I get what you mean. I’ve been walking through meadows and along the edge of the woods at night lately. All the different plants and grasses at different heights with scrolling shadows look richer with a warmer tint. I don’t know how much CRI plays a role. I’d have to check back to back but I seem to get the same effect with XHP50.2 and XHP70.2 at 3000K as I do with SST-20 at 2700K.
More likely IMO that the same people not bothered by and/or unable to notice one, wouldn’t mind the other.
If something appears or looks different at different times and in different circumstances, how do you know which one is the real one. We know an apple is supposed to be red but if one led shows it as bright red and one shows it as a duller red, which one is closer to reality?
Even two people using the same light source will see the apple differently.
good questions… do some tests 
see what you learn
numerically speaking
If an LED does not produce red, then no red will come back from the apple to our eyes.
High CRI LEDs produce more Red, show the red pigments better.
High CRI is more Full Spectrum, closer to Real Daylight, but not the same.
the LED on the left wont show Red, it cant, because it does not produce Red.
one light completely fails to show the red content of broiled chicken:
to me, the Low CRI chicken looks disgusting…
the High CRI Chicken, is much more appetizing…
it Tastes more like Real Chicken
lol!
My inbred kids won’t be able to complain about always having chicken for dinner anymore, now they can choose between low CRI chicken and high CRI chicken.
…and make you commit adultery.
That is 90% the tint and/or CCT of the two lights making a difference, and the other 10% being the high cri led producing more depe reds.
CRI is such a limited way to objectively measure light quality. R9 is just a sliver of deep red taking from a broad spectrum of light— or rather one single color sample. Just because a light has -R9 on its CRI graph doesn’t mean it can’t produce any red content whatsoever.
I bet if you compared a high CRI light with amazing R9, but green tint and high CCT, and compared it to a lower CRI light with pink tint and warm tint but only so-so R9, you’d probably walk away preferring the lower CRI light.
And on the topic of CRI as a whole— it’s a subtle quality to light. It is miniscule compared to CCT and tint. The only real way to accurately qualify how CRI affects light is to pit two light sources of the same CCT and tint against each other, but with varying CRI levels.
I’m sorry honey, but the blue light made me do it! I told you to swap the lightbulbs at home!
Hey, I’m happy to report the high-CRI does seem to make for better photography! The difference is more apparent through my phone camera. Combined with the TIR optic I’m able to get some good shots for my QC dealings.
Thank you, I completley agree. That is the ONLY way to show the benefit or lack of benefit of CRI. Eliminate all the variables except CRI & let the chips fall where they fall. 
CCT perception is mostly a matter of raw lux, at low lux, low cct is better.
The sheer amount of lux needed for lights over 4500k to be perceptually good renders anything over that pointless in a flashlight. 6500k is for intensely bright (500-1000 lux) corporate lighting in offices etc…
My favorite Chicken Lights have 219b sw45k, like the light in the middle:
Post photos of Your favorite Chicken Roasting Light!
The Pink Chicken looks undone!
I’ll eat the crusty cooked one on the left
A lot of CRI differences come right back to preference of tint and eyesight that is able to tell the difference.
Much like the White And Gold Or Black And Blue dress thing, we all see things a little different and this is a good thing,
it is what makes us perfectly made imperfect Humans.
Peace out.
I could never understand the dress thing. Always wondered wtf’s wrong with those people who saw… whatever was the wrong color combo.
Then again, I wondered if other people saw things the way I would see things, colorwise. Eg, what if I saw a woman, and she looked normal to me, but show her to 4 other people, and they see “in their brains”, something like
instead?
The highest CRI LED (I believe) is the 6500K Nichia Optisolis. I have them in a triple S2+ and it is very unique. It has a bluish tint, like most of the cheapo flashlights that you can buy, but renders colors amazingly well. And I find it interesting that the lower CCT Optisolis LEDs actually have less CRI.
This is from the Virence/Eurekatronix website:
Pic reminds me of Rolling Stones Some Girls album art.
Both versions
I normally see four of everything--that's normal, right?--but now I'm seeing sixteen women in that pic!
All the pretty colors!
(I think I need to see my optometrist.) 
Me, too. My pessimetrist is just getting me depressed.
[quote=twisted raven]
[quote=jon_slider]
This is the most important point of the discussion and I wish it was highlighted more often. CRI is a comparison to a blackbody OF THE SAME CCT. As soon as you change the CCT the comparison is largely meaningless. To say I like a high CRI 4000K over a low CRI 6500K says far more about what CCT I prefer than the CRI.
You’re welcome to disagree with every word stated, however, that doesn’t alter the fact that CRI is a comparison with a black body OF THE SAME CCT. A very warm CCT (let’s say 2700K) that has particular CRI won’t automatically render colours more accurately than a cooler CCT with a lower CRI. The CRI value is actually meaningless without knowing what the colour temp is.
I’m not saying you can’t enjoy higher CRI lights but to simply say “high CRI is the most important aspect of a light” is leaving out the more important part of the equation; what colour temperature do you like?