A Comparative Study of Human, MIDI, and AI-Generated Audio
You will hear short musical excerpts and answer questions about what you perceive. There are no right or wrong answers. The study takes approximately 10–15 minutes.
Listener Background0%
Listener Background
What is your age?
How are you listening right now?
Have you ever used Suno, Udio, or any similar AI music generation platform?
Which best describes your current role related to music?
How many years of formal music training do you have?
Song 1 — Minor Key · Pad & Flute · Version 1 of 3
Song 1 · Version 1
Listen carefully before answering
0:00
Q1
What do you think is the source of this flute performance?
Q2
What was the main reason for your choice? (Select all that apply)
Q3
How confident are you in your answer?
Just guessingVery certain
Q4
How natural does this flute performance sound?
Very mechanicalVery natural
Q5
How much emotional expression do you perceive in this flute performance?
No expressionVery expressive
Q6
How technically accurate does this flute performance sound?
Noticeable flawsVery precise
Song 1 — Minor Key · Pad & Flute · Version 2 of 3
Song 1 · Version 2
Listen carefully before answering
0:00
Q1
What do you think is the source of this flute performance?
Q2
What was the main reason for your choice? (Select all that apply)
Q3
How confident are you in your answer?
Just guessingVery certain
Q4
How natural does this flute performance sound?
Very mechanicalVery natural
Q5
How much emotional expression do you perceive in this flute performance?
No expressionVery expressive
Q6
How technically accurate does this flute performance sound?
Noticeable flawsVery precise
Song 1 — Minor Key · Pad & Flute · Version 3 of 3
Song 1 · Version 3
Listen carefully before answering
0:00
Q1
What do you think is the source of this flute performance?
Q2
What was the main reason for your choice? (Select all that apply)
Q3
How confident are you in your answer?
Just guessingVery certain
Q4
How natural does this flute performance sound?
Very mechanicalVery natural
Q5
How much emotional expression do you perceive in this flute performance?
No expressionVery expressive
Q6
How technically accurate does this flute performance sound?
Noticeable flawsVery precise
Song 1 — Minor Key · Pad & Flute · Side-by-Side Comparison
🎧 Compare all three versions freely
Switch between them as many times as you like. Focus on the flute's playing technique and tonal quality — try to set aside any differences in overall mix or reverb.
Version 1
0:00
Version 2
0:00
Version 3
0:00
Q8
Focusing on flute playing technique and tonal quality, which version do you prefer?
Try to judge the flute's performance itself — set aside overall mix or reverb differences.
Q9
What specifically made you prefer that version? (Select all that apply)
Focus on the flute's performance characteristics, not production style.
Song 1 — Labels Revealed
Here are the actual sources for Song 1. Listen again if you like, then re-answer below.
Q8 revised
Now that you know the sources, which flute performance do you prefer?
Try to focus on what you hear, not just the label.
Q9 revised
What makes you prefer it now? (Select all that apply)
Song 2 — Major Key · Piano & Violin · Version 1 of 3
Song 2 · Version 1
Listen carefully before answering
0:00
Q1
What do you think is the source of this violin performance?
Q2
What was the main reason for your choice? (Select all that apply)
Q3
How confident are you in your answer?
Just guessingVery certain
Q4
How natural does this violin performance sound?
Very mechanicalVery natural
Q5
How much emotional expression do you perceive in this violin performance?
No expressionVery expressive
Q6
How technically accurate does this violin performance sound?
Noticeable flawsVery precise
Song 2 — Major Key · Piano & Violin · Version 2 of 3
Song 2 · Version 2
Listen carefully before answering
0:00
Q1
What do you think is the source of this violin performance?
Q2
What was the main reason for your choice? (Select all that apply)
Q3
How confident are you in your answer?
Just guessingVery certain
Q4
How natural does this violin performance sound?
Very mechanicalVery natural
Q5
How much emotional expression do you perceive in this violin performance?
No expressionVery expressive
Q6
How technically accurate does this violin performance sound?
Noticeable flawsVery precise
Song 2 — Major Key · Piano & Violin · Version 3 of 3
Song 2 · Version 3
Listen carefully before answering
0:00
Q1
What do you think is the source of this violin performance?
Q2
What was the main reason for your choice? (Select all that apply)
Q3
How confident are you in your answer?
Just guessingVery certain
Q4
How natural does this violin performance sound?
Very mechanicalVery natural
Q5
How much emotional expression do you perceive in this violin performance?
No expressionVery expressive
Q6
How technically accurate does this violin performance sound?
Noticeable flawsVery precise
Song 2 — Major Key · Piano & Violin · Side-by-Side Comparison
🎧 Compare all three versions freely
Switch between them as many times as you like. Focus on the violin's playing technique and tonal quality — try to set aside any differences in overall mix or reverb.
Version 1
0:00
Version 2
0:00
Version 3
0:00
Q8
Focusing on violin playing technique and tonal quality, which version do you prefer?
Try to judge the violin's performance itself — set aside overall mix or reverb differences.
Q9
What specifically made you prefer that version? (Select all that apply)
Focus on the violin's performance characteristics, not production style.
Song 2 — Labels Revealed
Here are the actual sources for Song 2. Listen again if you like, then re-answer below.
Q8 revised
Now that you know the sources, which violin performance do you prefer?
Try to focus on what you hear, not just the label.
Q9 revised
What makes you prefer it now? (Select all that apply)
Final Reflection
Q11
Based on everything you just heard, to what extent do you think AI-generated audio could replace a live human musician in a professional context?
Not at allCompletely
Thank you.
Your responses have been recorded. This study explores how listeners perceive and distinguish between different music sources.