We often hear about the phenomenon of ‘Expectation Bias’ as it relates to audio purchases. The prevailing wisdom of those who like to beat people over the head with the concept is that you are inclined to believe that your new, shiny, expensive purchase sounds way better than what it replaced and you will keep on believing it for as long as you own the gear you just purchased.
Before I tackle expectation bias as it relates to audio, I think we should all understand the concept is not limited to audio. It’s true for anything we buy from common household appliances to new vehicles. Unless we purposely bought something that was cheaper and inferior to the item it’s replacing, we expect the new item to be better. For instance, if you went from owning a modern Mercedes S class car and had to sell it and you purchased a Toyota Corolla, you wouldn’t have an expectation bias that you just stepped up in the world of automotive performance and luxury.
Where I take a turn off the ramp of the expectation bias highway is where reality meets the purchase after you have had time to use it and understand it. I believe that a person can fool themselves temporarily into thinking the new item they just bought is superior to the item it replaced because we sincerely do hope for that and want to believe it’s true. Once you have had a new piece of gear long enough to understand how it affects the sound (and all gear affects the sound to one degree or another), I don’t think you can or will keep telling yourself the new piece of gear is better if your brain via your ears is telling you that you made a mistake.
In summary, expectation bias has a half life. At some point in time, expectation bias turns into ‘reality’ bias. If in fact the new piece of gear proves itself to you over the long haul to be superior to what it replaced, your expectation bias was well-founded. If the new purchase turns out to be a major disappointment, that becomes your new reality. Expectation bias doesn’t have infinite time to remain as an expectation. The expectation will turn into some sort of reality for you.
Before I tackle expectation bias as it relates to audio, I think we should all understand the concept is not limited to audio. It’s true for anything we buy from common household appliances to new vehicles. Unless we purposely bought something that was cheaper and inferior to the item it’s replacing, we expect the new item to be better. For instance, if you went from owning a modern Mercedes S class car and had to sell it and you purchased a Toyota Corolla, you wouldn’t have an expectation bias that you just stepped up in the world of automotive performance and luxury.
Where I take a turn off the ramp of the expectation bias highway is where reality meets the purchase after you have had time to use it and understand it. I believe that a person can fool themselves temporarily into thinking the new item they just bought is superior to the item it replaced because we sincerely do hope for that and want to believe it’s true. Once you have had a new piece of gear long enough to understand how it affects the sound (and all gear affects the sound to one degree or another), I don’t think you can or will keep telling yourself the new piece of gear is better if your brain via your ears is telling you that you made a mistake.
In summary, expectation bias has a half life. At some point in time, expectation bias turns into ‘reality’ bias. If in fact the new piece of gear proves itself to you over the long haul to be superior to what it replaced, your expectation bias was well-founded. If the new purchase turns out to be a major disappointment, that becomes your new reality. Expectation bias doesn’t have infinite time to remain as an expectation. The expectation will turn into some sort of reality for you.
