Nirvana Thread #3: I dunno what happened, but...

Early B.

...my system has never sounded better. I dunno -- maybe something broke in. Over the past couple of months, I've changed out a pair of interconnects and both power cords just for the hell of it. That's it. Lateral moves price-wise. Oh yeah, and I go straight to the wall now -- no power conditioner. This change was a big improvement, but it also made me a little nervous because there are frequent power outages in my neighborhood, almost always during rainstorms, though.

My system is slightly less detailed than before, but much more musical. A couple of months ago it was a bit on the clinical side, now it's as smooth as butter. Nevertheless, I can "hear" the recording studio, I can determine the quality of the microphone, I can tell if the microphones are positioned correctly on specific instruments, and I can even hear how much reverb(?) the sound engineer is adding to the vocals.

I'm not sure what caused the change, but I like it a lot. I've been listening to more music over the past week than I have in a long time. In fact, I've recently begun to appreciate a whole new genre -- folk music. I like the bluesy kind, I guess (i.e., Ruthie Foster). Kinda weird how a system will open your mind up to new experiences that you probably never would have considered.

OK, I'm really done this time. Seriously. No more tweaking.;)

Ricardo

I know exactly what you mean; I have a similar experience; since a couple of weeks ago, without me doing anything, it seems that everything finally broke in and that synergy thing clicked in. Sounding better than ever...don't want to touch anything.

Enjoy!!

reeltrouble1

If you have not already done so check out Keb Mo for folk blues

RT1

Early B.

reeltrouble1 wrote: »

If you have not already done so check out Keb Mo for folk blues

I already have one of his CDs. Very good, great writing...

reeltrouble1

cool, I also dig Dave Alvin--Black Jack David, definetly folk, great guitar and vocals.

madmax

Early B. wrote: »

I can "hear" the recording studio, I can determine the quality of the microphone, I can tell if the microphones are positioned correctly on specific instruments, and I can even hear how much reverb(?) the sound engineer is adding to the vocals.

What you describe is my definition of an audiophile system.

It is also where you start disliking a LOT of recordings because you can hear the reverb and effects are not real.

madmax

Early B.

Oh, I wanted to add one more thing -- I think silver has a lot to do with how my system sounds. I went from silver clad interconnects to pure silver, and from copper power cords to silver clad PCs. For balance, I have copper speaker cables. With more silver, the sound became a bit brighter (although non-fatiguing), but much more musical.

Another possibility for the improvement is the Promitheus TVC. Some folks say it takes 400 hours to break it in, and I didn't believe them. Maybe they're right. I bought it earlier this year, so perhaps it's approaching the 400 hour mark.

Early B.

madmax wrote: »

It is also where you start disliking a LOT of recordings because you can hear the reverb and effects are not real.

Yeah, I got rid of a lot of my CDs from mainstream artists a few years ago for this reason, and for the fake instruments, as well. No true audiophile would listen to such garbage. Whoever invented the synthesizer should be taken out back and flogged repeatedly with barbed wire and a fence pole.


This is for cfrizz:
On a totally unrelated subject, one of my friends called me an audio snob a couple of days ago, and my reply was: "That's right, dammit, and don't you forget it!":D

heiney9

madmax wrote: »

What you describe is my definition of an audiophile system.

It is also where you start disliking a LOT of recordings because you can hear the reverb and effects are not real.

madmax

I've been hearing a lot of this lately in modern recordings and it really distracts me when I'm listening and IMO, it's way over done. Listen to some older 70's recordings and they are much "dryer" (for lack of a better word). The reverb and effects on todays recordings are dreadful.

Once your system reaches this stage it just all becomes downright annoying (the effects and such in the recording). My quest lately has not been to upgrade and tweak, but to search out better more natural sounding recordings. I am at a point where the recording makes or breaks a great listening session.

Give me a good 50's-60's or 70's recording anyday of the week, I don't care who it is. Finding well recorded modern music is getting increasingly difficult and it's not just the compression thing going on.

This is why for the past 5-6 years I've gravitated to live recordings because in some cases there is less processing; however that's not always the case.

Here I thought I was the only one experiencing the frustraation of over processed recordings with too many effects and reverb, etc.

H9

Early B.

heiney9 wrote: »

I've been hearing a lot of this lately in modern recordings and it really distracts me when I'm listening and IMO, it's way over done. Listen to some older 70's recordings and they are much "dryer" (for lack of a better word). The reverb and effects on todays recordings are dreadful.

Once your system reaches this stage it just all becomes downright annoying (the effects and such in the recording). My quest lately has not been to upgrade and tweak, but to search out better more natural sounding recordings. I am at a point where the recording makes or breaks a great listening session.

Give me a good 50's-60's or 70's recording anyday of the week, I don't care who it is. Finding well recorded modern music is getting increasingly difficult and it's not just the compression thing going on.

This is why for the past 5-6 years I've gravitated to live recordings because in some cases there is less processing; however that's not always the case.

Here I thought I was the only one experiencing the frustraation of over processed recordings with too many effects and reverb, etc.

H9

I agree. It's amazing how CDs from the 50's and 60's can sound so much better than today's music.

Here's what I've found:

1. Listen to samples of music before you purchase it. Even my $20 computer speakers can tell me how well the CD is recorded. I use amazon.com a lot for samples.

2. Be careful with CDs made in the 80's and 90's. More recent CDs have gotten better, if carefully selected.

3. CDs from indie artists are often better recorded than the mainstream ones.

4. Go with companies known for producing high quality recordings.

5. A few years ago, I got rid of every CD I didn't like and started over. Glad I did. Now virtually all of my CDs are very good quality.

6. There's no point in building a high quality 2-channel system, then listen to crappie CDs. It doesn't matter if the CDs are from your favorite artists -- throw them away.

7. Leave the overly synthesized crap on the shelf for the non-audiophiles to buy. (ugh -- was that another snobbish comment?:o )

madmax

If you determine what you are listening for before playing the music it helps. I've got some music with a lot of effects and I still like it. Not as music necessarily but as a presentation. Who says we must listen to a live human singing along with acoustic instruments? That is only one definition. The thing I hate the worst is a fake reverb.

I guess the thing I'm trying to say is I like a lot of stuff for a lot of different reasons and continue to play them even if not a top quality recording.

zombie boy 2000

No...
but point 6 was:p

heiney9

madmax wrote: »

If you determine what you are listening for before playing the music it helps. I've got some music with a lot of effects and I still like it. Not as music necessarily but as a presentation. Who says we must listen to a live human singing along with acoustic instruments? That is only one definition. The thing I hate the worst is a fake reverb.

I guess the thing I'm trying to say is I like a lot of stuff for a lot of different reasons and continue to play them even if not a top quality recording.

I do agree with the above. Sometimes I imagine how much better a certain piece of music or artist could be if they were only recorded properly. However, there are recordings I no longer listen too because they just aren't enjoyable and it's mostly due to the recording quality/process. Maybe 10% of my collection so perhaps 40-50 cd's.

I also listen to a lot of 80's electronic music (when the mood strikes) and when done right can sound amazing and it's mostly for the effects (Art of Noise comes to mind). Actually bands like Cabaret Voltaire, Depeche Mode, The Cure and many others sound excellent from that time period and there are very few real instruments used. There is still a lot of trash or treasure out there.

H9

zombie boy 2000

The Cure used three guitarists during that time period...
Disintegration may incorporate a lot of keyboards, but there are more than enough instruments to go around. The reason it may sound better is because Robert Smith always produced his own albums -- refusing to let the label assign some hack that would attempt to make them sound "relevant" by mixing and re-mixing the album ad nauseum.
Perfect case in point is when The Ramones allowed Phil Spector to produce End of the Century -- the results were horrible.

btw 2nd row center for The Cure in Atlanta:D