I did say it could be fun. And it is an interesting experiment.
Just wanted to show some of the constraints so that anyone with the inclination would not try to use this to help pick out a driver they like.
dave
Great, think we both in then and no driver winner only preference.
But could be a sport and kind of personal win if one can point out what file belongs what driver
.
Member
Joined 2009
Paid Member
I have found the break-in affects a lot more than the bass, in some cases the break in produced a profound change in the sound and I couldn't honestly evaluate a driver, even subjectively, if it had only 2hrs on it. But the comparison is still fun - it would be helpful if you could match up for each driver how many hours they had on them though.
I had a few notes jotted on an envelope - it got tossed - F may have been one for the rock track - the headphone I have is too variable as its a "gaming" with separate volumes for "front", "surround", and a ridiculous shaker which sometimes makes them feel like they're going to fly off the ears under "sub" - I'll have to find a USB DAC, amp and T50 or whatever else is set at one response level. T50 was fun on a FUBAR Cute dac with a starved tube/ single ended mosfet amp - I've got the little entry level Schitt hybrid amp too.
It was a cute listening session.
I am truly aware of the very particular elements playing here. It was still interesting to hear different drivers in this situation. I know it would be totally different if I did that test in my own enclosures, own room and with my own recording equipment.
It's easy to hear that different drivers aim at pleasing different crowds, or should perform better in a different enclosure.
In this particular situation, half of the drivers were not to my liking. I would have tossed out one or two out the window if that was the sound coming from them in my room! Too bright, trying too much and losing so much information in the process. They would kill my ears after a few minutes.
One had great potential in the first recording, sounding the most lifelike and with just a touch of EQ would have sounded perfect to me.
Funny enough, that same driver was horrible on the other two recordings.
Brings up another point on the importance of choosing the right driver in the right enclosure for the music we wish to listen the most.
There's no "one-size-fits-all".
I am truly aware of the very particular elements playing here. It was still interesting to hear different drivers in this situation. I know it would be totally different if I did that test in my own enclosures, own room and with my own recording equipment.
It's easy to hear that different drivers aim at pleasing different crowds, or should perform better in a different enclosure.
In this particular situation, half of the drivers were not to my liking. I would have tossed out one or two out the window if that was the sound coming from them in my room! Too bright, trying too much and losing so much information in the process. They would kill my ears after a few minutes.
One had great potential in the first recording, sounding the most lifelike and with just a touch of EQ would have sounded perfect to me.
Funny enough, that same driver was horrible on the other two recordings.
Brings up another point on the importance of choosing the right driver in the right enclosure for the music we wish to listen the most.
There's no "one-size-fits-all".
Last edited:
DiyAudio doesn't have sufficient space for uploading a file larger than 962kB. I want the sound files to be permanently associated with this thread, not via some link to an outside large upload file server that can become broken over time.
Despite the limitations of 192kbit mp3, there are differences and preferences one can hear.
I don't know how to do a poll - maybe one of the mods can set it up for me?
The poll would be which driver did you enjoy the most? Which driver(s) you enjoyed the least?
The word is "enjoy" listening to the 3 prescribed tracks. We are not saying which is the best or worst as they only apply to this setup as recorded in this room.
Sounds like some advanced technical headphones
you use there i have ordinary ones. The hint is meant because you said another thread that 30 years + recordings sound best or most real and in category 3 track "F" gets a signature as a old recording compared the others here at my three listening setups and thought you would agree and like .EDIT there is two other letters for driver i prefer all three categorys, but F actual good as said above.
Last edited:
Agree. "Which driver do you prefer the most?" could be the question. Ask the mods, they should be able to setup the poll. Blind would be best. If one driver starts coming out ahead, it might bias people to think that it is the one they "should" prefer also, or not prefer because their tastes are different
. It is important to note that we are not trying to hear the flaws in the recording system here (mp3 format, recorded in a room, and so on). We are trying to see which one we like the most. For that purpose, this test is entirely sufficient. One would expect, given the measurements, that some of the drivers will sound drastically different from the others.
I'm doing it now. Fun!
One thing that I want to add is that if I EQ'd these drivers flat and then recorded them, they would all sound decent and the ability to detect differences between drivers would probably be in the margin of error.
That would be an interesting experiment but a bit time consuming.
So I spent 30min comparing the recordings and taking notes:
Summary:
In the studio I want B as it's the most accurate to my ears.
I want to avoid D & F entirely. F sounds nasal with emphasized MID>HF region and weirdly missing top register. D sounds scooped with the top register overly emphasized - too much in the other direction.
E (followed by G) would be my pick for living room speakers. Their similar voicing is relaxed but feels natural. Even though they are softer in the HF the highs seem present and accurate enough that I believe I am hearing everything.
Impressions of each speaker:
- A, sounds like the whole spectrum is tilted up (linearly) emphasizing the HF yet, decade to decade it sounds basically flat (my ears don't detect any big peaks or dips in the response). Overall i don't like its signature as it's too bright sounding for me.
- B, sounds really flat and balanced (Like what I want to hear in the studio)..
this would be my first choice out of the bunch for critical listening apps.
- C, not remarkable to me.
- D, I really don't like this one for some reason. Kept going back between it and F as my least favorites... Couldn't decide, at first I thought F was the worst, but after 10 minutes of flipping back and forth something about D bothered me more.
- E, (Along with G) seems the most source natural sounding of the bunch,
very hi-fi presentation, relaxed sounding. Even though the HF is pulled back
it's properly replicated (unlike F)
- F, Yuck, it sounds nasal (upper mids towards HF are too forward) After D this is my least favorite, pretty much tied with D for worst performer.
- G, (Along with E) seems the most source natural sounding of the bunch, very hi-fi presentation, relaxed sounding. Even though the hf is pulled back it's properly replicated (unlike F)
Summary:
In the studio I want B as it's the most accurate to my ears.
I want to avoid D & F entirely. F sounds nasal with emphasized MID>HF region and weirdly missing top register. D sounds scooped with the top register overly emphasized - too much in the other direction.
E (followed by G) would be my pick for living room speakers. Their similar voicing is relaxed but feels natural. Even though they are softer in the HF the highs seem present and accurate enough that I believe I am hearing everything.
Impressions of each speaker:
- A, sounds like the whole spectrum is tilted up (linearly) emphasizing the HF yet, decade to decade it sounds basically flat (my ears don't detect any big peaks or dips in the response). Overall i don't like its signature as it's too bright sounding for me.
- B, sounds really flat and balanced (Like what I want to hear in the studio)..
this would be my first choice out of the bunch for critical listening apps.
- C, not remarkable to me.
- D, I really don't like this one for some reason. Kept going back between it and F as my least favorites... Couldn't decide, at first I thought F was the worst, but after 10 minutes of flipping back and forth something about D bothered me more.
- E, (Along with G) seems the most source natural sounding of the bunch,
very hi-fi presentation, relaxed sounding. Even though the HF is pulled back
it's properly replicated (unlike F)
- F, Yuck, it sounds nasal (upper mids towards HF are too forward) After D this is my least favorite, pretty much tied with D for worst performer.
- G, (Along with E) seems the most source natural sounding of the bunch, very hi-fi presentation, relaxed sounding. Even though the hf is pulled back it's properly replicated (unlike F)
I thought so, too. And that's pretty much a general summary of my audio life -- fiddling this & that in various spots to make a certain combination to please myself.
By this, now we're actually listening through each "EQ chain" in our playback equipment. That is, each of our glasses are in somewhat different color. So I found it very interesting that our observations are (and will be) very different.
OK I had a quick listen to the first set as I think simple female vocal is a great way to assess...
Sorry, but the basic sound quality that is common to all tracks is very poor compared to anything I'm used to hearing here. There is a pervasive electronic nasalness to the voice that is there on all tracks.
I don't think its possible to make any meaningful assessment at this quality level.
Sorry, but the basic sound quality that is common to all tracks is very poor compared to anything I'm used to hearing here. There is a pervasive electronic nasalness to the voice that is there on all tracks.
I don't think its possible to make any meaningful assessment at this quality level.
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.