Here here!
Most mp3 software displays what bitrate was used/type.
My friend was quite taken aback at how different it sounded off the ipod. A lot of the harshness was gone, BUT it also sounded somewhat dull, lacking in detail. I guess a very spectrally dense recording like Black Math may lose more when compressed with a lossy compression like MP3.
I guess I could rip it myself and do a comparison
Tony.
You should rip the disk and create a FLAC and something on the order of Ogg vbr or 320k. Monkey audio codec is another lossless like flac. On particular tracks I often make three versions just for comparison
Prefer flac files over others. Friends comment I have "ALBUMS" instead of just "SONGS" on my phone/tablet. <Too funny
Have Ella and others, the news works well, but I also have about everything Bill Cosby has done. Now replicating his stage acts, full of sound effects, that Chicken Heart, thump thump, thump thump or 500 COP CARS. Best stuff in the world, tho rather hard to keep a straight face when intently listening
I do realize that even with the OS xo the system will still be wrong with these tweeters, and right now I am not trying to correct anything.
You are right - We are not talking subtleties at all here! I should be hearing 3 serious flaws in this system with the simple first order xo:
1) As you say they should sound "hideously bright".
2) I should be hearing the breakup of the B4N.
3) I have no specs on the Minimus 7 tweeter but by my own measurement it has a rather high fs of 2.5k. I should be hearing the effects of that. (I do have the tweeter padded down a bit with a resistor lpad)
I'm not hearing any of it and neither is my wife.There's no sense in me correcting something that I cant hear. Maybe my ears are so bad that the only reason I even need any xo at all is to protect the tweeter from burning out. But thats why I asked about certain music that highlights flaws. I will be trying some of the music that was suggested by you and others.
Thanks
Tony
In my opinion, there's little value in using pop and rock music that you're not familiar with, especially when you're not using a reference speaker for comparison. As an alternative, try this free CD-quality set. It includes a wide range of acoustic instruments playing arpeggios and simple musical passages, as well as good vocal and speech tracks, and some ensemble clips.
FLAC download: https://tech.ebu.ch/publications/sqamcd
Tracklist and recording details: https://tech.ebu.ch/docs/tech/tech3253.pdf
FLAC download: https://tech.ebu.ch/publications/sqamcd
Tracklist and recording details: https://tech.ebu.ch/docs/tech/tech3253.pdf
any risk of overthinking this? - going back to the original question:
"What am I missing? What should I be hearing that is wrong? Is there a science to listening to music? "
My take would be to paraphrase an old Linn advert from "if it sounds good to you it is" - italics mine
For me this approach certainly takes compulsive obsessive audionervosa paranoia out of the equation and lets me connect with the emotional intent of the music - of course depending on the performance, sometimes that effort draws a blank. In other words, my "science" in this case would be in the letting go
Zen Buddism - don't even think about it
- going back to the original question:"What am I missing? What should I be hearing that is wrong? Is there a science to listening to music? "
My take would be to paraphrase an old Linn advert from "if it sounds good to you it is" - italics mine
For me this approach certainly takes compulsive obsessive audionervosa paranoia out of the equation and lets me connect with the emotional intent of the music - of course depending on the performance, sometimes that effort draws a blank. In other words, my "science" in this case would be in the letting go
Zen Buddism - don't even think about it
Fixing the issues one by one takes what you and your wife think are marvelous to the next level by removing veils that mask the original. This is learned over time with experience.
The question that begs to be asked is are you ready to hear those flaws?
You're in this deep and haven't sunk yet
The question that begs to be asked is are you ready to hear those flaws?
You're in this deep and haven't sunk yet
Hi,
Indeed. MP3 is a music / sound effects codec and nowhere near
as efficient as it could be if optimised for speech only. However
a one pass of analogue speech to MP3 is fine, TV, DVD's etc.
The news is a particular case often with (poor) links using
telephony codecs. Unlike MP3 codecs these are not constant
bandwidth and they are designed to make the best of the
available bandwidth (often very low) and by design they
will degrade the quality of the speech, maintaining the
maximum intellegibility (not fidelity) before they give
up the ghost due to not enough bandwidth.
rgds, sreten.
I agree with the subscriber to the thread entitled something like "what makes a good speaker". His response was; "a good speaker is one that gives you pleasure".
If you like your speakers and your wife likes your speakers, enjoy them.
I would leave them as they are, and mess around with a different design. You would have the fun of seeing if your new design is any better than the present one. Whatever the result, it will inform.
If you like your speakers and your wife likes your speakers, enjoy them.
I would leave them as they are, and mess around with a different design. You would have the fun of seeing if your new design is any better than the present one. Whatever the result, it will inform.
Verry good point. If you have never heard the material before, especially not on a good system then how will you know what sounds bad (or that it can sound good).
absolutetly. It's a matter of knowing what to listen for. When you odn't know you don't hear it!
An analogy in the visual world. I bought a new lens for my camera and dilligently went out and took a reel of film to test the lens.
I took photos on the tripod at various zooms and from wide open to fully stopped down. When I got the prints back (6" X 4") I looked at them and concluded that the lens was good accross the board, as I could not see any difference between the wide open and fully stopped down photos (or those in between) .
A while later I scanned same negatives at 4000dpi and examined them. The wide open and fully stopped down ones were terribly blurred towards the edges of the frame at F8 it was clean from edge to edge. I went back and looked at the original prints and now I knew what I was looking for it was quite obvious that the flaws were there, I just couldn't see them before.
Tony.
any risk of overthinking this?
"What am I missing? What should I be hearing that is wrong? Is there a science to listening to music? "
My take would be to paraphrase an old Linn advert from "if it sounds good to you it is" - italics mine
For me this approach certainly takes compulsive obsessive audionervosa paranoia out of the equation and lets me connect with the emotional intent of the music - of course depending on the performance, sometimes that effort draws a blank. In other words, my "science" in this case would be in the letting go
Zen Buddism - don't even think about it
Huh? That all went over my head.. Compulsive obsessive audionervosa paranoia. Hah? Zen Buddism? Has a higher being spoke?
Verry good point. If you have never heard the material before, especially not on a good system then how will you know what sounds bad (or that it can sound good).
absolutetly. It's a matter of knowing what to listen for. When you odn't know you don't hear it!
An analogy in the visual world. I bought a new lens for my camera and dilligently went out and took a reel of film to test the lens.
I took photos on the tripod at various zooms and from wide open to fully stopped down. When I got the prints back (6" X 4") I looked at them and concluded that the lens was good accross the board, as I could not see any difference between the wide open and fully stopped down photos (or those in between) .
A while later I scanned same negatives at 4000dpi and examined them. The wide open and fully stopped down ones were terribly blurred towards the edges of the frame at F8 it was clean from edge to edge. I went back and looked at the original prints and now I knew what I was looking for it was quite obvious that the flaws were there, I just couldn't see them before.
Tony.
Not sure I entirely get your analogy but I think I get the gist of it. The more you delve into something the more you may find what you don't want to know. Like measuring your speakers.
Here's an analogy. If a motor head does something to their car engine thats supposed to increase horsepower by 5% they would never know the difference unless the car went on a dyno or to the track and had some hard measured results. If I sneaked in your house some night and changed all your crossover values by 5% you, or anybody else here would never know the difference.
Anthony
I'm going to download that and burn it to a CD. Probably confuse me even more but should be interesting. Thanks
Antonio
Hi
Anyone here with a perfect loudspeaker that lives within 75 miles of Johnston RI and wants to audition their setup. I'll make the trip. Experience starts somewhere or do I need to spend $10k to hear a reference speaker. Not gonna happen.
Ando
Hi,
No. A one off experience is pointless, and is not experience.
A reference speaker does not have to expensive, it just
needs to be relatively flat and free from mumbo jumbo
BS, with a clean properly phased matched x/o point.
rgds, sreten.
As far as MP3's I asked the question "am I opening a can of worms?". My tin ears have heard some artifacts on some (but not all) MP3 files that I have "ripped" myself or paid for and downloaded. I cant describe it but its like a ringing or echo sound in the mid to high range that sort of sound like maybe a guitar strings breaking. A "twang" if that makes any sense that manifests itself through the entire track
Antonio Tin Can Ears
Antonio Tin Can Ears
Hi,
Odd that in my basic comprehension of optics, there is no way that
higher stops than F8 could possibly cause blurred edges if F8 is fine.
rgds, sreten.
Hi,
MP3* works just fine if implemented properly. It just more boring
than CD quality good recordings on a good hifi. There are no
obvious faults to the process or any poor artifacts.
rgds, sreten.
* by MP3 I really mean any of the encoding schemes, like
a MP3 player will play loads of other encoding formats.
I was going to comment on that myself but since I'm in over my head here about speakers I kept my mouth shut.
This statement goes against the laws of optics :
"The wide open and fully stopped down ones were terribly blurred towards
the edges of the frame, at F8 it was clean from edge to edge"
Higher F's should be cleaner but he must have his reasons for saying it but maybe he misspelled what he intended to say.
Anthony
I think Tony said exactly what he meant. I have seen the same phenomenon in many 35mm, medium and large format lenses. Depending on where the aperture is placed and lens type has an diffraction effect which causes blurring. This is tested in most reviews on lenses.
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.