Jimbos Audio ramblings

[Pigmy Pony]

And to get an idea of the mindset of the average American, forget the science programmes on Discovery, and watch Jerry Springer instead The exception being our American AoS members of course

[Macca]

.

Imv the only reason America isn't using metric is because it wasn't their idea.

this video explains why:

[Pigmy Pony]

Funny because it's true.

[Barry]

Many years ago the US seriously considered going metric. They abandoned the idea because it would have been too expensive to implement.

[Macca]

Many years ago the US seriously considered going metric. They abandoned the idea because it would have been too expensive to implement.

And massively unpopular.

[Pigmy Pony]

Many years ago the US seriously considered going metric. They abandoned the idea because it would have been too expensive to implement.

Think it was Jimmy Carter. Early 70s I'd say.

[Pigmy Pony]

It wouldn't have cost much to go metric with petrol. They don't do proper gallons anyway.

[Jimbo]

I have just been reading an article about Dolby Atmos, Sony 360 reality audio and Apple spatial audio and interestingly there was a nugget of information how the technology works and how I think this may apply to what I am experiencing with my room / speaker and listening position evaluation.

Apparently the spatial audio works by adjusting the audio frequencies so each ear experiences variation in the position of the sound. This can pinpoint sounds and precise placement of audio effects in a 360 degrees arrangement. This got me thinking that in effect what I am doing with speaker toe-in, acoustic treatment, speaker position and seating position is to basically alter the frequencies I receive by moving various aspects of the sound. Obviously this alters the timing those frequencies hit my ear but also affect the actual frequency that reaches me.

Messing about with the frequencies results in me hearing a different perspective of the sound and therefore everything contained in it. Spatial awareness ie soundstage ambience and imaging are therefore manipulated to sound quite different as is the information that is contained in the frequency hitting my ear. It is a complex thing as every part of the sound is generated not only by the speaker and its position but also by everything else it interacts with in the room and ultimately where you are sitting. Now I know some of this may sound obvious but its implications are big as quite radical changes can be made to what and how you hear your system just by moving things around and applying room treatment, soft furnishings or simply moving your listening position as this determines the position of the frequencies hitting you ear.


But the trick is to get all those parts that influence the sound to work in the best way to achieve or get the best out of your system. I am still surprised as to the degree of change I have achieved over the last week or so and it has meant running through a long list of recordings I know well in order to discover what these effects have done to the recording. In many cases information in the recordings especially ambience around performers and instruments has been revealed to a much greater degree and tonal frequencies have become more complex and much richer.

I am genuinely excited by this as it has allowed me to upgrade my system at no extra cost. What I don't know however is if this is very specific to the room and equipment I have or if I insert another piece of equipment it would mean starting all over again?

[Puffin]

That's my problem having a hard core of about 3 or 4 amps and several others if I could be arsed and a few Dacs I could swap in an out of if I wanted to, ensuring free entry to the local asylum

[Pigmy Pony]

I have a theory James.

The way we hear music is dependant on three things: The quality of the audio equipment at one end, the space between the equipment and our ears, and the part of our brain that processes the sounds that reach our ears. Perhaps the processor in your brain is of "dolby atmos" quality, as opposed to mine which is probably 70s Amstrad quality. The importance of the part this processor plays cannot be understated, it affects the way we perceive and enjoy music more than any other part of the audio chain.

And so you're able to pick up on the tiny nuances of sound, which can be affected by altering the timing of direct and reflected sounds as they reach your ears, enabling you to perceive differing 'acoustics'.

This has nothing to do with how good our hearing is, but rather to do with how our brains interpret what reaches them. And so a visitor may not hear what you hear. Just means you're more sensitive to those changes.

How's that for audio rambling? Reading it back I think perhaps much of what I said is cack, but it took so long to type with two fingers I'm going to post it anyway