Vocal Distortion

Altmanfan

This is driving me crazy! I'm hearing slight (but definitely noticeable) distortion on vocals when I listen to music, especially SACD or DVD-A from my Denon 3910's 5.1 analog outputs. It's most pronounced on female voices

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poor Emmylou Harris's vocal timbre really brings it out! However, I also notice it to a lesser degree when watching movies. It's not really sibilance.....more like a secondary undertone, if that makes any sense.

I've just upgraded to LSi25's, LSiC and LSiFX's, and added an Outlaw 7700 amp to power them, using my Onkyo SR803 receiver as a preamp. Speaker wire is Belkin SCC-10 (center) and SCP-15 (fronts), Outlaw PCA interconnects DVD-to-preamp and preamp-to-amp, and HDMI digital audio Denon-to-Onkyo.

I'd suspect a tweeter problem, but think I've ruled that out because I hear the distortion from the LSiC and each LSi25 when I connect them separately. I tried bi-wiring all three and that didn't make any difference.

I plan to eventually replace the SR803 with an Outlaw 990 preamp, but that probably won't be real soon.

I'm flummoxed.....but I'm sure you guys can help! Please??

AsSiMiLaTeD

You need to start ruling things out. I'd start with the source, then preamp, then cables. Grab abother player and see if this problem still exists.

Altmanfan

Well, it's not the player. I tried my old Toshiba SD-6980 and the distortion's the same as the Denon 3910. That's a relief. Guess I'll try cables next......the only way I have of isolating the pre-amp is to go ahead and spring for the Outlaw 990!

Thanks for your help.

F1nut

Does the issue at hand happen at all volume levels?

Refefer

If you have a portable cd player or mp3 player with a headphone out, you can buy a $5 cable that will convert from the miniplug into rca and use the players volume control as the source control. Hook it up directly to your amp, make sure the volume is on zero and slowly increase volume. If the sound is the same, it's most likely not your preamp. If that fixes it, time to spring for a new pre.

heiney9

Are you speaking of resonance

Resonance is the tendency of a mechanical or electrical system to vibrate or oscillate at a certain frequency when excited by an external source, and to keep oscillating after the source is removed. If something tends to have resonance it is said to be resonant. Resonate is the verb form - to resonate. A bell is a good example of a mechanical resonator. When exited into vibration by being struck a bell will oscillate at its many resonant frequencies and thus produce its unique sound. All mechanical structures have some resonance at some frequencies. Resonance is a particular concern with loudspeaker manufacturers because speakers, speaker enclosures, and the listening areas they are ultimately placed in all have resonances that can cause inaccuracies in sound reproduction. An example of electrical resonance would be the oscillator in a synthesizer that is used to produce sound. A good example of both electrical and mechanical resonance is feedback in a PA system.

Of course it's not anywhere near as severe as PA feedback

or perhaps dissonance

Dissonance
The impression of tension or clash experienced by a listener when certain combinations of tones are sounded together. Dissonance is subjective to the extent that different cultures perceive it differently, but in general it is known that certain combinations of notes produce it more than others, and it's tied to the mathematical relationship the frequencies have with each other and how much beating occurs when the notes are sounded simultaneously. Although the harmonies that create dissonance may not be considered as pleasing to the ear by most listeners, dissonance occurs throughout music and can be used to great effect. Horror film soundtracks (take the screeching violins in the classic shower scene from the movie 'Psycho', for instance) are great places to find examples of dissonance.

Sorry for the long post. But these things happen quite frequently in one degree or another. Made any big changes with the system as far as settings or placement of speakers? Much of resonance and dissonance can be caused by placement and room effects. It may also be a factor in the speaks you've choosen (cabinet resonance in mainsteam speaks is an issue). For me personally my system suffers from very slight instances of both phenomenon's when listening to Jewel. I've narrowed mine down to a slightly unnatural cabinet resonance which appears most notable while listening to Jewel.

YMMV

H9

heiney9

am I over analyzing? Are you hearing crackling, like a break up or cutting in and out?

Or is the tone, timbre of her voice just off, or colored in some way?

H9

Refefer

heiney9 wrote:

am I over analyzing? Are you hearing crackling, like a break up or cutting in and out?

Or is the tone, timbre of her voice just off, or colored in some way?

H9

I think this is a good point actually, some Lsi 7s sound horrible on the Counting Crows: Across the Wire CD because of their placement. Adam Duritz voice resonated horribly until I fixed it's location. Trying moving your speakers around as well as varying equipment.

Altmanfan

Reconnecting all of the speaker connections seems to have lessened the distortion some, but not completely. Time to upgrade to better cables, I think. Posted a new biwiring question in the setup/wiring forum, though.....it's always something.

sucks2beme

The cables between the source and the receiver would be the first choice to change out. There was an edge to certain female vocals/songs that used to drive me crazy. Swapping IC's made that go away for me. I wish it was a
more defined science, but it took two different brands until it went away.
For me, it was AQ King Cobras. The Monster THX Ultra 1000's sounded better than the cheap ones, but din't fix the vocals harsh edge.
Good luck!

Altmanfan

"Edge" exactly describes what I'm hearing. Maybe I will end up having to replace the ICs......right now they're Outlaw PCA's. Thanks!