Perhaps my choice of words was not ideal. Your examples could sound like mockery, but that's fine.
Natural Sound
- Thread starter PeterA
- Start date
The reason we can enjoy "low fidelity" (your car radio, for example) is simply because we have lower expectations and as a result we focus on the music, not the system. There's nothing wrong with that, and I enjoy music in a variety of settings. This is how most of us experienced music at home for a number of years before we became "audiophiles".
End of parenthesis.
End of parenthesis.
No, not obvious at all. I feel strongly that much of the talking past each other and consternation we see on and experience on WBF is due to not recognizing that there are different and equally valid high-end audio objectives, and to not understanding, before commencing the discussion, the differing viewpoints of people arising from these different objectives.
I would put you in Objective 3) create a sound subjectively pleasing to the audiophile.
Natural sound is not exclusive to any of the objectives.
Hopkins and I are not talking past each other. We simply disagree and have different goals and values.
Yet I relate to the term "natural sounding"... It is hard to explain, and I will think about it...
Peter I can imagine the conversation.… but officer, I’m only drinking the wine while driving to make the music in my truck more engaging…
Peter I can imagine the conversation.… but officer, I’m only drinking the wine while driving to make the music in my truck more engaging…
That is pretty funny Tao. I got pretty engaged when I heard The Pretenders' "My City was Gone" leading into one of my favorite radio shows. The head banging and air drumming must have distracted some fellow motorists back in those glory days of talk radio.
Making sure there’s plenty of good music available at all times is the go and if the car has a sound that has a good tonal balance and is relatively coherent (often simple speaker systems can help) there’s plenty of moving music engagement even without wine (apparently
)… the same basic essential qualities that an iPhone based video recording can convey.It’s truly horrible when you’re in someone else’s car for a reasonably long trip and they torture you with their hifi playlist though… omg!!
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Making sure there’s plenty of good music available at all times is the go and if the car has a sound that has a good tonal balance and is relatively coherent (often simple speaker systems can help) there’s plenty of moving music engagement even without wine (apparently
It’s truly horrible when you’re in someone else’s car for a reasonably long trip and they torture you with their hifi playlist though… omg!!
Fortunately, I never find myself in that situation. I did spend three days driving with one daughter from Boston to Dallas for college. We listened to a lot of country music, with a stop in Nashville too. What a good time.
I listen to the YouTube system videos friends send me streaming to my truck radio. It is a JBL system. It sounds not bad at all, certainly better than my desk top computer speakers, and I dislike headphones, so that truck system gives me a pretty good idea of the way those systems sound. Absurd, I know.
I find car stereos are often way less fatiguing than many audiophile setups.
yes. It is all the fancy wall treatment and effort put into finding the right listening seat location. And don’t forget the special wiring.
Because of limited frequency bandwidth and because you usually don't play them that loud. Try to crank up the volume on classical radio to a level comparable to relatively loud listening at home. The distortions can be quite unbearable (piano is an easily identified major offender there).
No to all of that. It's as simple as countless audiophile setups are just fatiguing. The car might be a bit boring but few of them grind my ears.
Bad tweaks, bad parts internally, bad power conditioner designs, bad cables, etc. They're the source of problems. Most of them come from good intentions.
Bad tweaks, bad parts internally, bad power conditioner designs, bad cables, etc. They're the source of problems. Most of them come from good intentions.
Again, try cranking up classical solo piano on your car radio. You'll be unpleasantly surprised at the grating level of distortion (unless your car stereo is really fancy, mine is run-of-the-mill). At the usual more or less background listening levels it will sound fine.
This could be a good question and it needs new topic in WBF:
Why most audiophile setups are not as good as our expectation?
My answer is :
Audio is not simple/easy.
+1.
In home audio, the direct sound from loudspeakers don't reach to the listener due to angled cone of woofers. The almost direct sounds hit side walls, floor, and ceiling 1st (and many times) before they reach to a listener. Therefore, they sound bright, far back vocal sounds, and veiled. The ears must be very close to loudspeakers (4~7ft) to hear some direct sounds.
In the car, our ears are very close to speakers and we hear more direct sounds. Also, the car interior is like a recording studio that 70-80% of surface is covered with sound absorbing materials.
Alex/Wavetouch
There are several aspects in a car. Battery powered and all one system without a lot of the electrical flaws people don't know they build into gear... soft paper drivers, etc.
When you buy a Lexus LFA then you receive a complete package and all things are ready to let you enjoy your sport car but when you decide to buy a high end audio system you should care about many things like :
- understanding good sound
- your home wall electricity quality and the right solution
- the matching of loudspeaker to your room acoustic
- matching of amplifier/speaker
- speaker position (you should put over 200 hours for speaker placement)
- buying good audio components in this market
- and ...
actually buying a complete high end audio system is just 20% of process and you know most audio setups never goes over 20% of their real performance.
This means most audio setups are not interesting.
I always recommend to contact an expert for start, Audio game is not easy/simple if you look for good result.
- understanding good sound
- your home wall electricity quality and the right solution
- the matching of loudspeaker to your room acoustic
- matching of amplifier/speaker
- speaker position (you should put over 200 hours for speaker placement)
- buying good audio components in this market
- and ...
actually buying a complete high end audio system is just 20% of process and you know most audio setups never goes over 20% of their real performance.
This means most audio setups are not interesting.
I always recommend to contact an expert for start, Audio game is not easy/simple if you look for good result.
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I have made some changes to my room. The resulting sound can be heard in these videos. I have also included a system video link in my signature. I think such system videos can tell readers more about a system and the owner's approach to the hobby than any list of components or written description.
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