If, for example, Miles’ muted trumpet is peeling the enamel off my teeth, I just add some capacitance to my phono pre and Viola!
2 Likes
Ahhh hahaha! Good one Ron. Indeed, many iterations of that dang rekkid have done that very thing.
See it here
1 Like
I too use Acourate. Phase and time alignment does wonders to the soundstage (for me, they are much more important than frequency response correction). Playing with YG Sonja 2.3.
My step response is not as good as yours, but it sounds pretty damn good. Not a single person that comes to listen prefers with DSP off.
Everybody in this hobby should have a word with Uli and Mitch.
Step response before
And after
Phase response (up to100hz) before (notice out of phase response in low bass)
And after (everything in phase)
And here is the room reverberation. Even professionally treated rooms benefit from DSP
4 Likes
Oh sheesh.
For the price paid for, and the whole conceptual thing of the YG’s (having been to their local place and heard that and them), why on earth should they then require DSP other than to mitigate their not sounding good?
2 Likes
The room is the answer. The speaker-room interaction can be made better, especially in the time domain. Look at those step response curves before correction. And the phase. The channels don’t track each other perfectly. This interferes with soundstage and imaging.
But the main characteristics of the speaker remain: clarity, dynamics, “speed”, (lack of) distortion, bass and treble extension, (lack of) resonance of the cabinet etc. You cannot achieve this with DSP.
3 Likes
I’m sure that is what they suggest. It is the room’s fault. However, there is no room so awful that that should be required, with that costly, non-resonant and allegedly well-designed of a speaker. I’m sorry. Truly. You have been sold a bill of goods all around.
Ordered up…LOL
I guess I was right on the money.
1 Like
In my case I wanted to drive my speakers actively by amps that I choose myself and dacs that I choose myself with everything prior to the dacs being digital. Even though I’d had a large room built the acoustics weren’t good and I chose to put masses of absorption into the room in an attempt to make the walls/ceiling disappear. I had DEQX calibrate the crossover. It took me a very long time to configure a set of parametric equalisers to make up for all the damping in the room. I also have three different regenerators. To me the system sounds absolutely astonishing, at last (!!!), and I’d love you or any other naysayers to come and hear it. Even before Sunlight was released two respected industry experts heard the system and were impressed. I suspect that a lot of people don’t make the best of the DSP configuration and therefore do more harm than good.
1 Like
Thanks for your empathy (I really mean it). But no worries, as I am perfectly happy with my buying choices and especially with the results I am getting.
Just to offer another point of view.
To me, not applying DSP is the same as buying a projector (or a TV set) and not color (and brightness and contrast) calibrating. Even top of the line projectors will perform best with color calibration made by a pro. But color calibration cannot correct for pixel density or contrast ratio. It will improve the final result within the boundaries of the equipment performance. Color correction will not make budget Benq projector to perform like top of the line Sony or Optoma. Treating the room accoustically compares with putting blinds on windows, and moving away reflective objetcts, to reduce the light in order to watch a movie. But all of this won`t automatically make the colors/brightness/contrast look best. So, why would you not invest a couple of hundred to get professional help and take it to the best performance possible?
Lastly, your argument should rule out any and all tweaks. Why would an expensive amplifier need exotic power cables Should it not perform best with any cable that meets specs? Why would any set of high end speakers benefit from different footers? Why would an expensive dac benefit from custom USB cables? And so it goes. But we know that those tweaks add up for quite a big improvement, right?
This is my approach. I reckon there are several valid approaches to any and all hobby. Mine is not the universally right one, but it doesn`t seem to me to be invalid. I just like to extract to the last drop of performance of my equipment. And, once I press play, forget everything and just enjoy the music.
5 Likes
I think that everyone’s system is right for them and exploring additions or subtractions based on others shared experience adds some spice to the mix.
I enjoy reading everyone’s response to the various ways to try and improve the SQ in their room or environment and have learned a lot from everyone.
I haven’t had much time to devote to listening to my “big” system in the last few months but using a $20 set of Bose computer speakers that are behind my work video monitors is surprisingly nice to listen to.
It is supposed to be all about the music, right?
This morning it’s Mac Miller playing on my LS50W2’s thru Roon. Life is good!
4 Likes
This is all that matters.
3 Likes
As do I…
2 Likes
@Elk, why don’t you cut out the DSP comments from this thread and put them in a “Rant on DSP” thread.
It’s great that there are those who like to treat their room, those who buy new speakers every couple of years and those who like DSP.
There is no absolute thruth in any of this, just personal preferences.
One thing that is common to all of it, you will need a transducer to convert the electronic signal, whether digitally processed or not, into air displacement in order to hear it. That part is what this thread is about.
If I want, I can DSP the FR30 to my liking or treat my room, do both or just none of it and be happy either way.
I often listen to my laptop, thoroughly enjoying it. It is amazing the pull music itself has.
3 Likes
Most music you buy is digitally processed, even vinyl. In case you can hear that and don’t like it, my piece of advise is to go seek another hobby.
I am sure there is some sort of basic genetic attraction to the tunes however they are presented.
This conversation makes my head hurt. Excuse me as I go to “11”.
1 Like
I just couldn’t fall asleep last night. So I found some interesting music on Spotify and listened for a while on my iphone. No thoughts/complaints about the sound.
5 Likes
Funny, that is a litmus test for me. Does Miles’ Harmon (not Harman) muted trumpet sound more real and less like a dental drill? I played trumpet. I have a Harmon mute. (Somewhere…)
My other litmus tests? Do the cymbals sound like cymbals? Does “Easy Money” by Rickie Lee Jones make me want to hit on her at the bar during the band’s break?
Audiophilia made simple!
2 Likes