Yep - so many voices around my head some of them inside some outside my head , hey I'm free to choose the best of both worlds 
But you are limited to just one world , what a mess!
More Worlds More Fun :
The best hobby with the best music , don't waste your time on crappy stuff ...
But you are limited to just one world , what a mess!
More Worlds More Fun :
The best hobby with the best music , don't waste your time on crappy stuff ...
In the case of the Sky Fi Audio room, the midbass boominess is a bit overwhelming. They really need some bass traps. The first loudspeakers (La Scalas) also typically have a bit of a peaking response in the 100-200 Hz region, if you didn't already know. I believe that Klipsch doesn't EQ that rise in response out because it typically offsets the heavy-handed mastering EQ that's typically used to "de-boom" the recordings for loudspeakers having no directivity control in the 100-200 Hz band (like all direct radiating bass bins). The La Scalas still have directivity in this band.
The recording itself has a bit of problems with its mastering EQ, overemphasizing the 5-7 kHz band by about 3 dB, and underemphasizing the 1.3-5 kHz band by almost as much. You can use Audacity to run the attached EQ file to rebalance the track so that the high-hat doesn't rattle your teeth quite so heavily.
That's what happens when you compare loudspeakers having very different directivity index curves in-room. If you compared outside or in an anechoic chamber (I've been in the chamber in Hope AR while listening to differences in directivity while walking around the loudspeakers), the differences are much less pronounced.
Use the Audacity custom EQ file to correct the CD track and the vocals will be much more listenable. Your cardboard box comment is synonymous with the identified midbass issue (typical for home-sized listening rooms).
Loudspeaker 5 (Klipschorns) have the most issues with the room not being treated properly for cornerhorns, and not having the loudspeakers toed-in and taking advantage of 8th space acoustic loading (in the room corners). I'm wondering why the salesman even bothered playing the Khorns since he clearly has them improperly installed.
The last loudspeakers (Jubilees) are EQed via their DSP crossover to be in half space only--at least 6-8 feet away from any walls. You're listening to the effect of not dialing them in properly for the small listening room that they're in. You'll need a -12 dB PEQ centered at ~25 Hz, with bandwidth of ~1.5 octave to correct for the room gain picked up by the Jubilee's bass bins in that very small listening room.
I recommend a Blumlein pair at the listening position or slightly in front of it.
Chris
In my experience, the best reproduction of my own stereo system regarding how it sound to my ears, is using binaural mics, more specifically stuck in my own ears (I simply glued some inexpensive capsules onto foam ear plugs and stuffed them on in) while "sitting" in place for the recording.
Reproduced over open back, over the ear headphones, it came pretty close to how it "really" sounds. Of course, you have to sit in the same position the recording was made in. I tricked my wife, with far better hearing than I, into thinking the speakers were playing, when they were off and the sound she heard was only through the headphones.
I say; To fully hear the room, you have to be able to place yourself within the room, via binaural navigation. Any mic setup that doesnt convey the necessary information to do so wont allow this. Any headphone setup (closed back, in ear) that messes too far with the recording wont allow it either,
I myself wouldnt bother any other way, particularly if I wanted to demo something to other people.
Reproduced over open back, over the ear headphones, it came pretty close to how it "really" sounds. Of course, you have to sit in the same position the recording was made in. I tricked my wife, with far better hearing than I, into thinking the speakers were playing, when they were off and the sound she heard was only through the headphones.
I say; To fully hear the room, you have to be able to place yourself within the room, via binaural navigation. Any mic setup that doesnt convey the necessary information to do so wont allow this. Any headphone setup (closed back, in ear) that messes too far with the recording wont allow it either,
I myself wouldnt bother any other way, particularly if I wanted to demo something to other people.
I'm not too familiar with Audacity, how would I import and make that EQ file work?
Hugo
Within Audacity with the "So Far Away" track opened, select Effects --> Equalize... then notice a curve pops up.
Here is where you will open the example xml file that you found above in this thread, by clicking on the "Save/Manage Curves" button at the middle-bottom of the curve window. Import that xml file by hitting the "import" button and searching for the xml file that you've saved locally. You should see the curve appear when you select if from the list. Hit "ok" to close the curve management window, then "ok" again to close and execute the Equalize... filter. You will see the traces change shape. You can then press the space bar to play the track, or stop playing.
You can use "undo" (ctrl-Z) to hear the original track again to compare, and then select "redo" (ctrl-Y) to hear the track EQed again to toggle back and forth.
More here: https://www.diyaudio.com/community/attachments/demastering-part-2-how-to-pdf.1201171/
Chris
I used to think headphones could not create a soundstage that was located outside the confines of the human head or the headphones themselves. But that has all changed. Now I can get a soundstage that is out in front of me and to the sides that is outside my head and headphones. not always. It depends on how the recording was made. Obviously, some recordings are recorded more “live” than others. But on material such as Dead Can Dance and Grateful Dead “binaural“ fan-produced cassette “audience” recordings of live concerts the soundstage is located way out in front of me, as if produced by Rogers or Quads. Sometimes ten or twenty feet in front! But it stands to reason that soundstage information contained in the recording is the same for headphones as it is for speakers, maybe more accessible on headphones because room acoustic anomalies aren’t an issue. Usually the room hurts the sound, it doesn’t help it.
Last edited: