Can You Really Hear the Difference? Blind Tests and Audio Ego

In Episode 362 of the Mixing Music Podcast, hosts Dee Kei and Lu start with a wild weekend recap that includes long work hours, live sound chaos, and a massive rally in downtown Los Angeles. Dee Kei shares how he went from one gig to another while traffic was locked up, and even ended up unintentionally marching with a protest on the way to the next event. He describes the scale of the rally setup, including flying dozens of line arrays to cover an enormous crowd, and then later connects that experience to one of the core themes of the episode: fundamentals matter more than fancy gear. The main conversation is sparked by a viral-style audio story: a blind listening test where people could not reliably tell the difference between audio passed through standard copper wire, a banana, or wet mud. Dee Kei and Lu use the article as a jumping-off point to talk about how easy it is for audio culture to become obsessed with mysticism, status, and expensive objects rather than results. They point out that even when engineers care deeply about details, most listeners respond to vibe, emotion, and impact, not the mythology around cables, converters, or obscure technical flexes. From there, the episode expands into a bigger discussion about anti-intellectualism in the Zen sense, not anti-intelligence. The idea is that practical experience, experimentation, and real listening should take priority over rigid theories, cheat sheets, and secondhand rules. They talk about how knowing everything about a compressor on paper is not the same as using it well in context, and how taste and emotional translation are often more important than technical trivia. They connect this to why AI may automate some low-stakes, background-music needs, but will not fully replace the human judgment behind great mixing and music made for music’s sake. The guys also get into the social side of the industry, including how insecurity can show up as a need to prove people wrong, and how being “the smartest person in the room” does not matter if you make everyone miserable. They share stories about people who are technically knowledgeable but communicate with a defensive, correcting energy that makes others want to exit the conversation. Dee Kei frames it as a lack of contentment and an obsession with being right instead of being useful. Later, they bring the conversation back to growth and practice: why daily reps matter, how to get better by accelerating mistake-making, and why it helps to mix for real people with opinions rather than only practicing in a vacuum. They talk about practical ways to practice recording and mixing when you do not have a studio, like using rehearsal spaces, booking an affordable studio day, or working with local bands in exchange for experience. Dee Kei also emphasizes a simple principle he has said before: if you want to get good, start mixing faster and start making decisive choices with intention. To close, they reflect on humility, responsibility, and long-term improvement, including an example of how top performers stay grounded under pressure, plus a nuanced comparison of how gratitude can be framed differently in American versus Japanese culture. The episode ends with a reminder to focus on the craft over the distractions, keep it fun, and keep learning.

You can listen to Can You Really Hear the Difference? Blind Tests and Audio Ego online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Can You Really Hear the Difference? Blind Tests and Audio Ego is an episode from Mixing Music | Music Production, Audio Engineering, & Music Business by @DeeKeiMixes.

This episode is 79:23 long.

This episode was published on Feb 24, 2026.

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