Familiar repeated test music reveals loudspeaker flaws that unfamiliar excerpts cannot

Evidence

The efficiency and effectiveness of listening tests improves as listeners learn which aspects of performance to listen for during different portions of familiar programs. Select a number of short excerpts from music known to be revealing, and use them repeatedly in prerecorded randomized sequences. They can be edited and assembled on computers with pleasing segues to complete loops. It is not entertainment, but the selections must have some musical merit or they will be annoying. After many, many repetitions the music becomes just a test signal, but because of the familiarity, it is extremely informative. Because the circle of confusion is a reality, it is essential to use several selections from different sources, recording engineers, labels, etc. — Toole, Floyd E, Sound reproduction- the acoustics and…, 1139

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains the circle of confusion concept in the context of designing listening tests.