the listener's blind picks, house-first-listen, recorded verbatim 2026-09-06 ~23:1xZ
(as typed, before any key was opened)

1: B
2: too similar
3: B is way better
4: similar, but A is better
5: too similar
6: A is better
7: A is way better, actually resembles house
8: B is better
9: both are kinda a mess
(skipped ahead)
17: sounds similar on both, but actually sounds pretty good.

Overarching verdict, same sitting, verbatim (D-20260906-40):
"none of them really sound that great, and i think the biggest part is the track
composition, which is something we can't fix with the adapters..."

Still owed from the sitting: forced picks for 2, 5, 9, 17 (the design carries no
"no preference"), and trials 10-16, 18-36.

Second batch, verbatim as typed (~23:1xZ 2026-09-06):
11: too similar / no pref
12: no pref
13: B sounds better
14: A actually sounds quite a bit better (cleaner)
15: B sounds better, crisper overall / hats, etc
16: they sound quite a bit different, but i don't have a pref; in A, the piano is
    much more pronounced
18: too similar to tell apart
19: A sounds better, sounds more like house type music (cleaner)
20: A has a much more pronounced background synth/melody type sound, but i don't
    have a pref
21: too similar
22: too similar
23: too similar

Tally so far (22 of 36 judged): directional 10 — A on 4,6,7,14,19; B on 1,3,8,13,15.
No preference on 12 — 2,5,9,11,12,16,17,18,20,21,22,23. Not yet judged: 10, 24-36.

Third batch, verbatim as typed (~23:3xZ 2026-09-06):
24: A sounds a bit better, tighter / cleaner beats
25: too similar
26: too similar  (both 25 and 26 are really bad compositions, and have a lot of
    "glitchy" sounds that are weird)
27: similar, but B sounds slightly cleaner / tighter on the beats
28: too similar
29: too similar
30: similar (both bad)
31: B has more background sort of ambient echo sound, no pref on which i like better
32: A def better, actually has a hat at the start where B is void of one
33: too similar
34: too similar
35: similar, but B sounds slightly cleaner
36: A sounds way better, and these tracks sound WAY different, like A actually has
    a 4-4 beat to start, whereas B has none

Tally (35 of 36 judged; only trial 10 outstanding):
  directional 15 — A on 4,6,7,14,19,24,32,36 (8); B on 1,3,8,13,15,27,35 (7)
  no preference 20 — 2,5,9,11,12,16,17,18,20,21,22,23,25,26,28,29,30,31,33,34

Trial 10, verbatim (~23:5xZ 2026-09-06) — the sitting is COMPLETE at 36/36:
10: B sounds better, A has more background kind of "wonky talk" type ambient
    sound, which i notice on a lot of ace tracks actually

FINAL: directional 16 — A on 4,6,7,14,19,24,32,36 (8); B on 1,3,8,10,13,15,27,35 (8).
No preference on 20. Sitting closed before the key was opened.