Measurement vs listening

Evaluation method and design philosophy

Answers on this topic

• Do measurements tell you how good a DAC sounds, and is Rob an objectivist or a subjectivist?
• What is noise floor modulation, how does Rob measure it, and why does he say it is audible below what can be measured?
• Why do passive components, inductors and ferrites in the signal path affect sound even when they measure perfectly?
• Why does Rob distinguish perception from hearing, and why does he distrust psychoacoustic thresholds?

Everything he said on this topic (144)

One-line summaries in our words, oldest first. Each link opens the original.

• 2014-06-03Watts says blanket claims like "native DSD is best" are usually wrong, that audio is too complex to judge without careful AB listening tests, and that such tests overturned his own assumptions. Audiophile Style, Jun 2014
• 2014-08-03Watts says Qute is technically very similar to Hugo yet Hugo is radically different musically, and he is unsure why. article, Aug 2014
• 2014-08-24Watts says some audible distortions are unmeasurable yet measurements matter, extra amps degrade transparency, and transparency aids musicality through variation and reduced brain strain. Head-Fi, Aug 2014
• 2014-10-22Watts describes his general and specific listening tests, three test tracks, single-blind checks, variation as the test of transparency, misleading noise bursts, and measuring before serious listening. Head-Fi, Oct 2014
• 2015-02-02Watts says DACs sound the same only if you don't listen or are very hard of hearing, noting different DACs measure very differently. Head-Fi, Feb 2015
• 2015-04-15Watts says DAC chips are designed to cost and marketing specs, verified by measurements without listening tests, so tiny but significant errors that listening reveals go unaddressed. article, Apr 2015
• 2015-04-15Watts says he assumes nothing about audibility, tests by listening, and pushes each parameter until he hears no difference, which he calls Hugo's big difference from other devices. article, Apr 2015
• 2015-06-27Watts defines noise floor modulation, says it is audible at immeasurable levels, and shows APx555 plots of Dave with an unchanged noise floor near -180dB with and without signal. Head-Fi, Jun 2015
• 2015-07-19Watts says the USB source was his worst-sounding Dell T1650, measurements matter before listening, yet he often hears clear differences that measure identically. Head-Fi, Jul 2015
• 2015-07-31Watts gives crosstalk of 120dB, distortion below -150dB and 21-bit noise, says such numbers do not show sound quality, and compares headphone drive with TT. Head-Fi, Jul 2015
• 2015-10-01Watts says metal contacts and noise shapers cause the same small-signal distortion that truncates depth, the brain detects levels no instrument measures, and HF distortion alters transient timing. Head-Fi, Oct 2015
• 2015-12-30Watts says Dave sets a new benchmark in soundstage and measurements, criticizes reviewers who dismiss measured distortion as inaudible, and says removing any measurable distortion improves sound. Head-Fi, Dec 2015
• 2016-03-28Watts's first blog post sets out his listening-test method and nine attributes to judge, argues the brain resolves errors below hearing thresholds, and defines musicality as emotional engagement. Head-Fi, Mar 2016
• 2016-03-29Watts says AB tests struggle to tell transparency from noise floor modulation, that better noise shapers in DAVE improved depth, and that Verilog simulation can quantify very small errors. Head-Fi, Mar 2016
• 2016-07-24Watts says a non-audiophile engineer found the 200 dB noise shaper easily beat the 180 dB one considered perfect, reported this to his company, and the arguments stopped. Hifistatement 9:49
• 2016-07-24Watts says reference modulation is not measurable but very audible; his reference has 0.5 of a milliohm impedance to each flip-flop; a digital DC servo removes coupling capacitors and offset. Hifistatement 4:13
• 2017-03-04Watts says his cable work showed oxides cause small-signal non-linearity that harms depth yet is unmeasurable, and DAVE noise-shaper tests show any small-signal error is audible. Head-Fi, Mar 2017
• 2017-03-15Watts posts his CanJam Singapore Hugo 2 slides: WTA2 to 256FS, filter options and advice, DSD filtering, noise shapers and depth, crossfeed, and APx555 measurements showing no noise floor modulation. Head-Fi, Mar 2017
• 2017-04-05Watts agrees numbers cannot show emotional involvement but says they matter, since every measured improvement he has made also improved sound quality. Head-Fi, Apr 2017
• 2017-10-13Watts says adopting that approach produced very surprising results and that audio chips are always designed by measured performance. miceblue425 5:21
• 2017-10-13Watts says the chip engineers he worked with never discussed sound quality, only measurements, then introduces the interaural delay neurons linking the left and right ears. miceblue425 5:42
• 2017-10-13Watts says measurements must be right and give certainty; improving them, all else equal, has always improved sound, while some designers use distortion to change the sound. miceblue425 50:53
• 2017-10-13Watts says a company paid millions for IP he patented, hired him for 3 years to transfer it, and its bright engineers insisted it could not affect sound. miceblue425 55:01
• 2017-11-17Watts says the effect cannot be measured but is audible, citing a -350 dB noise shaper's depth gain; speaker cables are audible to milliohms, once fixed by his amps' feedback. Head-Fi, Nov 2017
• 2017-12-05Watts describes the silicon design business view that no one hears below minus 90 dB, so DACs running at 120 dB are already perfect. RMAF 2:29
• 2017-12-05Watts says differences at minus 180 dB at 20 kHz and tiny noise floor modulation should not be audible, yet are, so assumptions fail and listening tests are needed. RMAF 5:33
• 2017-12-05Watts says his son, a guitarist and not an audiophile, heard an unannounced code change, showing tiny differences matter, and sets a target of 144 dB or below per harmonic. RMAF 16:30
• 2017-12-05Watts says pulse array's lower noise avoids input stage overload and NFM, Hugo 2 and DAVE use an analog noise shaper amplifier, and audiophile design swung from measurement to listening. RMAF 46:31
• 2017-12-05Watts says many listeners prefer distortion without knowing it, leading to endless correction, and calls measurements a kind of objective reality that depends on what is measured and calibration. RMAF 47:15
• 2017-12-05Watts says measurements must be interpreted correctly but skipping them throws the baby out with the bathwater, and he uses the APx555. RMAF 47:59
• 2017-12-26Watts says he aims to recover the original bandwidth-limited analog signal with as little change as possible, because that gives the best sound and the best measurements. Audiophile Style, Dec 2017
• 2017-12-31Watts describes his method: identify an aberration, test its audibility by listening, reduce it until inaudible, using simulation to -300 dB, aiming to close the gap to live music. Head-Fi, Dec 2017
• 2018-01-22Watts describes a planned transient-error measurement, fearing 164,000 versus 1M taps may measure small, and recounts how cutting Dave's harmonics from -130dB to -150dB was unexpectedly audible. Head-Fi, Jan 2018
• 2018-01-23Watts says simulating the transient test would take enormous time, so hardware is easier; the harmonic-reduction change was not RF noise, and repeated tests are building evidence it is audible. Head-Fi, Jan 2018
• 2018-02-27Watts says the percentage came from a poster wanting a number; he prefers accuracy to a sinc in bits, but sound quality matters and only careful listening tests reveal it. Head-Fi, Feb 2018
• 2018-03-31Watts says he backs everything with measurements, every measured improvement sounds better, listening tests alone fail because people prefer distortion, and he aims to recreate a live unamplified orchestra. article, Mar 2018
• 2018-04-14Watts says ADCs may not resolve cable differences; compression tests on poor tracks prove little, but MP3 or AAC 320 sound softer and warmer than redbook, obvious on BluDave. Head-Fi, Apr 2018
• 2018-04-28Watts says he has not seen interconnect measurement issues at milliamp signal currents, but depth and detail problems are audible from errors too small to measure. Head-Fi, Apr 2018
• 2018-04-30Watts says the SYS2722 cannot measure Dave (-118dB versus -128dB on an APx555), calls NFM a top-3 SQ indicator, and uses Verilog simulation to verify -350dB and -300.99dB performance. Head-Fi, Apr 2018
• 2018-09-24Watts says any varying transient timing error is audible however small, citing audible gains from half a million to one million taps and 350 dB over 330 dB noise shapers. Head-Fi, Sep 2018
• 2018-09-27Watts distinguishes perception from hearing, argues brain correlation exposes errors below noise, and recounts a single-blind -180 vs -200 dB noise shaper test an engineer heard easily. Head-Fi, Sep 2018
• 2018-10-13Watts says Qutest sounds very different from the Yggdrasil, preference is the buyer's choice, and they measure very differently, with measurements mattering profoundly. Head-Fi, Oct 2018
• 2018-12-12Watts says a Class D amplifier's noise floor moves from minus 115 dB at full output to about minus 130 dB; reducing NFM sounds warmer, and unmeasurable levels remain audible. Pursuit Perfect System 11:05
• 2018-12-12Watts says oxide joints present higher impedance to microvolt signals, mathematically identical to the noise shaper issue, and that 100 meters of poor versus good copper cable measured no different. Pursuit Perfect System 28:35
• 2018-12-12Watts says the cable depth difference was easily heard, 350 dB is unmeasurable, any error is audible, and digital cables' RF creates audible noise floor modulation. Pursuit Perfect System 29:21
• 2018-12-12Watts says immeasurably small errors are audible and the ear and brain are incredibly sensitive. Pursuit Perfect System 30:04
• 2019-03-04Watts says removing harmonic distortion while ignoring noise floor modulation sounds bright and analytical, while eliminating noise floor modulation restores warmth, and shares TT2 measurements. Head-Fi, Mar 2019
• 2019-05-28Watts says 2 uS of 1 kHz jitter on SPDIF measures nothing down to -180 dB, and rejects a salesman label, calling himself a measurement and controlled-listening designer. Head-Fi, May 2019
• 2019-07-17Watts says a DX output is dual AES plus volume data, then argues listening judgements and measurements both need great care, saying only the APx555 measures noise floor modulation accurately. Head-Fi, Jul 2019
• 2019-12-16Watts says 200 to 350 dB differences are so tiny he risks being called a lunatic for calling them audible, and does not understand why the brain is so sensitive. Passion for Sound 14:20
• 2019-12-16Watts says he feared objectivists would call him a lunatic for needing better than 200 dB when 140 dB is held sufficient, but consistent listening tests convinced him to publish. Passion for Sound 15:34
• 2019-12-19Watts says standard measurements use steady-state signals without transients, so reconstruction accuracy only matters when transients are involved. Passion for Sound 20:54
• 2020-01-02Watts says the two Qutest filters measure identically yet sound different; WTA1 outputs every 1.3 microseconds and a second WTA stage outputs every 88 nanoseconds. Passion for Sound 3:38
• 2020-01-02Watts says his DACs still have noise floor modulation, just none measurable, and immeasurable modulation can still be audible; he begins with a saxophone example. Passion for Sound 7:31
• 2020-01-02Watts says they will still have residual noise floor modulation, which might still be audible. Passion for Sound 10:24
• 2020-01-02Watts says RF causes noise floor modulation; adding RF filters to Hugo 2's USB made it sound like optical, unlike Hugo, with no measurable change, so unmeasurable modulation matters. Passion for Sound 12:11
• 2020-01-02Watts says measurements-only and listening-only camps are both wrong; any signal-related distortion or noise he sees ends up audible however small, so measurements should not be thrown away. Passion for Sound 13:06
• 2020-01-02Watts says throwing listening tests away is bad and both measurements and listening must be used. Passion for Sound 13:50
• 2020-01-06Watts says Chord can be demoed at Dubai Audio, where he holds events on the 20th and 21st, and that SINAD and distortion do not show how it sounds. Head-Fi, Jan 2020
• 2020-05-04Watts says USB matters through RF noise and signal-correlated ground currents, that his tests find noise floor modulation at -180 to -200 dB audible, and Chord USB filtering suffices. Head-Fi, May 2020
• 2020-06-25Watts says his semiconductor background made him value measurements as one way to assess transparency, and his first prototype reached about -130 dB, comparable to the best DACs. Part-Time Audiophile 33:21
• 2020-06-25Watts says his son noticed the change unprompted; lower distortion improves clarity and detail, and assuming distortion below the ear's roughly -90 dB sine-wave limit is inaudible is dangerous. Part-Time Audiophile 35:33
• 2020-07-26Watts says numbers tell the complete engineering story, depending on which numbers and their interpretation, but cannot account for personal taste. Head-Fi, Jul 2020
• 2020-10-19Watts says a poster's USB versus optical difference on Dave fits RF raising noise floor modulation, though he heard only a tiny change, and says he has heard NFM below -180 dB. Head-Fi, Oct 2020
• 2021-03-15Watts says quick measurements on non-APx555 gear reveal little, measurements matter but interpretation is paramount, and chip DACs fail on brick-wall response, small-signal accuracy and noise floor modulation. Head-Fi, Mar 2021
• 2021-05-04Watts says audible changes need a science-based explanation, citing ADC-project sample rate converter tests (aliasing from -200 to below -350 dB) his son heard blind, and M scaler tempo perception. Head-Fi, May 2021
• 2021-08-30Watts says PSU leakage current is mostly 100Hz and inaudible, Xilinx lead times are 55 weeks, and more FPGA space would mainly benefit WTA2 and filters up to 104MHz. Head-Fi, Aug 2021
• 2021-11-24Watts says room setup gets quick with experience, he uses TT2 single-ended, and errors at -300dB are audible even single blind, explaining why cables measure identically but sound different. Head-Fi, Nov 2021
• 2021-11-30Watts lists his flight and hotel kit, says measurements catch gross flaws, and that the brain compensates for transducer distortion but not digital errors like NFM and timing errors. Head-Fi, Nov 2021
• 2021-12-14Watts says effectively zero errors remain audible; he minimizes placebo and confirms extraordinary results with blind tests with his son. Head-Fi, Dec 2021
• 2022-03-19Watts says noise floor modulation blurs sounds together and makes warm things bright, and is audible well below measurable levels, so he publishes claims about measurable noise floor modulation. MFG Audio Reviews 7:30
• 2022-03-19Watts says his products have no measurable noise floor modulation but some unmeasurable amount that is still audible, and his research found the subjective limit much smaller than expected. MFG Audio Reviews 8:20
• 2022-03-22Watts says listening takes priority but measurements are vital and do not conflict; better measurements always improve listening, and he listens only once designs work technically. article, Mar 2022
• 2022-03-22Watts says digital-domain measurements reveal audible things; differences he heard were not analog-measurable but showed up in simulation or captured digital data. article, Mar 2022
• 2022-04-09Watts says -301 dB is about 600 electrons driving a Stealth, yet many listening tests, some blind, show it matters, as with Dave versus TT2's small difference. Head-Fi, Apr 2022
• 2022-04-12Watts says the brain copes with harmonic distortion (cochlea about 4% THD) but not small signal distortion, noise floor modulation, anharmonic or timing errors, justifying -301dB accuracy. Head-Fi, Apr 2022
• 2022-04-14Watts explains Verilog module simulation, says improving Dave's noise shapers from 200dB to 350 dB improved depth each step, and treats the -301 dB test as his transparency metric. Head-Fi, Apr 2022
• 2022-07-21Watts says non-supplied PSUs void Chord's warranty, linear supplies lack 100 kHz to 10 GHz RF filtering, and transient timing reconstruction differs from transient response, which only listening tests reveal. Head-Fi, Jul 2022
• 2022-07-25Watts recounts DAVE's nearly 3-year development, questions Stereophile's 16-bit measurements, cites -127dB A-weighted, calls SINAD worthless, and says filters must reconstruct transient timing. Head-Fi, Jul 2022
• 2022-08-19Watts says correlating error levels from digital simulation with sound quality shows that very small errors that could never be measured are perceptible, showing how sensitive hearing is. AVstore 24:23
• 2022-08-19Watts says what matters is musicality, and describes two types of DAC designers, the first relying only on measurements and never listening. AVstore 43:59
• 2022-08-19Watts says designers who only listen create a fixed rich-warm or bright sound so everything sounds alike, whereas live unamplified music is about variation. AVstore 44:33
• 2022-09-06Watts says measurements correlate weakly with listening and depend on intent, his published results represent production DAVEs, and buyers should listen at home before purchasing. Head-Fi, Sep 2022
• 2022-09-14Watts recounts RF filters warming the sound since the 1980s, and says a null result with Mojo 2's flat UHD DSP HF filter shows the effect is noise floor modulation. Head-Fi, Sep 2022
• 2022-09-18Watts says before the DSP EQ, rolling off at 20 kHz would let anyone measuring criticize Chord for not being ruler flat. The Source AV 38:53
• 2023-01-04Watts says his portable DACs sound bright and flat for about 10 minutes on flights, perhaps from cabin pressure, though they measure identically from cold; warm-up is not a problem. Head-Fi, Jan 2023
• 2023-02-04Watts says it makes no sense that such tiny errors are audible, but they are; critics say he invents the numbers; he spent 15 years designing silicon chip IP. Dusty Audio 25:22
• 2023-02-04Watts says Chord DACs from Mojo 2 to Dave have no measurable noise floor modulation, all others do, and that any amount, however small, is subjectively important. Dusty Audio 33:58
• 2023-02-04Watts says noise floor changes at -350 dB still impair instrument separation and timbre; they show only in digital simulation, never with real test equipment, yet remain audible. Dusty Audio 34:43
• 2023-02-05Watts says this measures badly and sounds worse; measurements serve to reduce identified problems, and switch-mode supplies have much lower ripple that does not vary with signal level. Soundnews 35:05
• 2023-03-03Watts says subjectivism trumps objectivism but listening must be rigorous, part changes never degrade performance, M Scaler gains were clearer with tube amps, and he writes all FPGA code. Head-Fi, Mar 2023
• 2023-03-19Watts shares a 16-bit -90.3dB undithered test of the returned Stereophile Dave, points to PWM DAC slides, and says measurements show how bad, not how good, something sounds. Head-Fi, Mar 2023
• 2023-03-20Watts says the huge difference between live unamplified and reproduced sound, despite chains outperforming the ears on distortion and noise, is why measurements cannot simply be accepted. Head-Fi, Mar 2023
• 2023-03-26Watts says measurements tell you how bad something is, never how good; something can measure superbly and sound dire, and valve power amplifiers usually measure worse than solid state. Eric's Hi-Fi 28:42
• 2023-03-26Watts says average valve amplifiers likely have better staging, depth and musicality than solid state despite 10 or 100 times more distortion; measurements mainly show fitness for purpose. Eric's Hi-Fi 29:25
• 2023-03-26Watts says listening tests are the most important reality, while careful, correct measurements reveal problems to fix; conventional measurements say little. Eric's Hi-Fi 30:09
• 2023-03-26Watts says he hears -350 dB errors found in digital simulation that analog test gear cannot measure, and claims no measurable noise floor modulation in any of his DACs. Eric's Hi-Fi 31:00
• 2023-03-26Watts says residual unmeasurable noise floor modulation is audible as warmth and smoothness changes, explaining power supply differences and why USB cables or optical versus USB sound different. Eric's Hi-Fi 32:01
• 2023-03-26Watts says listening matters most but audiophiles may prefer distortion; his goal is closing the gap to live unamplified sound using measurements and careful, controlled listening tests. Eric's Hi-Fi 32:50
• 2023-03-28Watts says that view ignores how the brain processes sound; psychoacoustic tests examine only the ear, and audio chips are designed to specs rather than listening tests. The Headphone Show 37:51
• 2023-03-28Watts recounts a company that bought his IP: an engineer in a listening test heard a 180 dB versus 200 dB noise shaper difference he had predicted. The Headphone Show 39:27
• 2023-03-28Watts says higher-order and anharmonic distortion are big problems, and generally anything measurable has an audible consequence. The Headphone Show 40:57
• 2023-03-28Watts says he targets 24-bit performance with harmonics below -144 dB, and out-of-band distortion at 250 kHz proved audible when he reduced it. The Headphone Show 41:40
• 2023-10-01Watts says engineers would call designing to -301 dB idiotic; ten years ago he said 200 dB sufficed for a noise shaper, but you know nothing unless you listen. The Source AV 22:41
• 2023-10-01Watts says that unless you do a carefully constructed objective listening test, you know nothing. The Source AV 23:26
• 2023-10-01Watts describes evaluating an error, reducing it and listening repeatedly, and says other designers either just play with the sound or are technical and do not listen. The Source AV 23:31
• 2023-10-01Watts says he is technically based but does a lot of careful listening. The Source AV 23:59
• 2024-03-20Watts says however small noise floor modulation is, it can still be heard. MFG Audio Reviews 15:34
• 2024-03-20Watts says noise floor modulation hundreds of dB down is audible, shown by simulating errors digitally and listening, which is why cables can change brightness with zero measurable difference. MFG Audio Reviews 15:45
• 2024-03-20Watts says passive components change sound, doubted mainly by people who never listen; errors well below the hearing threshold are audible because they interfere with the brain's processing. MFG Audio Reviews 41:15
• 2024-03-20Watts explains dielectric absorption, where surface charges discharge slowly, making electrolytic and tantalum capacitors sound warm and soft in the bass, an error steady sine-wave measurements miss. MFG Audio Reviews 51:15
• 2024-05-10Watts defines noise floor modulation as noise pumping with the signal, says it sounds artificially bright yet seems more transparent, is audible below measurable limits, and explains why digital cables sound different. Reactcore 0
• 2024-07-12Teaser clip: Watts says 100 meters of poor cable and a short audiophile cable measured no different in distortion but sounded massively different in detail resolution and depth. HIFICLUB 0
• 2024-07-12Watts says Quartet taught him that the Hugo M Scaler's better-than-16-bit reconstruction is not enough; much better is needed, with effects too small for measurement equipment. HIFICLUB 20:23
• 2024-07-12Watts says the client's engineers argued that errors below the threshold of audibility do not matter when he insisted designs must be done a certain way because it sounded better. HIFICLUB 22:44
• 2024-07-12Watts says the brain perceives errors below audibility thresholds; he had an engineer compare noise shapers at 180 dB and 200 dB distortion and noise at his home. HIFICLUB 23:24
• 2024-07-12Watts says the non-audiophile engineer found the minus 180 vs minus 200 dB difference night and day, and his report ended the company's arguments. HIFICLUB 24:09
• 2024-07-12Watts says the company set up a listening room; careful listening tests reveal unmeasurable but important effects, and forty years on he is still finding improvements. HIFICLUB 25:01
• 2024-07-12Watts says with analog simple is better; interconnects, speaker cables, solder joints and plating matter, yet 100 meters of poor cable measured no distortion difference from a short audiophile cable. HIFICLUB 25:48
• 2024-07-12Watts says cables measure the same but sound different because the brain perceives tiny errors, which is why minus 301 dB accuracy is needed and analog must stay simple. HIFICLUB 27:26
• 2024-07-12Watts says he has found no lower limit to audible noise floor modulation, below minus 300 dB, so making DACs independent of source and mains takes much more work. HIFICLUB 48:04
• 2025-01-08Watts says valve amps easily sound musical but bipolar can sound better, estimates 38 to 76 hours of Hugo M Scaler use per car battery, and says measurements ignore transients. Head-Fi, Jan 2025
• 2025-01-09Watts describes a transient reconstruction test giving the M Scaler 22-bit accuracy but says raw numbers miss perception, and rejects an extra amp since DAVE drives Stealth to ear-damaging levels. Head-Fi, Jan 2025
• 2025-05-12Watts says conventional filters taper sinc coefficients for measured performance, causing audible timing errors whatever the tap count, so the coefficient algorithm matters greatly, and traditional algorithms skip listening tests. Audiophile Junkie 9:19
• 2026-03-17Watts says copper oxide is non-linear, attenuating small signals more, like noise shapers, yet 100 meters of poor cable measured no more distortion than one meter of silver-plated PTFE solid-core. ecoustics 46:39
• 2026-03-17Watts says that since errors matter down to 300 dB, cable losses will never be measurable, and putting a number on an error explains its effect. ecoustics 47:23
• 2026-03-17Watts says this explains why cables make a big difference while their effects can never be measured. ecoustics 48:04
• 2026-03-17Watts says a -301 dB error is perceivable, not audible; by measurements such as 0.007% headphone distortion and perfect DAC noise we should already have perfection. ecoustics 49:13
• 2026-03-17Watts says reproduction is still clearly unlike live music because people consider the ear, a poor transducer, rather than what the brain does with the information. ecoustics 49:59
• 2026-03-17Watts says what the brain does cannot be measured; it is a perceptual issue, not an audio one. ecoustics 50:43
• 2026-05-03Watts says only carefully structured listening tests show whether an error matters; some measurable things have no audible impact, while other errors stay perceptible however small. Audio Force 3:30
• 2026-05-03Watts says measurements matter for finding the size of an error, using advanced mathematical tools, but what counts is whether the error has audible consequences. Audio Force 4:28
• 2026-05-03Watts says FPGA simulation can show an error at say minus 300 dB, then listening reveals whether reducing it matters; listening is far more important than measurements. Audio Force 5:12
• 2026-05-03Watts says noise floor modulation degrades instrument separation and causes listening fatigue, and is perceivable however small, even when impossible to measure. Audio Force 13:50
• 2026-10-02Watts says the two key factors are theory and listening. HiFi Buys 8:44
• 2026-10-02Watts says some designers rely only on measurements and theory and others only on listening, while he is strong on both, and asks what one is trying to achieve. HiFi Buys 8:50
• 2026-10-02Watts says a couple of dB change in a background noise that is inaudible on sensible headphones cannot be heard as noise, yet it makes a big difference. HiFi Buys 54:03
• 2026-10-02Watts says NFM of a couple of dB on a -160 dB noise floor affects timbre and instrument separation; in listening tests you cannot hear it but you perceive it. HiFi Buys 56:59
• 2026-10-02Watts says impossibly small numbers should not matter, but suspects the brain uses correlation, which can resolve infinitely small signals given enough time, to separate sounds. HiFi Buys 57:57
• 2026-10-02Watts says intellectually it makes no sense, but under blind conditions other listeners independently report that depth sounds better. HiFi Buys 1:22:59
• 2026-10-02Watts says people base their expectations on what they see rather than what they hear. HiFi Buys 1:55:37
• 2026-10-14Watts guesses that audiophile loudspeakers are voiced mostly by listening while pro speakers rely more on measurements, stressing this is supposition. Part-Time Audiophile 10:11
• 2026-10-14Watts says measurements are crucial for transparency, opposes using distortion to make every recording sound rich and warm, and finds live unamplified sound easily emotional. Part-Time Audiophile 10:53
• 2026-10-14Watts says conventional engineers equate hearing with ear performance, assuming distortion and noise below audibility thresholds give perfect sound, which today's chains achieve. Part-Time Audiophile 17:52