How do you A-B test?

This may be a dumb question with a simple answer but I'll ask it anyway. When most of you talk about A-B testing it sounds as if you are playing the two discs simultaneously and switching back and forth to hear the differences. Is this true or are you (like me taking one disc listening to a segment taking it out and putting another disc in and listening to the same segment. My SACD player is so slow at loading up that this is a true pain in the butt, and the delay seems too long to really compare well. At the same time I do notice differences but not always so dramatic as some report. My system is still simple so this may have a lot to do with it.

At the same time although I can not always put my finger on why, usually when I put on a Steve Hoffman mastered disc there IS something that grabs me, it is just hard to say what.

 

floyd,

I A/B the way you do it and suspect that most people here do the same. The delay is a disadvantage but sometimes the differences are big enough that you can remember them.

I know what you mean about's Steve's masterings. While A/Bing a Steve disc to another version, I found that I would often just listen too the whole song as I didn't feel like stopping it. Steve's mastering grabs you (as you say).

Once that happens to you, you're hooked.

 

I sync the sources and A/B them with a switch. Other times I load them up into Cool Edit Pro, adjust for volume level, edit them together seamlessly, then compare. This second method is 100% accurate and foolproof.

 

so Grant you are running two cd players then right?

 

Here's where I get spoiled and can actually do a blind comparison. I'm not running an SACDP...yet, so the load-up time is only 3 sec. My lovely wife will switch the CD's without telling me which is which for a completely unbiased comparison. Easy to spot Steve's work once you are familiar with the "Steve Hoffman Mastering Signature".

 

Yes, but one isn't hooked up. I hate the sound of it. It's a Technics, and the only way I could tame the sound was to use a cheap Monstor cable on it. The only reason I keep it is for backup and it has a pitch control. It doesn't like CD-Rs much.

Anyway, I do what Dave does. Most other times I do what I stated in my post.

 

Dave,

It sounds like your wife is patient. My wife has done the same for me. In return, I watch decorating shows with her.

John

 

Wow! You sure get off easy! I have to vacumn the house.

 

I'd rather vaccum the house than clean the bathroom or kitchen...

 

Do you have the Sony 650V SACD player (like I do)? That thing takes forever to change from SACD to CD and back on hybrid discs. Takes awhile to advance from one disc to the next, too.

 

I have the sony ns500 it is single disc player and does take a long time to go from sacd to cd on a hybrid disc. Even when you put a new disc in it takes some time. I wish I had bought the next model up 777 I believe.

 

I do A/B comparisions of two discs using my two CD players. A new Sony SACD player (SCD-770, a european mid-priced model) and an older Sony CD player (the CDP-X777 heavyweight). The CD player has an adjustable volume output that I can use to set both discs at the same volume. Very often new remasterings are much louder.

I usually start the second disc half a minute after the first, so that I can listen to the same 30 second passage on both discs.


On the disc loading of Sony SACD players: mine is also rather slow compared to the CD player. But what is more annoying is that it defaults to the CD layer of a hybrid SACD if a CD has been played before the SACD. I always have to load the SACD, push a button to switch to the high-rez layer and then start playback.