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previous: Steve A. Lee: &nb... -- 9/21/1999 2:06 AM

Re: The Hawthorne Effect

9/21/1999 12:37 PM
Lee	Re: The Hawthorne Effect Hi Steve, Actually, I think the placebo effect probably describes the phenomenon more closely. You expect to hear a change so you do hear a change. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying some (perhaps many) of the tweaks don't really change the sound. I'm contending that 1) the effect isn't nearly as dramatic as many would claim and 2) without a true double-blind test, the audio memory is so short you can't really be sure if it changed or not. This all from a guy who has done his share of tweaking and is still looking for "the ultimate tone" (apologies to Kevin O'Connor.) I've just about concluded that my problem is with my fingers rather than my gear Lee

9/21/1999 12:37 PM

Lee

Re: The Hawthorne Effect

Hi Steve,

Actually, I think the placebo effect probably describes the phenomenon more closely. You expect to hear a change so you do hear a change. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying some (perhaps many) of the tweaks don't really change the sound. I'm contending that 1) the effect isn't nearly as dramatic as many would claim and 2) without a true double-blind test, the audio memory is so short you can't really be sure if it changed or not.

This all from a guy who has done his share of tweaking and is still looking for "the ultimate tone" (apologies to Kevin O'Connor.) I've just about concluded that my problem is with my fingers rather than my gear ;-)

Lee

Replies:

jason I think you may be right to a point... -- 9/21/1999 1:38 PM