Drawn back to the EC Design's approach ... when it's in the zone, can't pick any issues,

but other times it falls short,

Why would this be the case? Quick answer, convincing SQ is hard!!  Everything has to be right - and the closer you get, the more obvious it is when a rig doesn't pull it off ... and this can be very disappointing. And I speak very much from personal experience, here ...

On 10/6/2023 at 11:12 PM, fas42 said:

I tend to remember audio people by their attitude,

One day the audio people will unite and defeat the audiophiles .....

Even the current definition of "audiophile" in Wikipedia is not very flattering ...

Quote

An audiophile seeks to reproduce recorded music to achieve high sound quality, typically inside closed headphones, in-ear monitors, open headphones in a quiet listening space, or stereo speakers in a room with good acoustics

Sounds like a rather weird person to me, climbing into ultra tiny spaces, like the internals of headphones, - going into a "special retreat", where one can worship "high end!" reproduction as a somewhat mystical experience ...

I tend to see music as something that just happens in life - like coming across a busker who fills your universe, for the time you spend near him, with "good vibrations!" ... if you have to spend a lot of effort 'manufacturing' a positive outcome, by sitting in exactly the right position, listening at exactly the right volume, having exactly the right levels of various frequencies bouncing off the surfaces around you, then this is just too contrived ... for me.

8 hours ago, fas42 said:

Sounds like a rather weird person to me, climbing into ultra tiny spaces, like the internals of headphones, - going into a "special retreat", where one can worship "high end!" reproduction as a somewhat mystical experience ...

Nothing weird about that....

Joking apart, the phrase An audiophile seeks to reproduce recorded music to achieve high sound quality, typically inside closed headphones is rather curious use of language, well spotted.

I'd go with the Oxford English Dictionary:

Nice and simple.

Fair enough. So, where do "audio people" fit in, ?

I'll go back to a photography analogy ... there are people who are obsessed about minute details of every new camera body and lens that comes onto the market; and will spend days and days researching and discussing this sort of stuff; and then there are those who just pick up the nearest device that can take a pic, and with ease capture a highly memorable moment in the progression of the world ... which is more 'worthy'?

7 hours ago, fas42 said:

I'll go back to a photography analogy ...

Isn't photography more analogous to the creation of a recording? Either as the record of an event or as art.

So more analogous would be obsessing about the performance and accuracy of a printer, or a monitor perhaps, to reproduce the image either accurately, or in a pleasing manner.

As it happens, I know someone who does obsess about the details of camera bodies and lenses, but them he uses the said device to produce photography that truly is art. This is his passion, and he is very talented. My point would be that it is wrong to generalise about such things.

Anyway, this is all very much off topic here - back to the YouTube clips ..... 🙂

15 hours ago, Confused said:

Anyway, this is all very much off topic here - back to the YouTube clips ..... 🙂

Good idea ... now, this rig that was posted just before, in another capture of that piano - just hours old,

This is in fact very interesting because it's getting clearer, to me, where the issue is: energy reserves are not good enough, in the DAC, which also serves as the amplifier; solid, long drawn out bass notes are draining the power supplies, and the SQ falters. If the train of notes doesn't tax those energy reserves, then the circuitry can maintain good operation, and the replay works well.

And further to that idea, a clip I was going to post, which showed variable quality in the sound, so didn't; but now can be used to demonstrate a point,

At the 3 minute mark or so, treble keys are hammered, several times - and the transient quality comes across nicely. So, the circuitry can do the job of reproducing the sound correctly ... but only if the power supplies are in good shape, at that moment.

That YouTube channel is providing some good material to post - how about a mono, 1954 recording?

Piano could be a bit better; the crescendos are starting to veer towards edginess ... but in terms of delivering a good account of a track from that era of recordings, I hear little to criticise ...

What's Aries Cerat systems sounding like, of late? ...

Well, apart from scaring the Bejesus out of a casual visitor, from the speakers , a lot of things are good: big, full, spacious sound - can't give it best marks, as the drumming is showing a shortfall ...

Nice example of how electronica should come across,

Very dynamic, clear as a bell, highly atmospheric, deep, layer upon layer of "stuff", fine detail is rich and full ... the virtues of accurate replay, .

We're getting there ... clips from the latest Warsaw audio show are showing very nice qualities,

An example of what I mean, that a decent system can "sound the same" at any distance. Yes, pro speakers - but one of the better brands - and the sound is somewhat lacking at certain points, input overload? But the general idea is the point ...

This is a standard, showoff piece, but the sense of what you are being presented with is top notch here,

His comments echo what competent replay is all about - the effortlessness of the illusion being generated is what makes it "glow" - which can only happen if all parts of the chain are working as well as they need to ...

What's, rig 'signature '? ... Well, here's one, that stinks of it,

This presentation was captured by the same chap who did the Klipsch rig, posted elsewhere ... high end gear, but it just 'smells' of the electronics used; easily heard through the YouTube replay chain, ... I couldn't live with this SQ, with rig in the state as captured, because its deficiencies are far too obvious ...

And by the same chap, small active monitors ... like someone around here, ,

What's here? ... Potential! Obvious negatives, but major parts of the sound are OK ... currently, would sound a mess when things got too busy. Would be an interesting exercise to squeeze decent replay out of them ...

A rather nifty example of small speakers doing, Big Sound,

A capture of some playback starts at 9:40 ... these days, well sorted, good value for money items can get so many things right - good pickin's, !

Don't think I've pointed to this before - if I have, apologies,

The man is being talked about - so, queue this.

Of course differences occur in systems using different cables - the whole, mad world of unbelievably expensive conductors would never have got off the ground, and more relevant, would have died long ago - if it's wasn't trivially obvious that playing with cables makes a difference. You hear differences, therefore, you can measure something going on ... unfortunately, unlike that wonderfully secure world of, ummm, jitter, where you can, gasp, point to a number(!) - no such luxury exist for cables "in general" ... and the need to pooh pooh anyone who tries to take this seriously will continue ...

A recent capture from our former member, using that DAC mentioned elsewhere,

Ticks plenty of boxes ... sense of being there, quality of the voice, the right hand of the piano; this is what competent replay should deliver ...

These speakers were just mentioned, so listened to a few clips ... perhaps because of the proclivities of the people who favour them, the chains used show a very distinct signature ... which is not for me!

This is the sort of rig which will sound like a train wreck, if the 'wrong(!)' recording is tried - miles from where I'm aiming for; but probably okay for those who only want the 'laid back' type of listening ...

A clip posted in another thread ...

Wrong ... just wrong. I guess people call this "warm" - but it ain't accurate! A real piano doesn't sound like this - so, a fail.

People want the sound to be "comfortable" - which is fair enough ... but you can get both comfortable, and intense - again, just like the real thing ...

Just posted,

So many good things happening here ... the size of the presentation, the sense of space, dynamic bite; the structure of the song is all there, and can be easily followed; the layers are clearly delineated - the song becomes a journey, rather than a  chugging of various sounds ...

Checking back again at this channel, , a good example of how even with modern recording styles, a capable setup reproduces the 'feel' of a track with great accuracy,

and, the source track ... the match for what's in the room, above, starts at about 3:10; the volumes differ, so 'adjust' for that,

I was trying to find a decent video of these speakers playing - which I haven't so far - and found this.

Which exemplifies why I find home theatre setups mostly ridiculous ... there is absolutely no connection between what I'm hearing and what I'm seeing; it turns the experience into a completely cartoon event - so, great for "action cartoons", and little else, ...

Well, I didn't find any video of Beolab 90's playing that was worth putting up - either mediocre, or, in your face, "Look at Me, Look at Me!" sound ... perhaps, they can sound OK, ...