View Full Version : What sounds best on you your set up?
HackneyRF
13-11-2016, 21:24
I've been thinking lately about my system as it it right now and how certain types of music/instruments sound particularly good. For example some Folk sounds great as does Techno/Electronic music and piano based music. Not sure if it's my equipment bringing the best out of the music/instruments or the other way around.
Anyone else feel their set up suits a particular type of sound?
HackneyRF
15-11-2016, 10:25
Of all the places I thought I'd get an opinion eh!.......:eyebrows:
Stratmangler
15-11-2016, 12:01
I prefer that my system doesn't really have a character, and that it makes a decent fist of everything that gets thrown at it :)
jandl100
15-11-2016, 13:00
I've been thinking lately about my system as it it right now and how certain types of music/instruments sound particularly good. For example some Folk sounds great as does Techno/Electronic music and piano based music. Not sure if it's my equipment bringing the best out of the music/instruments or the other way around.
Anyone else feel their set up suits a particular type of sound?
Of course it's true.
But most folks here are in denial about it. :D
My speakers sound best with small scale classical, chamber music, folk and jazz, and 'electronica'. They are not so good for pipe organ music and loud rock music, though as was demonstrated at MiBO, they can certainly 'boogie' with the best of them.
I've heard a few systems that treated everything equally. Mine is not one of them although it is not far off and it is still a work in progress. I'm confident that I can get there. Too much bollocks gets talked about this; we are only creating standing waves in air. It's just a mechanism, it can be refined like any mechanism.
Spectral Morn
15-11-2016, 13:29
Mine reproduces all the music I am into well.
I think that my system is especially well-suited to very demanding music, like drum & bass, jazz or metal. Any system can sound good with simple music & a great mastering, but put on a Death or Source Direct track and the system may struggle. I will add that my system is never played loudly, only at low to moderate volume, so it is critical that my system sounds open & dynamic at very low volumes - a lot of systems need a bit of welly before they open up, and my Royd speakers don't go very loud. Plenty loud for me, but not for others.
I do think there is a tradeoff between nuance and SPLs / extension, and you can't have both at their peak i.e. expecting a 15" driver to be as good in the midrange as a 4" or 5". Sorry Tannoy boys and girls. :D
pgarrish
15-11-2016, 19:05
I think that my system is especially well-suited to very demanding music, like drum & bass, jazz or metal. Any system can sound good with simple music & a great mastering, but put on a Death or Source Direct track and the system may struggle. I will add that my system is never played loudly, only at low to moderate volume, so it is critical that my system sounds open & dynamic at very low volumes - a lot of systems need a bit of welly before they open up, and my Royd speakers don't go very loud. Plenty loud for me, but not for others.
I do think there is a tradeoff between nuance and SPLs / extension, and you can't have both at their peak i.e. expecting a 15" driver to be as good in the midrange as a 4" or 5". Sorry Tannoy boys and girls. :D
My Tannoys are 12", therefore they are perfect :lol:
Whulst they do play most stuff very well, they don't play jazz well as I never ask them to
I think that my system is especially well-suited to very demanding music, like drum & bass, jazz or metal. . :D
Depends on what sort of Jazz. The plinky plonk stuff with just a few instruments isn't demanding much.
Mids in the Tannoys is mostly the job of the compression driver, it's considered their strong suit. But agree a small cone does it differently so preferences are subjective.
The Black Adder
15-11-2016, 19:16
Dub. :)
walpurgis
15-11-2016, 19:16
I do think there is a tradeoff between nuance and SPLs / extension, and you can't have both at their peak i.e. expecting a 15" driver to be as good in the midrange as a 4" or 5". Sorry Tannoy boys and girls. :D
If you think Tannoys can't do midrange, you've never heard a decent pair. The proper Tannoy DC (pepperpot) monitors have some of the most lucid and transparent mids you will ever hear.
Gordon Steadman
15-11-2016, 19:28
If you think Tannoys can't do midrange, you've never heard a decent pair. The proper Tannoy DC (pepperpot) monitors have some of the most lucid and transparent mids you will ever hear.
Well, apart from the 57's of course:eyebrows:
paulf-2007
15-11-2016, 20:22
I prefer that my system doesn't really have a character, and that it makes a decent fist of everything that gets thrown at it :)
Well does it not have a character or you would prefer it not to?
Stratmangler
15-11-2016, 20:52
Well does it not have a character or you would prefer it not to?
It's neutral enough that it makes a decent fist of everything that gets gets thrown at it.
Depends on what sort of Jazz. The plinky plonk stuff with just a few instruments isn't demanding much.
Mids in the Tannoys is mostly the job of the compression driver, it's considered their strong suit. But agree a small cone does it differently so preferences are subjective.
Ah true about the jazz, I was thinking more John Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" or "Blue Train" he he.
jandl100
16-11-2016, 07:25
Too much bollocks gets talked about this; we are only creating standing waves in air. It's just a mechanism, it can be refined like any mechanism.
Very true. :lol:
But the point is that everyone's refining aimpoint is chosen by their musical preferences and their subjective tastes.
4 times out of 5 if I play some classical on a system owned by someone who doesn't listen much to classical (which is most people), then it sounds pretty dire imho.
"But I never play classical" they say with an indifferent shrug. Quite so.
walpurgis
16-11-2016, 09:56
4 times out of 5 if I play some classical on a system owned by someone who doesn't listen much to classical (which is most people), then it sounds pretty dire imho.
"But I never play classical" they say with an indifferent shrug. Quite so.
Good speakers on the end of a decent system should reproduce any type of music well.
I think some genres just sound better than others by default - forget the speakers.
For me, electronic music tops the lot over a wide range of loudspeakers. Reggae and dub reggae generally does very well, too.
Classical is way down on the list for sounding good. Even if you have a violin in the same room as you, it doesn't sound great. It s a screechy sounding instrument at best. I'm not saying there aren't some great classical recordings, but keep the violin out of it, LOL!!!
I could elaborate but I've made the point. There are plenty of exceptions to this generic ruling in each category, of course.
walpurgis
16-11-2016, 10:35
Classical is way down on the list for sounding good. Even if you have a violin in the same room as you, it doesn't sound great. It s a screechy sounding instrument at best. I'm not saying there aren't some great classical recordings, but keep the violin out of it, LOL!!!
I like just about all music to an extent apart from country. If you don't like classical or don't think it can sound great. Listen to more and find the good stuff. It can be amazing, but there again, I detest Mozart, twiddly 'pop music' of its time. Even violin can be beautiful though. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yObNBWHta8
Right I'll get back to me Shpongle now. :)
I've tried and tried almost countless times to like classical. It just doesn't happen...
When young i listened to classical music a lot, probably as it was all around me. I still have a select couple of dozen cds that i listen to on occasion, but it isnt common for me to do it. System usually sounds good with it. One thing classics often have is scale, and if your system does scale well, then its a good thing to hear.
I've tried and tried almost countless times to like classical. It just doesn't happen...
I'm the same. Apart from TV ads and film soundtracks I just never had any exposure to classical music when I was young. The radio was always on, but always rock, pop or jazz.
I've tried but it just doesn't involve me. There is no emotional connection there.
We don't get to choose what we like and dislike, so what can you do?
We don't get to choose what we like and dislike, so what can you do?
Indeed.
I've probably been a bit harsh on the old violin - the best crafted violins in the hands of the absolute finest it can be made to sound OK - ish, LOL.
HackneyRF
16-11-2016, 11:47
I think some genres just sound better than others by default - forget the speakers.
Highly subjective viewpoint Justin. Equally valid mind.
I think our brains automatically try to gauge how real something sounds. So acoustic instruments playing in a defined acoustic is more of a challenge to get to sound real (as opposed to just pleasant). When a system can do that really well you get that 'holy moley!' moment because it sounds so like the real thing. Whereas electronic music has no real sound so we can't make the comparison. We just gauge it by the dynamics, the slam, the lack of system added distortion. You can still get a 'holy moley!' moment but it is a different type of 'holy moley!'
Makes sense to me anyways.
anji12305
16-11-2016, 12:37
I suggest the Reference Recordings of The Minnesota orchestra for exposure to classical music played by a competent, happy band. Much of what constitutes classical music is 'filler' by popular standards.
If you haven't heard a full orchestra with the throttle open, you're in for a surprise.
Any recording that's highly compressed, metronomic and engineered to enthuse a crowd is of course more exciting.
It's also a pure construct with more in common to programming than human expression.
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If Bach and Beethoven and the rest had access to synths and emulators and what have you back then, would they have used them in their compositions or scorned them?
I think our brains automatically try to gauge how real something sounds. So acoustic instruments playing in a defined acoustic is more of a challenge to get to sound real (as opposed to just pleasant). When a system can do that really well you get that 'holy moley!' moment because it sounds so like the real thing. Whereas electronic music has no real sound so we can't make the comparison. We just gauge it by the dynamics, the slam, the lack of system added distortion. You can still get a 'holy moley!' moment but it is a different type of 'holy moley!'
Makes sense to me anyways.
I've said this before, but recording myself on an acoustic and playing it back via my system is freaky.
The recording sounds way more impressive, like using a magnifying glass to examine sound with forensic detail.
Part of that is due to better volume capability than the instrument alone can manage. Part of it shows how freakily good the engineering behind recording and playback really is.
I have to fess up to having a way better than average system to achieve that though.
I suppose it is similar to miking the guitar up and running it through a PA in that respect.
Yup. Trying tk record a guitar amp in an ordinary room is so hard though. I haven't had a good result.
paulf-2007
16-11-2016, 15:32
The trouble with classical is much of it is disjointed, pieces of music cobbled together that don't really work and different tempos. It's usual to find a compilation of popular classics with just the best bits, the melodies usually.
paulf-2007
16-11-2016, 15:33
It's neutral enough that it makes a decent fist of everything that gets gets thrown at it.
Would you be so kind and reveal the identity of this set up.
Being 300B valve based, my kit does well recorded "girl with guitar" type stuff really well.
Sounds real: life-sized and in the room.
That said...
Being the amp it is (and the valves I use with it) means it can do large scale orchestral stuff, stadium scaled banging hard rock and pretty much everything else as good as you'd ever need too.
No lack of precise grunt at the low end and has enough drive and top end 'snap' to do any kind of music justice.
Cant get the volume past 9 o'clock on the preamp before pictures on the wall start to vibrate, not bad for having a whopping 8 watts on tap!
Synergy between amp and speakers helps a lot (both were designed to bring out each others strengths), so it just works.
System synergy is what its all about to me, get that right and you can play any kind of music well.
As a system should!
Stratmangler
16-11-2016, 16:11
Would you be so kind and reveal the identity of this set up.
What, put up a burglar's shopping list?
anji12305
16-11-2016, 16:27
If Bach and Beethoven and the rest had access to synths and emulators and what have you back then, would they have used them in their compositions or scorned them?
Look to today's composers for your answer. They have all the implements available. Few choose instrumentation without direct human operators.
QED
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paulf-2007
16-11-2016, 17:15
What, put up a burglar's shopping list?no need to put the alarm code
Well recorded material...lots of sixties, seventies and eighties stuff is the gift that keeps on giving, sounding better and better as the system has upped the anti.
Well recorded classical sounds good too, Barbirolli Vaughan Williams, Dorati firebird and so on. I do like stuff with well recorded bass, but it does bottomless folk with insight too.
If your system can track the bass all the way down, evenly, on Sinead O'Connor's Famine, it's doing pretty good.
Modern compressed stuff wows not, but there are some excellent recordings being made, Damien Rice O, Brandt Bauer Frick, Leonard Cohens Dark...
So I'll play something compressed if I'm really interested in it...aside from that I find the system quite even handed.
The trouble with classical is much of it is disjointed, pieces of music cobbled together that don't really work and different tempos. It's usual to find a compilation of popular classics with just the best bits, the melodies usually.
Or similarly, if in the same way you didn't get it, you could just as easily say:
The trouble with rock is much of it is unremitting and repetitive, most usually a four chord sequence cobbled together that doesn't really go anywhere and with unvarying tempo. It's usual to find a compilation of popular rock classics played by an orchestra with just the best bits, the melodies usually.
But do orchestras have an axe man :rock:
But do orchestras have an axe man :rock:
That would be Donizetti's Maria Stuarda...
paulf-2007
16-11-2016, 22:33
Touche..away :lol:
Oi I was going to say that
.
I do think there is a tradeoff between nuance and SPLs / extension, and you can't have both at their peak i.e. expecting a 15" driver to be as good in the midrange as a 4" or 5". Sorry Tannoy boys and girls. :D
That's when you need a 15", a 6.5" and a 4" with a 1" tweeter to top it off.
anji12305
18-11-2016, 02:03
That's when you need a 15", a 6.5" and a 4" with a 1" tweeter to top it off.
Similar results can be achieved with modern Compression drivers and properly integrated (large) horns.
It bears mentioning that while all of us will retain hearing sensitive to human vocal range, expensive tweeters provide diminishing returns.
The real problem with large coaxial drivers is beaming at the upper limits, which can make a loudspeaker seem harsh.
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IMO that Yomanze diatribe reads as uniformed nonsense
I own 4/ 6 and 8 Inch single/full range drivers, even had Dreaded Lowthers for a couple of years.
(Never mastered the rascals.. despite best efforts, feeling No shame though. No one else has either)
No full rangers even came/come close to my Pore old Tannoys sound capabilities.. Period.
Depspite Acolylte Babbles to the contrary though.
Tannoys use their compression horn "Mostly" as in above 1000hz.
Puts most any 4/5/6" to Shame with it's speed/accuracy and resolving powers.
Simply works/sounds better. Clear precise and magical.
No news there... Comp drivers are simply wonderous inventions.
IF you perceive a genuine problem. then I can only assume inept/substandard ancilliary gear during the audition/evaluation
Tannoys really do better/best with worth owning Gear.
Even tiny incremental upgrades are readily audible.
Garbage = Garbage out, applies.
Danilo, this game is full of taste and preference, if you prefer the Tannoy sound, great. If you prefer others, great. I was just throwing a bit of banter out there as AOS has many Tannoy fans.
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IMO that Yomanze diatribe reads as uniformed nonsense
I own 4/ 6 and 8 Inch single/full range drivers, even had Dreaded Lowthers for a couple of years.
(Never mastered the rascals.. despite best efforts, feeling No shame though. No one else has either)
No full rangers even came/come close to my Pore old Tannoys sound capabilities.. Period.
Depspite Acolylte Babbles to the contrary though.
Tannoys use their compression horn "Mostly" as in above 1000hz.
Puts most any 4/5/6" to Shame with it's speed/accuracy and resolving powers.
Simply works/sounds better. Clear precise and magical.
No news there... Comp drivers are simply wonderous inventions.
IF you perceive a genuine problem. then I can only assume inept/substandard ancilliary gear during the audition/evaluation
Tannoys really do better/best with worth owning Gear.
Even tiny incremental upgrades are readily audible.
Garbage = Garbage out, applies.
Dont go around insulting others ideas or equipment please
Pieoftheday
22-11-2016, 19:31
Dont go around insulting others ideas or equipment please
Wouldn't be so bad if he ever wrote in a coherent manor:ner:
getting back to the joys of classical
my system plays this well,now if only all classical was played this way:D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT3SBzmDxGk
regards
smithie
Rothchild
28-11-2016, 10:00
I've said this before, but recording myself on an acoustic and playing it back via my system is freaky.
The recording sounds way more impressive, like using a magnifying glass to examine sound with forensic detail.
This is why I don't hold truck with the 'sounds real / sounds like a gig' metric of recording / playback quality - making a record sound good / right requires quite a different approach and basically will sound quite different to just sitting in front of someone with a guitar and singing (microphones don't transmit human connection in the same way).
I've never heard a system make bagpipe music sound good (not even standing in front of bag pipes ;-))
Nowt wrong with the pipes lad :eek:
I've said this before, but recording myself on an acoustic and playing it back via my system is freaky.
The recording sounds way more impressive, like using a magnifying glass to examine sound with forensic detail.
Part of that is due to better volume capability than the instrument alone can manage. Part of it shows how freakily good the engineering behind recording and playback really is.
I have to fess up to having a way better than average system to achieve that though.
It's a funny game, because this is exactly what I *don't* want my system to do. Vive le difference. :)
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