Blind tests and the "golden ears" myth

FWIW, the best strategy when playing the 'guess the rig' game in these kinds of 'ear test' videos is to make a "Whatever it is, that tone sux!" claim and then guess something lame but viable. i.e. 'Ampero Stomp', Guitar Rig 6 Plugin, etc.

  • If it turns out to be some expensive thing, it's on the poster for making it sound like a cheap modeler.
  • If it's an expensive digital rig, you are pretty close and it is on the poster for not making the thing sound even better.
  • If it's something SS, well there you go.
  • If it's an old POS modeler/processor, you look brilliant and can still claim golden ears.

And 90% of the time the person doing the vid is using something digital/funky/non-obvious because the point of these vids is usually to convince people they cannot tell.

There are gobs of these kinds of tests in A/B type formats over the years. I'd like to see an A/B style one where it did not call out when the tone is switching and then users have to say where the different amps/devices were used and how many different ones there were, etc.

Across years of being on gear forums, I'm already pretty well convinced of the premise, that for recording it is a done deal. Digital is the equal of tube stuff. Most of the people jumping into stuff like this post-reveal with a bunch of justifications or claims about 'knowing' always strike me as either clueless conformation bias junkies or disingenuous.
 
Elric said:
FWIW, the best strategy when playing the 'guess the rig' game in these kinds of 'ear test' videos is to make a "Whatever it is, that tone sux!" claim and then guess something lame but viable. i.e. 'Ampero Stomp', Guitar Rig 6 Plugin, etc.

  • If it turns out to be some expensive thing, it's on the poster for making it sound like a cheap modeler.
  • If it's an expensive digital rig, you are pretty close and it is on the poster for not making the thing sound even better.
  • If it's something SS, well there you go.
  • If it's an old POS modeler/processor, you look brilliant and can still claim golden ears.

And 90% of the time the person doing the vid is using something digital/funky/non-obvious because the point of these vids is usually to convince people they cannot tell.

There are gobs of these kinds of tests in A/B type formats over the years. I'd like to see an A/B style one where it did not call out when the tone is switching and then users have to say where the different amps/devices were used and how many different ones there were, etc.

Across years of being on gear forums, I'm already pretty well convinced of the premise, that for recording it is a done deal. Digital is the equal of tube stuff. Most of the people jumping into stuff like this post-reveal with a bunch of justifications or claims about 'knowing' always strike me as either clueless conformation bias junkies or disingenuous.
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This wasn't A/B, just "here are some tones". The recorded sounds were objectively bad -- not subjectively. Loads of noise; guitar playing that was not idiomatic to the tonal attempt; etc. The source of the badness seems to be use of a BBE Sonic Maximizer which I believe is well known to add a crap load of noise; trying to demonstrate tones that the person's guitar technique was incapable of demonstrating no matter what the rig; possibly basic engineering problems.
 
Boudoir Guitar said:
This wasn't A/B, just "here are some tones". The recorded sounds were objectively bad -- not subjectively. Loads of noise; guitar playing that was not idiomatic to the tonal attempt; etc. The source of the badness seems to be use of a BBE Sonic Maximizer which I believe is well known to add a crap load of noise; trying to demonstrate tones that the person's guitar technique was incapable of demonstrating no matter what the rig; possibly basic engineering problems.
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Sure. And I can sympathize as a long time BBE hater myself. That said, I've seen enough vids and done enough personal A/Bs to convince myself that current digital gear is holding absolutely nobody back from realizing their best musical vision right now.
 
Lysander said:
Ryan from Plague Scythe Studios recently uploaded a video asking viewers to guess his new amp setup...



...with an unsuprisingly surprising reveal:



There's a really good food for thought discussion over the end (~34:30) about gear holding people back from making music, and how we tend to listen with our eyes.
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God it reminds me of my teenage self running a metal zone into a Roland Cube 😭
 
I dig his videos, and what he’s going for. but knowing he commonly likes to put cheap gear to use made me think it’s probably something budget or out of favour to prove a point.

I’m not sure it actually proves anything - old crap gear made its way onto releases back then, and if it was good enough before then why not now?

The real test is whether he’d want to base his entire rig around it or make an entire project with that as the base. If that’s truly inspiring and results in killer music, then cool. I’d be really impressed. I think we all like to own stuff that makes us excited to use it, and an old pod probably ain’t going to do it for most. For someone who used one back in the day; there might be some nostalgia but I imagine even that will wear off quickly.

I feel bad saying it because he seems a genuinely nice dude, but I also struggle with how long his videos are, just because it takes a hell of a long time for him to make a relatively straightforward or dull point. I could have watched a feature length movie in the time these videos take to get through.
 
The clue to being on the wrong track is debating about gear with anyone in the first place. Players have access to all manner of choices. Try things out, pick what you like, and make music. Talk to others to get into a general ballpark, but leave their opinions behind once you plug in. The only opinion that matters is your own. Easy, really. It's only the insecurity to make sure you make the "right" choice or have the "best" gear that even prompts people to listen with their eyes in the first place.

I get that people like to talk gear. I do, too. But for a subset,"I like X and I don't like Y" has to be phrased "X is superior to Y" for some reason. For a subset, having a preference isn't enough. They have to assert themselves (or some "pros") as the authorities on what is best. Add in the weaponization of insecurity, nostalgia, and consumerism in the form of marketing, and pretty soon we're all debating which flavor of ice cream is best in part based on the color and shape of the cone. It's both funny and creepy, honestly.
 
Sascha Franck said:
What exactly was the reason for you to post this?
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iu
 
I'm reading back through this thread, and a few of my posts sound like a grumpy old fart. :rofl
 
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