Videos of Acoustically-Coupled Audio Recordings

[microstrip]

I wonder if your room would benefit from a distributed bass array. From what I understand it can be an elegant and low cost way to balance bass modes in a small room.

info at:

DEBRA Distributed Enhanced Bass Reflex Array – James Romeyn

jamesromeyn.com

Distributed bass array looks ideal from the perspective of frequency response at the listening seat. However, as far as I see, it is a mono subwoofer system.

 

[microstrip]

(...) Perhaps. I'm not going to argue over such generalizations. Who knows whether a system is accurate or not? (...)

Hard to know. But at less we usually consider that if a system measures poorly it is not accurate.

 

[hopkins]

PeterA has graciously applauded me several times for posting videos and for exploring and comparing external microphones to improve audio capture quality, and to make the videos more representative of the sound I perceive live in the room, even though I am skeptical of the value of videos except in narrow circumstances.

I applaud Mike, another video skeptic, for experimenting with video playback and for trying to make video playback more useful to him.

If advocates can begin to persuade skeptics I think interesting progress can be achieved on all sides.

Even for someone not ready/interested in publishing their own videos, I believe the discussion can be of interest as system recordings are becoming more commonplace, for better or worse.

 

[morricab]

there is no corollary. We have been saying forever that you need to stream to a good speaker or headphones.

regarding capture, iPhone is sufficient to get the message across. The other mics might have more resolution, but are not required

Silly me to think that is what everyone did…

 

[Al M.]

There isn t .
This whole industry is a bunch of baloney to be honest .
Your " cheap " octave system might just as well compete with anything out there regardless of price .
Who knows!
The rest is all about built quality / bling bling look what i ve got .

Im sorry if i sound deprimental but thats my conclusion.
50 K wil get you just as much audiophile heaven then 500 K ..

Not really. A well chosen and well set up 500 K system can do things that no 50 K system can do.

 

[hopkins]

Youtuber, HiFi Immersion, records with pro gear that easily differentiates between good and bad playback. Here's one of the few good digitally sourced systems in action:

Hard to tell about the digital source here, but the sound is nice. I notice they are using two microphones placed directly in front of each speaker. I wonder how that affects things (aside for giving more stereo effect, provided the microphones are fairly directive). But on some of their other videos, its a complete disaster, for example this one:

That track is a little challenging, but it sounds too metallic. A lot of expensive equipment for a disappointing result.

https://open.qobuz.com/track/176716602

 

[microstrip]

Don't break your arm patting yourself on the back just yet. The corollary of this is that, to bridge the divide, video advocates should be willing to adopt the audio capture quality improvements, and the playback improvements, and to stand in favor of the standardization efforts, the late adopters/skeptics are advocating.

I agree with Tim that one reasonable philosophy (but by no means exclusive objective) here is to seek to maximize in the video the sonic representativeness of what is heard live in the room. It took some time to get on the paper, but, by evaluating different external microphones, by selecting one of them, and then by EQing that mic to get closer to what I hear in the room, I think I found a formula that at least resembles in terms of resolution and in terms of tonal balance what I hear in the room.

But this experimentation also taught me that I think the internal mic in the iPhone is not good for this purpose of audiophiles. I will not be paying attention going forward to videos made with internal iPhone mics.

I think video posters should solve their own equations for a combination of external microphone and mic EQ which they believe achieves the greatest representativeness of their live in the room sound, and then employ that formula consistently.

Ron,

Live music creates a sound field, stereo creates an sound illusion. The mechanisms in our perception (ears and brain) that create localization and envelopment are very different when listening to real music and stereo sound reproduction.

IMO tonal balance and resolution are the easy part of sound reproduction - if it just what you want to transmit in videos you are forgetting the more important aspects of the high-end stereo sound reproduction. Recordings of sound reproduction can be of use to small groups of people who train themselves to look for some artifacts of sound reproduction, but can't be used to judge the global sound quality of an high-end system. irrespective of the quality of the recording system. Just IMO, YMMV.

 

[Ron Resnick]

it sounds too metallic. A lot of expensive equipment for a disappointing result.

Open Qobuz

open.qobuz.com

To what do you attribute that metallic sound in the video?

 

[microstrip]

Not really. A well chosen and well set up 500 K system can do things that no 50 K system can do.

This was the easy statement. But can we say that a 50K system can generate artifacts and distortions no 500K system can do?

 

[andromedaaudio]

Not really. A well chosen and well set up 500 K system can do things that no 50 K system can do.

Post a vid of that system .


Not yours since you are a principled refusal

 

[hopkins]

To what do you attribute that metallic sound in the video?

Actually, metallic may not be the right word, can't quite pin it, but something is weird and I have no idea what is the cause.

Edit: listening more attentively, the sound is a little hollow, there is little bass. Could be the mics are too close to the speakers, too high, and too far apart. I get the same impression whether listening with headphones or on my desktop speakers (though more reverb on my speakers, which is normal). Hard to tell, there are too many things wrong ?

 

[andromedaaudio]

Al , Hopkins did it already for you ( well may be not as this is more like 250 K )

 

[andromedaaudio]

Come on AL post a mind blowing vid of a 500 K system

 

[andromedaaudio]

Here is your benchmark vid .

 

[Al M.]

This was the easy statement. But can we say that a 50K system can generate artifacts and distortions no 500K system can do?

Of course not. A not well chosen and not well set up 500 K system can sound just as horrible as a 50 K system with similar deficiencies of choice and setup. Just look at bad examples of such systems at shows (if people want to draw conclusions under such compromised circumstances, which alas is often the case, it's their own fault and naiveté).

 

[Al M.]

Come on AL post a mind blowing vid of a 500 K system

You seriously think that a video can convey the extra virtues of a 500 K system?

 

[andromedaaudio]

You seriously think that a video can convey the extra virtues of a 500 K system?

It would be good start , because i m really starting to loose faith in the industry .

 

[Carlos269]

There isn t .
This whole industry is a bunch of baloney to be honest .
Your " cheap " octave system might just as well compete with anything out there regardless of price .
Who knows!
The rest is all about built quality / bling bling look what i ve got .

Im sorry if i sound deprimental but thats my conclusion.
50 K wil get you just as much audiophile heaven then 500 K ..

Andro, I agree with much of the above and you echo my sentiments. There are a lot of audiophiles out there with very deep pockets but who are clueless when it comes to the art and science of sound reproduction. They are used to buying their way in, but to excel at this hobby it takes more than money or a large investment. It takes knowledge and an understanding of the elements at play to truly achieve extraordinary results.

 

[Al M.]

It would be good start , because i m really starting to loose faith in the industry .

Rather than losing faith in the industry it would be appropriate for you to lose faith in the vastly exaggerated capabilities of YouTube videos.

 

[andromedaaudio]

Rather than losing faith in the industry it would be appropriate for you to lose faith in the vastly exaggerated capabilities of YouTube videos.

Standard answer of a vid denier.
If its useless anyway and not representative why not post one for fun.
Its all about " sharing " these days