Christian Luther

Author Archives: Christian Luther

Research & Development Engineer in the audio industry and the creator of The Science of Sound.

The Why and How of Blind Testing

Let’s face it: listening isn’t objective at all. Especially when it comes to the subtle details. The influence of preconceptions and current state of mind can be huge. And if we can’t back our impressions by measurements, the last resort to get an objective view of sonic reality is blind testing. Here’s a short introduction to the basic issues and techniques.

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How To Test a Synth Filter

The filters in analog synthesizers have always been fascinating and also subject to a lot of discussion about what makes them special. With a little experience, it’s possible to distinguish different synthesizer models mostly by the sound of their filters. But it’s often hard to put the finger on what it is exactly that makes it so distinguishable. Here’s a step by step walkthrough on what to try and what to listen for.

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Three Months and Counting

This week, The Science of Sound turns three months. Although that’s not exactly a biblical age, it’s nevertheless something to celebrate. In fact, most blogs don’t survive that long. So I’d like to take the time today to recap the first three months a little bit and take a look into the future.

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Knowledge and Experience

Much of the content here on The Science of Sound is about scientific facts, gaining knowledge and understanding isolated aspects of audio. This zoomed-in perspective is often the only way to create an objective description of reality, or “truth”. But an inevitable consequence of zooming in is losing sight of the bigger picture. Today I’d like to zoom out a bit and think about this essential question: “What are we accumulating all this knowledge for?”

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