High fidelity

: High Fidelity is also the title of a book by Nick Hornby and a film directed by Stephen Frears, based on Hornby's book.

Ascertaining High Fidelity: Double-Blind Tests

Double-blind testing has been required in the approval of new medicines since about 1960. The double-blind audio listening test, however, was first described by Dan Shanefield in November of 1974 in the newsletter of the Boston Audio Society. This was later reported to the general public in High Fidelity magazine, March 1980. The double-blind listening comparison is now a standard procedure with almost all audio professionals respected in their field. For marketing purposes, a few manufacturers of very expensive audio equipment dispute the need for this test. A commonly-used improvement of this test is the ABX-listening comparison. This involves comparing two known audio sources (A and B) with either one of these when it has been randomly selected (X). The test and its associated equipment was developed by the Southeastern Michigan Woofer and Tweeter Marching Society (SMWTMS)--a semi-professional organization in Detroit that is very active in the double-blind testing of new audio components.

Related Topics:
Double-blind - Medicine - 1960 - 1974 - Boston Audio Society - ''High Fidelity'' - 1980 - Marketing

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