By Todd Bates – EVP Specialist, Founder of EVP Explorations

The Birth of a System

In the early days of EVP research, before digital recorders and spectral editors, investigators needed a way to talk about the quality of their captures. Sarah Estep — one of the true pioneers of the field — gave us exactly that. Her simple Class A, B, and C scale became the universal language of EVP analysis.

• Class A: Clearly audible without enhancement; multiple people agree on what’s said.
• Class B: Understandable with some effort or interpretation.
• Class C: Faint, distorted, or unclear — possibly subjective.

In its time, this was revolutionary. It provided order and credibility to an emerging phenomenon. For decades, the Estep Scale helped researchers establish a shared reference point in a field that desperately needed one.

But times — and technology — have changed.

The Problem with “Class A” in the Digital Era

The original scale worked because recording devices were consistent. You could compare two analog captures and draw meaningful distinctions. But in today’s world of AI noise reduction, spectral repair, multiband compression, and post-processing filters, clarity no longer equals authenticity.

A file might sound like a Class A — crisp, distinct, undeniable — yet be the product of heavy enhancement that introduces artifacts, harmonic overlays, or even subconscious interpretation from the operator. The same voice that once emerged naturally from tape hiss is now sculpted by software.

In other words, “Class A” no longer guarantees anything real.

The truth is, most modern recordings labeled Class A would have been Class B at best in the analog days. We’ve raised the polish but lowered the standards.

Subjectivity: The Silent Saboteur

Estep’s model was built on perception. If multiple people agreed on what they heard, it was considered valid. That worked when playback meant sitting in a quiet room with a reel-to-reel machine. But in the era of online sharing — where thousands of ears listen through different speakers, headphones, and expectations — agreement means little.

People don’t hear with their ears alone; they hear with their belief systems. A person convinced of communication will hear a message. A skeptic will hear noise. That’s not a flaw in human perception — it’s just the reality of it.

The Class system doesn’t account for that. It never did.

A Call for Verification, Not Classification

It’s time to move from classification to verification.

Instead of labeling voices as “A,” “B,” or “C,” we should be asking:

1. Is it legitimate?

Have we ruled out pareidolia, interference, contamination, and coincidence?

2. Is it clear?

Can the message be understood without digital manipulation?

3. Is it audible?

Was it heard at the time of recording, and if so, by whom?

4. Is it responsive?

Does it answer a question or correspond to an event in real time?

5. Is it repeatable?

Can similar results be captured in the same conditions or location?

A scale like this doesn’t just rate sound quality — it evaluates integrity.

That’s the foundation EVP research needs today.

Honoring the Pioneers While Moving Forward

To be clear, this isn’t about discarding Sarah Estep’s work. It’s about evolving it. Her system gave us structure when we had none. But true pioneers don’t cling to the past — they invite progress.

Estep herself would likely encourage this shift, because she understood something that many have forgotten: EVP is not about proving ghosts. It’s about understanding communication.

And communication requires more than volume or clarity — it requires context, consistency, and honesty.

The Way Ahead

If the paranormal field is going to mature, it must abandon outdated models that reward spectacle over science. “Class A” no longer represents credibility — it represents complacency.

Our job now is to build a new standard rooted in evidence, ethics, and verifiable method — one that values truth over trend and substance over sound quality.

EVP research will not advance by polishing the noise. It will advance by refining the listener.

Final Thought

The spirit world doesn’t change — but how we listen to it must.

The decline of the Class A system isn’t the end of credibility; it’s the beginning of a more disciplined era in EVP research.

As always, at EVP Explorations we’ll continue to challenge the old, preserve what works, and build what’s next — because discovering the voice beyond the veil requires more than hearing. It requires understanding.