Properly captured dynamics...

steveinaz
steveinaz Posts: 19,538
edited February 2012 in The Clubhouse
This is what excellent dynamic range looks/sounds like. Notice the wide swing between the quiet/loud passages, and how rare the needle pegs in the red:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/k_i2kbHEH64&quot; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Shop Spkrs: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2
Post edited by steveinaz on
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,165
    edited February 2012
    Dynamic Range is defined as the difference between the loudest and softest passage in a recording. When a producer/recording engineer makes all the passages at the same output level and maxes the level to just below the onset of clipping like sounds schitt.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • Tankman
    Tankman Posts: 419
    edited February 2012
    Man i miss dem meters.
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,770
    edited February 2012
    plenty of meters at my house; want some?
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  • steveinaz
    steveinaz Posts: 19,538
    edited February 2012
    When cassettes were in their hayday, you had to compromise to squeeze the best frequency response vs signal to noise ratio out of a recorded tape--quite a challenge. Thanks to Dolby and (IMO better) dbx pro noise reduction, this made the chore easier; a little more "fool proof."
    Source: Bluesound Node 2i - Preamp/DAC: Benchmark DAC2 DX - Amp: Parasound Halo A21 - Speakers: MartinLogan Motion 60XTi - Shop Rig: Yamaha A-S501 Integrated - Shop Spkrs: Elac Debut 2.0 B5.2
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  • zingo
    zingo Posts: 11,258
    edited February 2012
    I'm going to crank this track up tonight with the VU meters and see if I get the same response.
    Jake
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,770
    edited February 2012
    Note that those VU meters themselves have a dynamic range of 23 dB. The ballistics of a true VU ("volume unit") meter show an averaged, not peak, level. Burying VU meters in the red is a surefire recipe for distortion/nonlinearity.

    Peak responding meter ballistics (and meters with a wider dynamic range to start with) might reveal a tad more.

    I am also amused by the accentuation in the title graphic of "all analog, no digital". There's plenty of dynamic range available in even the redbook CD digital domain (ca. 100 dB). Of course, Steve Hoffman knows that...

    speaking of dynamic range... here's an analog transcription of a digital recording that probably has a tad bit more of it than does Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me.

    telarc 1812.jpg
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,165
    edited February 2012
    VU meters are notoriously slow as well as the shortcomings mhardy already mentioned.

    Cool as hell and retro, but not as accurate as led or digital type meters.

    H9
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • Serendipity
    Serendipity Posts: 6,975
    edited February 2012
    Want to hear some awesome dynamic range?

    Pick up a copy of the track "Water shows the hidden heart" on the Enya CD Amarantine.

    Unbelievable how dynamic this track sounds. It's recorded quiet, you have to turn your volume up...
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    Front projection, 2 channel, car audio... life is good!
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  • CoolJazz
    CoolJazz Posts: 570
    edited February 2012
    A true VU meter ballistics are a specific value. This was to make them more "accurate" as far as usable level for audio going down the chain in recording and broadcasting.

    Peak values used to be considered to be 10db above average or VU displayed. You always allowed for levels to be at least 10 higher and still be flat in response and reasonable in distortion.

    In old days, 0VU was almost always set to be indicated when audio was at +8 for all professional audio. This was in part because transformers could drive this level and it helped overcome noise floor problems of phone lines, which were how audio covered greater distances, and other tube devices which didn't always have low noise floor, yet could make higher levels easily. Then eventually, with solid state and then IC's coming into common use without output transformers, they couldn't as easily drive these levels and +4 has become the common balanced pro level. And reduced noise floors also allowed this without sacrifice of signal to noise.

    Now days with digital sources, the commonly accepted value for peaks went to 16db and in some cases people allow 18db over the average. Indeed, if you watch a moderm digital VU display with both VU and peak reading, it's interesting. Most all moderm music has about 3 or 4 db average difference between them. Yet live voice will easily go towards and beyond that 10 to 12 db area!

    So think about the peak level situation. Older standards meant making equipment handle peak values of at least+18. Then came the +4 days which meant peaks of first +14 then with digital +20 or a little more! Now factor in leaving a little headroom more for something unexpectedly being hot and add to all of those numbers maybe +4 to 6db more yet!!!

    No wonder there is temptation for level compression earlier in the production chains!

    CJ
    A so called science type proudly says... "I do realize that I would fool myself all the time, about listening conclusions and many other observations, if I did listen before buying. That’s why I don’t, I bought all of my current gear based on technical parameters alone, such as specs and measurements."

    More amazing Internet Science Pink Panther wisdom..."My DAC has since been upgraded from Mark Levinson to Topping."
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  • mhardy6647
    mhardy6647 Posts: 33,770
    edited February 2012
    The definition of the volume unit (VU) dates back to the days when remote radio broadcasts were "transmitted" on the phone company's (there was only one phone company!) telephone lines. We refer to high-level preamp outputs as "line level" in recognition of this old history even today. The 0 VU signal level is precisely defined (i.e., standardized) at 1.23 V at 1000 Hz, which is equal to +4 dBu.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VU_meter
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