Measurements tell us a great deal—they are essential to our design process—but they don’t tell us everything.
As a designer, I rely on data. We all do. Frequency response, distortion spectra, signal-to-noise ratios—these are essential tools. They keep us honest and grounded.
If a design measures poorly, it never gets released into the wild.
But the illusion creeps in when we believe that what we can measure fully defines what we hear. Two amplifiers with similar specifications can present music with very different spatial qualities and dynamic expression. A DAC’s jitter performance may look impeccable, yet its presentation may feel constrained or flat.
Most of this is that we do not yet measure everything that matters. Human perception is extraordinarily sensitive to timing, phase relationships, and low-level information buried near the noise floor. Small differences in power supply design, grounding, and layout can influence the final presentation in ways that aren’t obvious in a single graph.
That’s why at PS Audio we design with both oscilloscope and ears engaged. Our PowerPlants, for example, don’t just filter AC; they regenerate it to provide stable voltage and low distortion under dynamic load. The improvement isn’t just measurable—it’s audible in the form of lower background noise and more effortless dynamics.
Measurements guide us. Listening confirms us. When the two align, we’re closer to the truth. And that truth isn’t in the numbers alone—it’s in the moment the system disappears and leaves only music behind.
0 comments