Firmware 12.3.0 + DOS 2.2.2

[Confused]

Expectation bias exists, ignore it at your peril. I have seen the above arguments many times, and very often they are entirely valid. There is an alternative view though that human beings can detect very subtle differences in sound. To be clear here, I am talking about the really tiny stuff. Anyone who has followed the "Blue Pill Red Pill" thread on CA might appreciate this point.

So here we have the dilemma, human hearing can detect the tiniest of things, but our brains can trick us to a greater extent. To be honest, I suspect audio forums will be debating this to the end of time. Someone claims a new power supply, cable or whatever has made an audible improvement, someone else will state this is just expectation bias.

Of course, there are limits to expectation bias and how much our brains can trick us. I am sure I could reliably tell if a particular track was being played via KEF Blades or an iPhone. I am sure I could do the same between KEF Reference 1's and the Blades too. So there are limits.

This is why the small details are so interesting. We can detect them, but also our brain can mislead us to a greater extent. Half of the battle is to be fully aware of this, so not to have the confidence that you can hear a difference between cable A and B, keep it in your mind that you might be being tricked. Earlier in this thread there was a bit of joshing about AIR comparisons. Oddly enough, I have found AIR to be extremely useful whilst messing about with my SOtM / Mutec kit. The reason being is that armed with an iPad running Roon and an iPhone with the Devialet remote app, it is possible to do very rapid level matched switches between AIR and the SOtM / Mutec kit. You can then listen to a short section of music, you can focus on one aspect of the music, switch repeat listen to another aspect, switch repeat and so on. This is hard work and takes a lot of concentration. (and eventually sends you bonkers and you have to stop) I am sure some folk will read this and think "what a nutter, why doesn't he just listen to music". OK - fair enough, we are all different, and once I have A/B tested stuff to death, this is actually the time I can forget all about the system and enjoy the music. I can do this because once I have done the work and I am satisfied that everything is as it should be, I can then forget about the system and listen to the tunes. There is also the fact that I quite enjoy this kind of stuff in an obsessive kind of way.

To be honest, I am sure a significant percentage of SQ observations you read on line are not that accurate, influenced by expectation bias, confirmation bias and so on. That said, it is wrong to generalise, some of these observations will be correct, some people can do it. It is based on experience, talent, knowledge and sometimes plain hard work, concentration and effort. Do I think I can do it with a high percentage of reliability? Well no actually, not all the time, I know I suffer from the same human foibles as everyone else, but as I said earlier, knowing it is half the battle.

Anyway, this is going off topic. Has anyone got any SQ observations for Firmware 12.3.0