anytime a company, a manufacturer, a developer, etc. screws a group of people over, there are two groups of people in the comments:

* People who are supportive
* People who say that everyone who made a difference choice than them in
** Who they voted for
** Who they worked for
** Who they did work for
** What software they bought
** What hardware they bought
** etc, etc. is an idiot.

This is done because it ''makes people feel better about themselves''. If I can hear the difference between a $5 cable and a $500 cable, it means I’m a connoisseur, unlike the plebs &amp; unwashed masses who can’t tell the difference. It also makes me '''feel''' like I am getting an upgrade when I am actually not. Above all, it gives people an ego boost, and who doesn’t want that?

* '''Audio Memory and Bias:'''
** Human auditory memory is fleeting. The moment you switch from one system to another, your ability to accurately remember the sound diminishes.
** This makes it easy to convince yourself that a more expensive component sounds better, even if it doesn’t.

<blockquote>'''Warning:''' Avoid falling for marketing gimmicks that promise crazy improvements whose vendors will hide from ABX testing. Forums like <code>hydrogenaudio</code> can offer a reality check with evidence-based discussions.
</blockquote>
By focusing on what ACTUALLY matters; speaker quality, room acoustics, and well-researched purchases—you can make a hi-fi system that satisfies both your ears and your wallet.

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