PER v1.6.31 – Bug Fix and a new tie-break feature

PER is a blind listening test program for Mac and Windows.

Its job is simple: help you make audio decisions without knowing which version you are listening to.

This update started with a small but annoying bug I found: deleted tracks and tracks rejected with Accept / Reject could no longer be played back properly. That is fixed now. Removing something from the scoring should not mean you lose the ability to listen to it.

I also changed the default crossfade time to 10 ms, as promised. If you have already changed the crossfade time in Settings, PER will keep your setting. The new default only affects new installations or fresh settings.

The bigger thing for me in this update is tie-breaks. I noticed that I sometimes missed when two versions ended up with the same score, and I do not want PER to hide that from me. The whole point is to get a clear, evidence-based winner, so PER now marks tied results properly and can run an extra blind tie-break round when needed.

There is also a new Forced Choice shortcut, suggested by a user: 0 / Numpad 0 now selects Prefer for the active green track. This makes Forced Choice much faster, especially if you use the numpad or a Stream Deck.

What is new in PER 1.6.31?

• Default crossfade time has been lowered from 180 ms to 10 ms for faster switching between versions.

• Deleted tracks and tracks eliminated with Accept / Reject no longer interrupt playback. The track keeps playing at the same volume and can still be listened to.

• Added a new shortcut for Forced Choice:

  • 0 / Numpad 0 now selects Prefer for the active green track.

  • The shortcut can be changed in Settings and works with Stream Deck bindings.

• Listen buttons are now larger and clearer than the rating buttons, both during the test and in the results view, to reduce the risk of accidentally pressing Prefer.

• Equal result scores, rounded to the two decimals shown in the result, are now treated as tied positions.

• Tied positions are marked with T, for example T1, and are visually grouped together.

• If there is a tied first place, PER now offers Run blind tie-break.

• A tie-break starts an extra blind round using only the tied leaders.

• Previous ratings and the placement of the other tracks are preserved.

• Tie-break scores are shown separately and only decide the order inside the original tied group.

• If the tie still remains, another tie-break can be run.

• Tie-break rounds and participating tracks are now saved correctly in both .perproj files and session restore.

• Result export now includes tied positions, tie-break rounds, and separate tie-break scores.

PER started in a slightly silly way. I had a discussion with a client, who is also a friend, about how he was comparing different masters and mixes. I got the feeling that he was not really giving each version a fair chance, and that the decision was becoming more emotional than useful.

So I made the first version of PER partly as a joke.

Then I tried it myself and realized that I was going to use this thing, a lot.

I have compared masters and mixes inside REAPER for years, with loudness matching and careful switching. But even then, I still know what I am listening to. I can see the tracks. I can see the filenames. I know which version went through a certain plugin, a certain piece of hardware, or a certain processing chain.

And once you know that, you are already biased.

You may want the expensive compressor version to win. You may want the Ozone version to lose. You may want the clever version to sound better than the boring one. But ears are not always as independent as we want them to be.

PER tries to remove some of that.

You load a few audio files, for example two or three different masters of the same song, or a few different mixes you want to compare. PER then analyzes the files, normalizes them to a LUFS value chosen by you, hides the file identities, and lets you listen without knowing which file is playing.

You only get the Listen buttons.

No filenames.
No “this one is louder so it must be better.”
No staring at the session and trying to convince yourself you already know the answer.

After each listen, you rate the version from 1 to 6. When you have completed the number of ratings per file that you selected, PER shows you a ranking with the average score for each file.

The original LUFS-I value is also shown in the result. Not because it affects the blind test, it does not, but because it can be useful afterwards if you want to see how loud the files were before PER normalized them.

The default number of ratings per file is 3. That is intentionally low because people are often in a hurry. But if you want a more useful result, I would recommend something closer to 16–20 ratings per file. More repetitions usually give you a clearer picture of what you actually prefer, instead of what you think you prefer.

PER can be used for:

• Comparing different masters of the same song

• Comparing different mixes

• Letting a band vote on which version they prefer

• Checking whether a louder master is actually better, or just louder

• Testing processing chains without knowing which one is which

• Taking some of the expectation bias out of audio decisions

When the test is finished, you can listen to the ranked files again, export the result, redo the test, continue the test with more ratings, or start a new listening test.

You can also remove the normalization after the test is finished if you want to hear the original level differences.

PER also has a project export function. This lets you create a shared listening project so someone else can do the same test with the same files. For example, a band could compare two or three mixes independently and then compare the results afterward.

Important note about exported projects:
When you export a PER project, the audio files are included so the other person can listen to the same material. That also means you are sending the audio files to them. A technically curious person could find and use those files, so only export and share projects if you have the right to share the audio, and only send them to people you trust.

You can also choose whether all files should be converted to the same sample rate, or whether the original files should be kept as they are. So if one file is 88.2 kHz and another is 96 kHz, that is fine too.

PER is free, but it requires that you follow this Patreon campaign. You do not need to be a paying member to use it.

When you start PER, you enter your email address in the application. PER then checks whether that email is connected to a Patreon account following Noisebud. If you stop following the campaign, PER will eventually stop working.

Formats:
Mac
Windows

Download:
Files are attached directly to this post.

Original Patreon post:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/160240913

This link is included so the post can be shared on social media and via RSS while always pointing back to the original Patreon post. If you’re already reading this on Patreon, the link will simply take you back here.