Do Stradivarius violins really sound better in blind tests?

Not in the studies described here. When the identity of the instruments was hidden, experienced players and listeners did not reliably pick out Stradivari violins, and they tended to prefer the new instruments. These findings come from a small number of experiments using a small number of violins, so they do not settle every question about every Stradivari. [1] [2]

In a study of soloists, 10 renowned players each blind-tested six Old Italian violins, five of them by Stradivari, and six new ones. They played in two 75-minute sessions, the first in a rehearsal room and the second in a 300-seat concert hall. Asked to choose an instrument to replace their own on a hypothetical tour, six of the ten chose a new violin and four chose an old one. One new violin was chosen four times, more than any other instrument. [2]

On average the soloists rated their favorite new violins higher than their favorite old ones for playability, articulation and projection, and at least equal for timbre. They also failed to tell new from old at better than chance levels. The authors note that seven of the ten players regularly play Old Italian violins. [2]

A later PNAS study asked a different question: how the violins sound from the audience. Three new violins were compared with three by Stradivari, with and without orchestral accompaniment, in two experiments. The authors report that the new violins projected better, that listeners generally preferred them, and that listeners could not reliably distinguish new from old. Listeners included musicians, violin makers and acousticians, and results were similar across these backgrounds. CNRS, which described the work, reports 137 listeners across the two experiments. [1] [3]

The study also found that violins that sounded quieter under the player's ear tended to project less well, which runs against the common belief that Stradivaris sound quiet to the player yet carry well in a hall. [1]

The researchers acknowledge that the test violins were few, and there is no way of knowing how representative they are. They say there is every reason to believe some Stradivaris have outstanding projection, and that their results cannot be projected to fine violins in general. The authors also say that the best choice depends on context, since even a quiet violin can be heard in a small hall. [1] [2]

Science writer Philip Ball, writing in Nature, argued that the reputation of these instruments may involve more than blind testing can easily assess. The search results include only the introduction to that piece, so his full argument is not reproduced here. Even so, the blind-test authors conclude that claims of playing qualities unique to Old Italian violins need empirical support. [4] [2]