[black_eagle]

humm, my ears don't point up. how does that work ?

Like this if you want to read it !! http://faculty.washington.edu/lawerner/s...ev_loc.pdf

Quick answer, it's mostly built into your brainstem.

[l'pc]

Well, is there a way to positively demonstrate that the human ear (or _your_ ear?) can hear the difference between two different formats/codecs/whatever ? Aside from some good old ABX testing ?

I mean, we can make very good microphones/testing equipment that may be way more sensitive than our ears are. Thus, we could objectively say that A is better than B based off objective mesures, even though it would be virtually identical to the ear.

For example, I haven't seen an amplifier which produced bad sound, yet detailed analysis (with oscilloscopes etc) of even high-end amplifiers show non-ideal comportment.

But yes, if that was your point, I also agree that the audio/video world would be better off with more ABX testing. :-)

[steeb]

I don't care about science, sometimes. It can become distraction from reality.

May be I am a freak and my hearing is not human. BUT I know what I hear when I am out and about in the world. And it is has far more resonance and depth of field (call it HD audio, 3D audio, whatever) than ANYTHING I have ever heard replicated in the most expensive Paid for Cinema or Home Cinema set up.

Personally I don't think Dolby are taking the Piss.

A lot of people go through life missing something obvious.

I know I do, but not with my hearing :-)