I imagine we’ve all read a review or comment where the writer claims a given piece of hifi kit offers an improvement over some other piece of hifi kit and that improvement is offered as a %.
What’s more, price is usually part of that picture where the thing offering some % of better performance costs less: “This preamplifier offers 80% of the performance of that preamplifier while costing about 1/3 the price!” There’s almost always an exclamation point attached. For emphasis.
If we look at this example the other way ’round, we get the more expensive preamplifier offering a 20% improvement while costing 3 times more!
The obvious implication being a case of diminishing returns where the more we spend on hifi the less we gain in terms of relative performance over cheaper stuff, clearly a thought that has real psychological appeal for those not willing or able to buy the more expensive thing even though it’s found to be better.
The problem with this simple math is it doesn’t add up when it comes to the experience of listening to music. Have you ever thought to yourself, “Wow! This hifi makes me enjoy Miles Davis 20% more!” Maybe some people have, but I haven’t nor have I ever seen it written as percentage improvements typically remain in the hardware (and software) domain because this thinking falls apart when we try to apply it to people because it leaves all the human stuff out.
“Hey, how are you?”
“I’m 20% happier today than I was yesterday!”
Like it or not, when we listen to music there’s a lot going on inside each of us and this experience is, more and less, unique on a per person basis. One easy example is hearing a song we’ve known for decades as opposed to someone hearing that same song for the first time. And there are many more complex examples exploring what goes on in our minds and bodies when listening to music, something we’re still learning about.
All to say, listening to music goes well beyond hearing which brings us to the somewhat uncomfortable conclusion that our experience of and involvement in music is not dictated by or limited to comparative performance gains as it applies to reproduction, something that works both ways when it comes to cost as we’ve all experienced, I hope, deep musical engagement from a less than ideal listening situation. Like in a car or at a club. But when listening to music is our sole focus, the quality of the experience takes on greater importance.
Here’s more on the subject from my recent review of the LAiV Audio Harmony µDAC:
Of course I could compare the µDAC to the Barn resident Mola Mola Tambaqui or totaldac d1-unity but what would be the point? To point out that these much more expensive DACs are better, and they are, but use a % to grade the difference? “You’re getting XX% of the performance for a fraction of the price!” Sounds great if you’re selling lower priced stuff but when listening to music—especially when that’s all you’re doing—%s are meaningless when it comes to musical involvement where a 20% perceived difference in sound quality can add up to a 120% more meaningful experience. And we haven’t even touched on system context which is 1,000% more important than even a 30% perceived difference between DACs. If you haven’t noticed, I think using %s to talk about relative hifi performance is kinda silly.
Why? Because our connection to music is boundless.