Blind Tests - Check for Yourself!

[cassembler]

I ran across an interesting website that has some nice blind testing you can do yourself. Free, no login, seems scientifically legit. Hard to argue with the results, and you're not being judged!

http://www.audiocheck.net/blindtests_index.php

Sound Levels - Good test
Frequency - Meh, white noise sucks to listen to. At least do a Kenny G solo.
Pitch - Good test
Time differences - Didn't like the test - there should be a short pause so my flinch response (i.e. mouse button) didn't interfere
Dynamic Range - Again the white noise, but it's illustrative
Perfect Pitch - Would be an awesome test if I had it
16 vs 8 bit - Bad test; both options are maxed-out audio, even the Niel Young. I was surprised though, totally couldn't nail this one.
Frequency Tests - Like perfect pitch for engineers, love it.

[martifingers]

Very interesting resource - thanks for the link. Interesting the way they calculate the odds of you being accurate as you progress in the test.

[Goldreap]

I won.

[DrKev]

I was surprised I performed so poorly on the pitch differences. I thought I could do 2 cent or 1 cent but failed at 5 cent. I wonder if it would have been easier with a real sound source (i.e. a tuned instrument) rather than a sine wave. Or had I not had a beer and the wife doing her nails next to me.

But I was also surprised that I did so well on the 16bit/8bit tests. i nailed the Gangnam style (17/18) but I had no idea why. My suspicion is fluke result. I initially failed the Neil Young test and then listened to the examples of quantization distortion and dither. Then had no problem on the test a second time!

[slipstick]

I tried the tests. It turns out I'm not blind but I am pretty much deaf. Say what?

Steve

[cassembler]

Originally Posted by DrKev

I was surprised I performed so poorly on the pitch differences. I thought I could do 2 cent or 1 cent but failed at 5 cent. I wonder if it would have been easier with a real sound source (i.e. a tuned instrument) rather than a sine wave. Or had I not had a beer and the wife doing her nails next to me.

But I was also surprised that I did so well on the 16bit/8bit tests. i nailed the Gangnam style (17/18) but I had no idea why. My suspicion is fluke result. I initially failed the Neil Young test and then listened to the examples of quantization distortion and dither. Then had no problem on the test a second time!

Opposite for me, I nailed up to 1 cent, but couldn't get either bit depth test. Will try again after some ear calibration.

[gentleclockdivider]

fmsw
I could only hear up to 15 Khz .( I am 40 )
I used to get to 18 Khz

[Glennbo]

Originally Posted by gentleclockdivider

fmsw
I could only hear up to 15 Khz .( I am 40 )
I used to get to 18 Khz

I do not like that test one bit, and will now be blaming my near fields and headphones for the poor results I received when taking the test!

I'm just sure I can really hear all the way up to 21.5 Khz, so it's gotta be my playback equipment!

[RDBOIS]

level: 1db yes, 0.5 nope

upper limit: 20hz

pitch: 5c yes, 2c nope

shortest time difference: 1ms - failed right away

masking: 48 db yes, 54db nope

perfect pitch: nope - i can tell distinguish most intervals, and hear notes off pitch, sing on key, but can't blindly tell if what HZ is what note, unless I've been recently playing an instrument

phase: what ch'you tak'n about willis?

16 VS 8 bit: yes, but ohhhh man that was probably my limit right there! Would of failed for sure 16 vs 24bit

EQ band: so so - 63%

EQ notch: fail fail fail

Discriminative Frequency Training Test: 69%

Timing 5ms: 55%

[cassembler]

Originally Posted by gentleclockdivider

fmsw
I could only hear up to 15 Khz .( I am 40 )
I used to get to 18 Khz

Right there with you, and I'm 38 if it makes you feel any better.

EDIT: I'd like to take this test with some real-life material though, something with percussion, strings, etc. White noise just sucks to listen to for discerning nuances.

[DrKev]

Originally Posted by gentleclockdivider

fmsw
I could only hear up to 15 Khz .( I am 40 )
I used to get to 18 Khz

As a kid I could tell when the TV was switched on even withe the sound off because there was a 22k whine from the electronics. Right now, 14.7k is my limit (and totally normal for my almost 45 years).

[pipelineaudio]

If you can hear 2cents, a highly regarded orchestra would be MURDER to you. Even 10 cents

Kudos to the masochists who can hear 1 cent and still somehow play or conduct symphonies...I'd be sticking hot pokers through my ears

[DrKev]

Originally Posted by pipelineaudio

If you can hear 2cents, a highly regarded orchestra would be MURDER to you. Even 10 cents

Kudos to the masochists who can hear 1 cent and still somehow play or conduct symphonies...I'd be sticking hot pokers through my ears

Remember this is an unrealistsic test and context is everything. Simple waveforms, no cother competing sounds, and a direct immediate comparison. I doubt anyone will hear one violin string 3 cents out as part of an orchestra, whereas many musicians will probably object one string 3 cents out on a guitar chord. (Of course in equal temperament tuning major and minor thirds are 3 cents out from just intonation, it just goes to show that most people can learn to accept a well-tuned piano or guitar and not notice the slight mistuning in the chords.)

[Goldreap]

In tempered tuning (compared to just intonation) maj 3rds are 14 cents sharp, min 3rds are 16 cents flat. Applying a bit of gentle vibrato helps disguise this. An experienced guitarist will also adjust the intervals where possible by applying finger pressure along the string towards the nut to sharpen or towards the bridge to flatten...and of course some guitarists will slightly re-tune strings to counteract certain expected glaring discrepancies in particular keys/ pieces. All this is less of an issue for acoustic piano because of the two or three strings per note thing..they won't be absolutely perfect unisons anyway, and the variances will change with time and weather...this disguises the tempered problem...it's part of the desired and expected sound of a piano. Similarly, part of the charm of for example a 'section' of violins is that they are not perfectly in tune with each other...the slight modulating variances disguise the raw tempered problems and give the section that smooth 'chorus' sound.
But yes, the perception of tuning is not just a matter of measuring or hearing cents...but more a matter of 'relative to what?'. For example, a tempered perfect 5th is 2 cents flat... someone might not be able to hear a 2 cent shift as in this test, but they can hear the beats in a tempered 5th interval.

[martifingers]

There is an interesting discussion here of these issues in a very famous Beatles context:
https://cms.math.ca/notes/v43/n1/Notesv43n1.pdf
Yes it's a Maths journal but the article is highly readable.

[Goldreap]

Originally Posted by martifingers

There is an interesting discussion here of these issues in a very famous Beatles context:
https://cms.math.ca/notes/v43/n1/Notesv43n1.pdf
Yes it's a Maths journal but the article is highly readable.

Thanks, enjoyed reading that.