[SlimDevices: Audiophiles] Hi-Fi News test of iFi Audio USB iPurifier2

[Julf]

Just finished the most recent issue of Hi-Fi News & Record Review, the
only Hi-Fi magazine I still read (mainly because they actually do stuff
like spectrograms of hi-res recordings). They had a test of the iFi
Audio USB iPurifier2, an active USB signal conditioner/buffer. They show
eye-pattern diagrams showing it actually affects the signal, but the
listening review verdict pretty much admits they couldn't hear a
difference- "... it was hard to draw consistent conclusions between
'with' and ' without'". That didn't stop it from gaining the "Editor's
Choice" accolade... :)



"To try to judge the real from the false will always be hard. In this
fast-growing art of 'high fidelity' the quackery will bear a solid gilt
edge that will fool many people" - Paul W Klipsch, 1953
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[Archimago]

That's cool Julf. I don't care about the accolades of course.

At least they bother to try some kind of A/B testing and willing to
publish a comment different from the "obviously better" dogma of the
evangelical testimonials.



Archimago's Musings: (archimago.blogspot.com) A 'more objective'
audiophile blog.
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[Julf]

Post by Archimago
At least they bother to try some kind of A/B testing and willing to
publish a comment different from the "obviously better" dogma of the
evangelical testimonials.

Unfortunately they also wrote "I have to say I found myself rather more
confident in identifying the cleaner, more focused sound I encountered
when leaving the iPurifier2 out and putting an AudioQuest JitterBug
between the PC and USB cable", without publishing any comparative data.
The cynical part of me notes that AudioQuest has major ads in the
magazine while iFi audio doesn't.



"To try to judge the real from the false will always be hard. In this
fast-growing art of 'high fidelity' the quackery will bear a solid gilt
edge that will fool many people" - Paul W Klipsch, 1953
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[adamdea]

Post by Julf
Unfortunately they also wrote "I have to say I found myself rather more
confident in identifying the cleaner, more focused sound I encountered
when leaving the iPurifier2 out and putting an AudioQuest JitterBug
between the PC and USB cable", without publishing any comparative data.
The cynical part of me notes that AudioQuest has major ads in the
magazine while iFi audio doesn't.

You may also recall that in the jitterbug test, Miller claimed that it
improved the eye pattern whereas the plot below the text strongly
suggested the opposite.


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[arnyk]

Post by Archimago
That's cool Julf. I don't care about the accolades of course.
At least they bother to try some kind of A/B testing and willing to
publish a comment different from the "obviously better" dogma of the
evangelical testimonials.

Two words: Sighted Evaluation. Often more biased than no test at all.


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