About my first estimate of holosync:
I was really psyched up from reading the propaganda about it and my expectations were much higher than they should have been. I listened for a while, and it did have an effect, but not the one I was looking for. I looked back on how foolish I was for being gullible and stopped listening.
My second, recent, approach was to go into the experience with no expectations, just to experience it as it was and see what happened.
As to your questions about how do I know it was holosync, well, I am assuming you've actually used some of this technology yourself. When you do use it, you can feel the effects it has. The experience of listening to holosync vs. hemisync and others is very distinct. The feeling and the state of mind are different enough as to be easily compared.
As to the cumulative effect of all technologies, I have not listened to hemisync in quite a while, I used to use it A LOT, and I listened to the Awakened Minds cd many times in the past and twice recently to make a comparison. The proximity in time and amount of use of the other products is such that I feel I have made a justifiable comparison.
So, in my subjective experience, take it as you will, holosync is just plain better.
Supposedly there are just binaural beats at a lower carrier frequency ... but I think there may be some extra things going on that Bill Harris doesn't disclose. Jeff referred to this in one of the discussions.
I don't know what causes the difference, because I have played around with binaural beats at the same frequencies using low carrier signals with BWGEN. The experience is just not the same.
In terms of pricing and all the claims, sure, it's a scam.
But if you take away the advertising and hype and use the product as is, it really is very effective.
I think in order to get results you have to come at it with the right mindset and to have various meditational or mental/emotional skills with which to handle what happens during and after your sessions. I think with the bonus lecture CDs in the Awakening Prologue they attempt to do that, but I think a few guided meditations may be better.
I both agree and disagree with you, Fear Not. There is a lot of hooey around holosync, but I have to admit that the product does work. And by work I don't mean do what it's advertised to do. I mean that it brings you into a deep, profound meditational state, and it's better at doing that than the other products I've tried.
I think the results go beyond suggestion, because, believe me, I *wanted* the Insight CD to be better than holosync. Same with hemisync. Same with BWGEN. But, they just aren't.
I certainly wouldn't advise someone to start paying 300 bucks a pop per level of holosync, though.
Its a shame that they aren't more reasonable with their prices.
In terms of spectrum analysis and all that, I really don't know what to say. I have never used one of these programs, and I have not been trained in analyzing that sort of visual data.
If, in fact, holosync is simply rain and crystal bowl or bell sounds with .3 frequency binaural beats delivered at low carrier frequencies ... well, I do not know how to account for the effect. Perhaps it is a gestalt of all the sounds in combination? Perhaps if you took the ambient sounds and just delivered your own, BWGEN created frequencies into it the effects would be identical. I don't know.
These are interesting questions, and perhaps some motivated business person might want to take advantage of the possibility and offer a competitive product that really does it.
Awakened Minds doesn't. Their CD is simply mellow, it's more like a gentle sedative. Hemisync doesn't. While good, I just don't feel as deeply serene and aware.
Don't know what to tell you. Am I perplexed.
One thing you should take notice of, however, and this is what really convinced me to give it another try: notice how caustic I have been and notice how certain individuals have always responded to me in a balanced and calm manner.
These are long standing holosync users. They might be like that naturally, or they might be like that because of persistently using the technology. I am trying a personal experiment of using it for an extended period of time to find out. Check with me in a year and I'll tell you how it's gone. 
[This message has been edited by babayada (edited February 02, 2005).]
