Artefacts Quick stuff

Artefact Four Evaluation

Again my test group has suffered to changes in time so not as many subjects could make the testing period. Due to the fact I had to sit in on the tests and contribute to get more data, this I was trying to avoid as the tracks are personal favourites and therefore I know them like the back of my hand; (biased results).

I moved the speakers of a 90º angle to the listener’s seats to give roughly the same effect as a pair of head phones. I thought that sitting between the speakers gave a better stereo field for instance when closing your eyes it was more like having the band playing around you instead of the sound source coming from the front.

The results and comparisons against the control are again pretty close however with some differences when I have finished all the artefacts I will take one subjects results for all the artefacts and see how close their results are, the averages are good to see a general pattern and so far I can say that the test unknowingly are giving different results to each test so they can perceive the different qualities when variables are changed. On my next artefact I will change the tracks played, I will specifically pick tracks that certain members of the test group like. I am hoping to get very different results this is due to emotional likes and dislike and how they play a huge part a person’s perception, if any of my panel are really not swayed in the marking I will be surprised (of course the trained eared members of the group might bring a very analytical view but) as my test group have very different tastes.

Evaluation Artefact 6

Well as we have been getting very close data it was decided to take each element and complete change them, so I brought the test group to my bedroom and allowed them to listen to the tracks alone to see if that changed their results. I changed the media source so mp3 instead of cd a different amplifier, the position in which they faced the speakers and the room shape and size was completely different from the other spaces tested in this I thought would give me larger margins within the resulting data.

But when looking at the comparisons against each average to that of the control again only very slight changes occur. I was expecting greater difference especially in this test as so many variables had been change; this leads me to believe that human perception is a very fickle thing (even If I were to recreate the control test I presume that I would not get the same averages but something very similar) likewise if I had played the tracks from a very low budget pair of computer speakers the difference would have been greater and more to what I was looking at however the amplitude of such speakers would not allow the clarity of the songs/tracks to come though.

In a conclusion to my question yes environmental factor can alter a person’s perception as the results were never completely the same as the control test. Further test work would give stronger conclusions. Using many more test subjects to get more accurate results would also greatly improve the reliability of data.

The addition of more artefacts may also be an aid to research question i.e. age ranges used, splitting the group into trained and untrained listeners etc.

The artefacts have given me clear views that tie in to my research for instance you can record a band in a bedroom but it will never sound as good as a band recorded in either a purpose built studio or a concert hall. But also made me realise why big time producer’s sound engineers etc get paid the amounts they do their contributions to any tracks they work on. I shall now re-read all artefact evaluations and put them into a more structured written essay with a much more rounded conclusion this shall be presented to my tutor after the Easter break.