Why you can't trust audio measurements

In this video I show various ways in which measurements can be unreliable, changed, misleading, and why you should always take them with a pinch of salt. Quite a long one but hopefully will be interesting! Come chat on discord: https://www.thegoldenone.co.uk Support me on patreon and join the private telegram chat:   / goldensound   (or subscribestar) https://subscribestar.com/goldensound Content and analysis sponsored by https://headphones.com and patreon supporters on   / goldensound   0:00 - Intro 1:56 - Disclaimers 3:08 - Measurements are not exact 4:32 - Measurements can be altered by test configuration 7:21 - Unweighted vs A-Weighted 8:22 - ADC/Analyzer distortion adds to the result 9:30 - Amps must be fed a clean signal to test properly 10:42 - How do you know how the analyzer was configured? 11:40 - Amps: Loads 13:01 - Amps: Measuring at unrealistic levels 13:31 - Amps: Volume control makes a big difference 15:06 - DACs: Standard 4v outputs vs 'Hot' outputs 16:04 - DACs: Noise from PC 17:29 - DACs: Internal settings 18:45 - DACs: Jitter from digital source 19:35 - DACs: Sample rate affects performance 20:31 - Manufacturers: SINAD doesn't tell the whole story 21:30 - Manufacturers: How they optimise for test conditions 23:44 - Why focusing on SINAD can be a problem 27:29 - High SINAD does not mean 'transparent' 27:45 - Outro The GoldenSound youtube channel, and all content is created and owned by GoldenSound LTD