Blind test

Can you really hear the difference?

When you know what is playing, your brain helps you hear a difference even when there is none. And a slightly louder sound always seems better. This test compares blind and at equal loudness, so at the end you know whether you really hear a difference or are just guessing.

Everything runs in your browser. Your audio files are not sent anywhere.

1What to compare

The sample is synthetic music made right in your browser. In the loudness tests the level is deliberately not matched: that is the point of them.

2Number of trials

Listening

Switch between A, B and X as often as you like. Playback continues from the same place, so you compare the same passage. Then decide whether X is A or B.

First choose on the left what you want to compare and press Prepare test.

How to test fairly

  • Use headphones or a quiet room and your normal listening level.
  • Find a short passage where the difference is easiest to hear and keep switching back and forth on it.
  • Your own recordings must be made the same way: same microphone, same position, same part of the song.
  • One good score can be luck. If the test went well, repeat it.

Why blind

When listeners can see what is playing, they judge differently from when they do not know. Large loudspeaker studies have shown this. The article on hi-fi and high-end explains how to compare fairly and where the differences really are large.

Hi-fi and high-end: what is the difference →