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Re:What Really Happened in that Double-Blind Violin Sound Test by abalone on Tuesday April 08, 2014 @09:37AM (#7553274)
Yup. Maybe what happened is, since only 17 of 21 responded to that question, perhaps she was one of the 4 that didn't.

It is a pretty damning study: Few could identify the old, expensive violins AND most preferred newer, cheaper violins. It means that the tradition of loaning Strats to top violinists may actually make for (slightly) worse performances.

I love blind studies.

Re:What Really Happened in that Double-Blind Violin Sound Test by Fishkins on Tuesday April 08, 2014 @10:23AM (#7553566)
Most of the criticisms of the study are inaccurate, but I would like to see this redone with the old violins receiving the same tuning/treatment as the new ones. Depending on the condition the old violins were received in, not being allowed to tune them could have had a big impact on preference. I know I'd rather play a $50 guitar that's in tune than a $5000 one that's out of tune.