IMPULSES vs THE REAL THING: Can you guess which is which?

[Empathy]

TEST COMPLETE! Thanks to those that helped. Original post as follows, with the results below:

Hey gents, I've posted this up on the facebook group but I thought it'd be good to include it here as well. I've conducted an 'impulse vs. real thing' test as part of my final research project for my AE degree (don't laugh) and all I need is a few people to have a listen and guess which they think is the real track in each set.

Listen to this track:
http://soundcloud.com/jamesarchbold/project-survey-track

The purpose of this test is to support my theory that the vast majority of listeners will not be able to distinguish an impulse emulation of a particular guitar setup from the real thing; don't be afraid if you can't decide on which you think is the real deal, every participant helps my research and it's totally anonymous. It was inspired by a lot of discussion I've seen on these forums, particularly how a lot of seasoned engineers have in the past shown bias towards impulse responses.

Equipment used was an MI Amplification Megalith Beta, with a ProTone Pedals Dead-Horse Overdrive up front as a boost. Impulses were taken from the exact same signal chain as used in the real recordings, everything was meticulously checked and set to make sure there was ZERO discrepancy between the real recordings and the impulse response recording. No post-processing on the guitars was used, this is just a simple contextual analysis of impulses "in a mix".

Feel free to share this post to anyone you know that might be interested. The more respondents I get, the better! As it says in the Soundcloud link, I'll post the correct answers publicly when I submit the final paper; in the meantime if you're desperate, PM me and I'll tell you the results (just promise not to spoil it for everyone else).

Edit 1: You can grab the impulse files here:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/20404227/ArchieImpulses.zip

Edit 2: Thanks heaps to everyone that participated, your responses made a world of difference. I'll leave the original post as is, but since the survey is offline I've taken that down.

The results, for those that are interested, are as follows:

DON'T READ IT UNTIL YOU'RE READY TO FIND OUT.

READY?

YOU SURE?

Impulse tracks were A in each set. Real ones were B. 7 people out of 53 corrected identified all three. Well done to them.

 

[Mm1066]

Done!

I'll just write what I said in the survey:

1B, 2B, 3A were my favourites, and I thought they were the real tracks I also said that I felt the "air" was controlled better in the ones that I chose to the ones that were left. I'm really looking forward to hearing the outcome of this, I may even be able to reference it in a University essay (if I have to do any more, that is. And if that's okay with you)

 

[Empathy]

Done!

I'll just write what I said in the survey:

1B, 2B, 3A were my favourites, and I thought they were the real tracks I also said that I felt the "air" was controlled better in the ones that I chose to the ones that were left. I'm really looking forward to hearing the outcome of this, I may even be able to reference it in a University essay (if I have to do any more, that is. And if that's okay with you)

You're more than welcome to do so; I'll likely post a copy of the final report for any interested parties. It'll be including a nice big list of recommendations for further study as well, should anyone wish to expand on my findings.

 

[The-Zeronaut]

Done.
would it be too much to ask for the impulse files?

 

[Empathy]

Done.
would it be too much to ask for the impulse files?

Not at all! I'll upload all three tomorrow.

 

[Siriun]

That riff is so sick. Love it! Tab that shit bro

 

[Adrian Warren]

Done. Looking forward to the impulses.

 

[colonel_claypoo]

participated as well, thanks.

 

[tomas_almeida]

Also gave my opinion. I hope it helps your research.

 

[Empathy]

Thanks for the submissions gents, as promised here are the impulses used in the test:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/20404227/ArchieImpulses.zip

I'm not sure if anyone will find much practical use in them due to their situational nature, but you're free to use them as you please regardless.

 

[Mm1066]

That riff is so sick. Love it! Tab that shit bro

That's Ola's riff

 

[Siriun]

That's Ola's riff

Seriously? Can you point me in the direction of what song it was used in?

 

[ametalguitarist]

Survey taken. I preferred B in all three samples.

 

[cobhc]

That's Ola's riff

It's Lasse/Mago's as it says in the description.

"using Lasse & Mago's awesome DI pack"

 

[Empathy]

Progress report: so far out of 35 participants, only two people have correctly identified all three tracks. Lift your game, Sneapsters

 

[colonel_claypoo]

cool! can't wait for the results.

 

[Mago]

That's Ola's riff

I don't think it sounds like a riff Ola would do, but thanks, he is a great player so if you thought it was him than that's a compliment for me

I'll take a listen to the files if you upload the wav, I think soundcloud uses a pretty low mp3 conversion quality.

 

[Empathy]

I don't think it sounds like a riff Ola would do, but thanks, he is a great player so if you thought it was him than that's a compliment for me

I'll take a listen to the files if you upload the wav, I think soundcloud uses a pretty low mp3 conversion quality.

Yeah, SC does butcher the playback quality a bit, but that was an intended part of the test itself - to see if the subtle aspects that seperate the two are distinguishable at that sort of playback quality. I'll PM you a link to the .wav on dropbox though, just use the markers on the SC player as a guide for the changes.

 

[Ascendant]

Progress report: so far out of 35 participants, only two people have correctly identified all three tracks. Lift your game, Sneapsters

Interesting, how many got 2 out of 3 right? Looking forward to the results.

 

[JohnTheRipper]

Survey taken. I preferred B in all three samples.

Same here. In all groups, the B's had more harmonics and definition, sounded like real cab/mic fizz.