As a a bassist and composer, I found the test to be rather easy. However, I was not listening for which violin sounded "better", rather I was looking for the warmth of sound that an older violin (not necessarily a Strad)would provide; an instrument that has been vibrating for a long time. The first violin had a nasal quality in the mids that gave away the fact that is was a newer instrument. If you were to ask which I liked better, I would say that either instrumetn would sound wonderful in the hands of a truly gifted playerIt really didn't seem that difficult to hear. As a guitarist, I have played a lot of instruments, though none 300 years old! Older instruments have a different, less 'edgy' sound than new ones. So I'm a bit puzzled that the violinists participating in the study were so unable to tell the difference. New instruments are 'tight' and need to be 'played in'. And this is without even getting into the question of the absolute quality of the Cremona builders.
UPDATE: Here is another article on the same test:
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2012/01/02/violinists-can%E2%80%99t-tell-the-difference-between-stradivarius-violins-and-new-ones/
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