24 bit audio testers needed

[swampy]

Greetings all...

Not sure if this is the best place or forum but those that know me and have met me in the past (Marco etc..) know I have been into hifi for 30 odd years now. I have also been into synths and sound creation for about 10 years and the pro audio world and hifi world are a bit different.

I sold my main hi-fi speakers a few years back and switched to headphone listening ranging from stax to HD800's and Grados. I am looking for anyone interested in testing my 1st album on their hi-end system which I know most guys here have. I only have high end headphones atm and real world hifi setup with speakers esp in odd rooms can be all vastly different to well controlled near field studio monitors. I have recently remastered in 24 bit flac since I have a 2nd album coming out on syngate records soon which I also want to supply as 24 bit option but want to make sure its worth it.

I have a very limited amount of bandcamp free download codes to give out so if this music is of interest and you want to test it then send me a PM and you get a free copy. Post info about your HiFi system and its weakness in the thread that might help me in future mastering. Tracks 1 to 4 are quite early work and maybe less polished and Tracks 5 on-wards are later so more polished but I am interested in the audio quality perception on real hi-fi so I can get better at mastering so maybe base your observations on lets say track 5, 6, 8 or 9 since these have little or no EQ needed at mastering.

The album is electronic instrumental cinematic berlin school. If you don't like it then just give it away to someone else on here to test and delete it.

https://dask.bandcamp.com/releases

There is a redeem code on the page and the flac is 24 bit.


Let me know here if you want a download code. Again I only have very limited amount of codes so if I don't pm you back with a code then I have run out of them and bandcamp charge me for the promo codes !!

[StanleyB]

Hi David, I was initially interested in giving it a try. But then I realized that you pointed out that it is electronic music. I am a very fond of stuff from JMJ, who I rate as the master of electronic music. I have a large selection of his releases in just about every format I could put my hands on. But his kind of electronically generated tones don't exhibit the kind of artefacts that clearly demonstrate the change from say 16bit to 24bit playback.i.e. the lack of natural reverb and micro detail in electronic instruments just doesn't produce any benefits that I have ever been able to detect within the increase dynamic range and noise floor. Within certain parts of the audio spectrum, electronic instruments more than often don't sound different in 24bit compared to 16bit, or even mp3. And that is telling with the JMJ tracks recorded in the seventies and eighties for which I managed to collect both vinyl and CD releases.

Coming to your tracks, do you have the 16 bit versions as well? If it is only the 24bit version that is available for listening, then there is no reference point against which the 24 bit version can be compared with. In that case I would exclude myself from giving it a go. But if you have more than just the 24 bit, then put me on the list towards the bottom. If you don't receive enough inquiries, I'll be willing to give it a try then.

[swampy]

Hi David, I was initially interested in giving it a try. But then I realized that you pointed out that it is electronic music. I am a very fond of stuff from JMJ, who I rate as the master of electronic music. I have a large selection of his releases in just about every format I could put my hands on. But his kind of electronically generated tones don't exhibit the kind of artefacts that clearly demonstrate the change from say 16bit to 24bit playback.i.e. the lack of natural reverb and micro detail in electronic instruments

Hi Stanley...

Well, that's what I thought. When I listen to the music in the DAW which is 32 bit I hear lots of micro details and tiny shifts that to my ears get lost on dithering to 16 bit. Also the 16 bit sounds more closed and pinched. Also I have tried to keep the dynamic range as wide as possible with little or no compression but needed to do some on a few tracks since the lower frequencies would be too much for some headphones and speakers. Also bare in mind it is more cinematic atmospheres with sequences and I have tried to give it a warm rich sound and less digital synthy. I''ll pm you a code. Maybe give those tracks I mentioned a test. To me the difference between final 24 bit and 16 bit is very noticable on my headphones but yes, not sure if this is lost on most people and when on average speakers in a typical room.


I can render a 16 bit version of any of the tracks and upload that on my google drive if you really want to test that later also and compare.

[StanleyB]

OK David. I shall give that a good go. I'll try it with and without alcohol as well, which is one of my favourite double blind testing method ;).

[Spectral Morn]

Hi David I moved your thread to digital expressions but I think Musical Compositions will be better.

I like electronic music of all types, so I would be happy to give your album a listen.

[mikeyb]

Hi,

I'd like to try the download, Berlin School Electronic is one of my favorites, I'm listen to Alluste (also from Bandcamp) as I type this.

I liked them so much I bought their whole back catalogue 😀

Thanks,

Mike.

[mikeyb]

Actually don't bother with the code I'm just going to buy it anyway, it's right up my street 😉

I'll try it at home later, those bass rhythms are going to be superb, because if there's one thing my amp can do it's Berlin School.

[swampy]

Hi David I moved your thread to digital expressions but I think Musical Compositions will be better.

I like electronic music of all types, so I would be happy to give your album a listen.

Thanks. I was a bit unsure of the best sub forum and if in doubt go to the general one !!

[swampy]

Actually don't bother with the code I'm just going to buy it anyway, it's right up my street 

I'll try it at home later, those bass rhythms are going to be superb, because if there's one thing my amp can do it's Berlin School.

Don't mind giving you a code if you want. Alternative I will send you a discount code. I Really make nothing off bandcamp as you find most indie artists don't once you talk to small record distributors. I read an article recently and the average number of digital sales on all platforms (bandcamp to amazon) for all artists of all music styles last year was 100 !! Factor the cut amazon or bandcamp take and the artist ends up with a few $ per sale. Only the big well know acts like the chart material have major sales.

I only do this for fun and any sales just go towards some new recording equipment tbh

[swampy]

OK David. I shall give that a good go. I'll try it with and without alcohol as well, which is one of my favourite double blind testing method ;).

Might sound better with alcohol ;)

[swampy]

Track 9 had a minor problem with the 24 bit render due to a synth not rendering correctly causing a glitch at about 40s in. So maybe for now I should stick to 16 bit. I have re-uploaded the release back as 16 bit format pow-R3 dithered so if anyone who grabbed the 24 bit master in the last 2 days would like to compare the 16 bit dithered version then use the same download code / link. Might be good to test your own system with the 2 formats.