I hope Martin will not fill obliged to devote any more time to debating this topic. Like everyone else who reads this forum, I do not wish see Hauptwerk 4.0 delayed by one minute
The commentary Martin has already provided is extremely interesting and thought provoking and he clearly knows what he's talking about. I also feel that he demonstrated great personal integrity by posting Dr. Pykett's unedited comments.
While certainly not wishing to whip a dead horse, good science should be subject to peer review (although I do not count myself as Martin's equal) and produce results which are verifiable and repeatable.
Using an audio editor, I then mixed the whole of:
- Test1Output-L.wav with Test1Output-R.wav to give: Test1Output-MixedDigitally.wav.
- Test2Output-L.wav with Test2Output-R.wav to give: Test2Output-MixedDigitally.wav.
- Test3Output-L.wav with Test3Output-R.wav to give: Test3Output-MixedDigitally.wav.
If wet sampling works properly, i.e. if it indeed is mathematically valid to sum two individual wet samples together with the 'signal mixing effect' producing a distorted result, then:
- Test1Output-MixedDigitally.wav should be identical to Test1Output-MixedInAir.wav and
- Test2Output-MixedDigitally.wav should be identical to Test2Output-MixedInAir.wav and
- Test3Output-MixedDigitally.wav should be identical to Test3Output-MixedInAir.wav.
Open them in an audio editor and compare them for yourself! They are indeed identical.
If you still doubt that it works, try the whole experiment yourself - you will get the same results.
There is a simple way to test if two waveforms are in fact idenitcal. The nullification technique is performed as follows: Invert one waveform180 degrees in phase, then add the two waveforms together. If they are identical, then as the first waveform swings positive, the other swings negative with the result that the two add to total silence. If two non-identical waveforms are null summed, then there will be audible "difference" signals.
I first took Test3Output-MixedInAir.wav and nulled it with itself. The result as expected is total silence:
http://sites.google.com/site/vtheatreorgan/Home/files/Test3Air-Null-Test3Air.wav?attredirects=0&d=1Then I nulled Test3Output-MixedInAir.wav with Test3Output-MixedDigitally.wav. If they are identical, the result should also be silence. But it isn't. You can hear a certain amount of hiss and a kind of squirrelly chirping effect. There is also a brief low frequency "bump" which was probably traffic noise in the MixedInAir version and which should be ignored for our purposes here.
http://sites.google.com/site/vtheatreorgan/Home/files/Test3Air-Null-Test3Dig.wav?attredirects=0&d=1These results are easily repeatable and verifiable and prove that the two example files are not completely identical.
I honestly feel that for all practical intents and purposes Martin has proved his point about wet sampling. It just makes me mad that producing a good wet sampled theatre organ seems to be beyond reach.
Signing off,
Joe
Post Script: When re-listening to the difference signal, it occurs to me that what we may in fact be hearing is ambient background noises such as air conditioning actually present in Martin's listening environment. This would indeed serve to reinforce Martin's thesis that the acoustically and digitally summed waveforms are identical and that by subtracting one from the other what is left are the subtle room noises picked up by the microphone!