"Audiophile Grade" Ethernet Switches - The new generation

[thumb5]

If we're trying to find out whether the ER does something objectively "real", listening reports are not evidence unless they are carried out under controlled conditions and are repeatable to some pre-defined degree of statistical significance.  Otherwise they are insignificant (to that particular question) especially as most (all?) of them so far come from a group that is self-selected for a bias towards expecting a sonic improvement.

Isn't audio about personal listening experience?  Having evidence based experiments under controlled conditions and making statistical significant claims on audio improvements of any audio product belongs to the realm of a university research thesis. Listening to music is an emotional experience which I enjoy; definitely not a scientific experiment.

Yes, of course it is, which is why I was careful to qualify my comments by saying that I am not denying what people hear.  The point you make is one I've expressed many times elsewhere on this forum.

The discussion prompted by @David A's comment which I replied to was about whether the ER has some objective effect that can be measured, which is a completely different proposition.  In fact it was David who brought the science -- or his perceived lack of it -- into this discussion a few posts back.  My point is that is not fair to criticise an objective measurement for being less than fully rigorous if you fail to apply the same standards to the claims being made by UpTone for the ER.  In other words, if you want science you should use it impartially to prove those claims; this would indeed involve a detailed research project, which, obviously, ain't gonna happen.