john

The major focus in my professional life has been the development of perception based Quality of Experience (QoE) measurement and optimization techniques (see left/top picture).
I started my career in 1974 with an internship on the topic of intonation at the IPO (PHILIPS Eindhoven, see photo).

I have degrees in electronic engineering (ing), physics (MSc) and psychophysics (PhD). My biggest achievements are:


After finalizing my masters in physics at Leiden University I have (co)-developed measurement algorithms/procedures for the assessment of:
    Pitch Probability Density (NWO/IPO/PHILIPS) PhD, Chapter 5
    Speech Quality (KPN/OPTICOM/TNO) EXAMPLES ITU-T Rec. P.861 PSQM;   P.862 PESQ;   P.863 POLQA open access         POLQA flowchart  
    Speech Quality Degradation Decomposition (TNO) Degradation decomposition into noise, time, frequency domain contributions
    Speech Quality of Tone Languages (TNO, uni Nsukka) The Impact of Tone Language and Non-Native Language Listening on Measuring Speech Quality
    Speech/Telephony/Audio/Video Quality (KPN/TNO) Glass Box versus Black Box Telephony example, see also GSM example
    Talking Quality (listen to your own voice) (KPN, uni Delft) PESQM
    Conversational Quality (TNO uni Nsukka) ITU-T White Contribution; Conf paper Acoust. Soc. of Nigeria
    Intelligibility (TNO/KPN) PESQ Intelligibility;    POLQA Intelligibility
    Audio Quality (KPN/OPTICOM) PAQM (output example);    ITU-R standard BS.1387 PEAQ
    Video Quality (KPN/OPTICOM) PVQM;    ITU-T standard J.247 PEVQ
    AudioVisual Quality (KPN) (AA-Q,VV-Q) ➜ AVAV-Q
    Hearing Aid Quality (TNO/Consortium) PHAQM basic approach, Limited information available, see Figs 2 and 3 of this AES paper
    Loudspeaker Reproduction Quality (TNO/Consortium) PREQUEL
    Immersion Quality (TNO/Consortium)) EXAMPLES Under development  
    Browsing/Downloading Quality (KPN/TNO) Glass Box Browsing/Downloading, based on ITU-T standard G.1030

See also my Publications/Patents Curriculum Vitae Google Scholar pageLinkedIn Page,  and an interview in TNO magazine (2006 in Dutch  or English).

My non-professional life is focused on Quality (read my philosophy on measuring Quality) and for a part thus on audio quality,
see e.g. my view on HiFi published in 2007 in HiFi Video Test and updated/extended in English over the period 2012-2023:
1: Transparantie en Perceptieve Meettechnieken Transparency and Perceptual Measurement Techniques
2: De Weergave Filosofie “Hier en Nu” versus “Daar en Toen” Reproduction Philosophy “Here and Now” versus “There and Then”
3: De Ideale Luidspreker, Diffuus Veld Egalisatie The Ideal Loudspeaker, Diffuse Field Equalization
4: De Ideale Luidspreker, Reflecties en Resonanties The Ideal Loudspeaker, Reflections and Resonances
5: Audio Compressie Audio Compression
6: Subjectief Testen Subjective Testing
7: Wat Willen We What Do We Really Want?, Immersion!
8: Telefonie Telephony
An overview of conversational quality and music reproduction quality is given in this HiFi over WiFi paper (only available in Dutch)

Or, when shifting towards content quality, listen to my 1 hecto second (1 hs) music taste linkers chosen on the basis of their combined
spectacularity and stability quality score, read my philosophy on measuring Quality       (quality limited by MP3 compression) :
1722 J. S. Bach (Sviatoslav Richter 1972) / Well Tempered Clavier / Prelude & Fugue No. 08 BWV 853
1896 Bruckner (Bernard Haitink 1965)/ Symphony no 9 / Scherzo
1814 Beethoven (Hélène Couvert 2004) / Piano Sonatas / Sonate op.27 no 1
1980 Captain Beefheart / Doc at the Radar Station / Hot Head
1997 Slapp Happy / Ça Va / Powerful Stuff
1969 Frank Zappa / Hot Rats / Little Umbrellas
1973 Gentle Giant / In a Glass House / Experience
1731 Vivaldi (Jakob Lindberg 1985) / Concerto in Re maggiore / Allegro giusto / RV93       (perfect acoustic capture by BIS)
1977 Spirit / Future Games / Buried in My Brain
1940 John Cage (Donald Knaack 1989) / Three Constructions / Second Construction
1991 Pere Ubu / Worlds in Collision / Worlds in Collision
Naming convention = Composer (Interpreter) / CD / Song.

More 1 hs taste linkers can be found here
Or listen to some of my favorite hit single (guilty?) pleasures
Or to some hit and non hit modern classics
Or to some video clips where the video is dominating the perception

Or, when shifting away from quality, listen to some of my old private recordings in the 80's with low quality audio equipment:
Unknown marimba piece by Paul Jongsthover (recorded 1985, technical set up by Hans van Beekhuyzen )

Rain pipe marimba algorithmic music by Leon van Noorden (recorded 1985 using my Jecklin Disc like walkman recording bag)    link to Leon

Piano improvisation by Bart Dijkman (recorded 1982 using my home built tube condenser microphones)    link to Bart

My Turkish neighbors in the early 80's when MultiCulti still had a positive connotation (recorded in 1982 using my home built tube condenser microphones)

Karaoke Hauser Orkater door Ineke Beerends Hazebroek, Ton Willekes en Rasida Jahangir (recorded 1980 using my home built tube condenser microphones)    link to Ton Willekes Ensemble Pittorresque

My quick try-out algorithmic music construction (recorded 1987 using a Mac and Yamaha FB01 synthesizer)


Moving further away from music towards art:
Artemisia Gentileschi (The result of Me Too) / Judith and Holofernes 1612
Johannes Vermeer (Paint the Light) / Milkmaid 1658
Antonio Mancini (Paint the Women) / Aurelia 1887
Jan Mankes (Paint The Truth) / Young white goat 1914
Paul Klee (Paint the Essence) / Adam and Little Eve 1921
Piet Mondriaan (Abstract Ultimo) / Victory Boogie Woogie 1944
Madi Phala (Black Artists matter) / These Guys Are Heavy 1987
Francis Alÿs / El Ensayo (Multi Media, Should be experienced in surround) 1999
Ingrid Sikkens (Personal Favorite) / No Title 2000
Tereza Rullerova / Playbour Supersonik (Multi Media) 2015

Some of my favorite music video clips:
Kinks - Dead End Street 1966
New Order - True Faith 1987
Interpol - The Heinrich Maneuver 1987
Radiohead - Street Spirit 1995
The Dandy Warholes - Godless 2000
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Gold Lion 2006
Raconteurs - Steady, As She Goes 2006
Stromae - L’enfer 2022

You may also want to watch some of my favorite live performances:
Joni Mitchell - Woodstock / 1970 UK, BBC
Iva Bittova - Sirka v louzi / 2010 Netherlands, VPRO Vrije Geluiden
Fleetwood Mac - Man of the world / 1969 Germany, Beat-Club
Rogerio Tutti - Malagueña (Lecuona) / 2016? Brasil
Frank Zappa - Concert / 1968 UK London
Soft Machine - Full Concert / 1968 France
Captain Beefheart Concert / 1972 Germany, Beat-Club
Wire - Full Concert / 2013 USA Seattle, KEXP
Thurston Moore - Full Concert / 2014 USA Seattle, KEXP
Small Faces - Full Concert / 1968 UK, BBC
Mdou Moctar - Afrique Victime / 2021 Niger
Mink DeVille - Demasiado Corazon / 1985 Netherlands, Top-Pop
Pacific Gas and Electric - Are You Ready / 1972 Germany, Beat-Club
Buddy Guy | / 2023 Netherlands Rotterdam, North Sea Jazz

Nederlandstalige muziek, ook gekozen op basis van de gecombineerde spectaculari-stabiliteit:
Hauser Orkater / Zie de mannen vallen 1979
Bots / Zeven dagen lang 1976
Maarten van Roozendaal / Red mij niet 2001
Maarten van Roozendaal /   Het Leven Heeft Geen Zin
Drs P / Dodenrit 1974
Het / Ik heb geen zin om op te staan 1965
Broederliefde / Alaka 2015

Best talks in the search of the basics we need to understand the world:
De maatschappelijke oorzaken van burnout | Paul Verhaeghe | Socius, steunpunt sociaal-cultureel werk vzw, NL, 2017
Quantum Computing: Untangling the Hype | Artur Ekert and Harry Buhrman| The Royal Institution, London UK, 2018
Quantum Fields: The Real Building Blocks of the Universe | David Tong | The Royal Institution, London UK, 2017
The Particle at the End of the Universe | Sean Carroll | The Royal Institution, London UK, 2013
Nihilism - There’s an App for That! | Nolen Gertz | TEDx, Frankfurt D, 2017
Why the universe seems so strange | Richard Dawkins | TED, Monterey USA, 2007
Super ethics or super intelligence | Pim Haselager | Donders Institute, Nijmegen NL, 2019
Lessons from a Tiananmen Massacre Survivor | Jianli Yang | TEDx Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh USA, 2018
Mathematics as Hidden Reality | Edward Frenkel | Science and Non Duality, 2014
Why Does Time Exist at All? | Sean Carroll | TEDx Caltech USA, 2016
Have we reached the end of physics? | Harry Cliff | TED Global, Geneva CH, 2015
The most mysterious star in the universe | Tabetha Boyajian | TED, Vancouver CA, 2016
The most important lesson from 83,000 brain scans | Daniel Amen | TEDx Orange Coast 2013
What is the best diet for humans? | Eran Segal | TEDx Ruppin 2016
How to Love Intelligently In the Age of Instant Gratification | Sue Johnson | 2014
How dogs love us | Gregory Berns | TEDx Atlanta 2015
Visualizing Eleven Dimensions | Thad Roberts | T