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Audio "Digititus" inducing music?


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1 hour ago, fas42 said:

 

I'll use the requisite car analogy 😁, to make the point ... this in fact happened to me, many decades ago: I went on a test drive in the top of the range version of the big new car model that was the big news of the moment. And I found it very unsettling ... why? Lots of noise reduction everywhere in the cabin, so it was nominally super quiet - but, I could now hear the suspension working! Over a roughish road, there was a irregular chatter of those mechanical bits doing their thing; which lent a nervous quality to the going down the road. Which would have been missing in the normal model, where there would be constant background noise from other, more 'relaxing' sounds.

 

This is where the "high end" of anything can fail - there always has to be a balance between all the qualities; get it wrong, and it can easily be worse, subjectively, than something of average quality.

 

The way I see things, and this is of course a personal point of view, is that audio today is submerged with equipment that are inherently incapable of producing high quality sound, regardless of price. Add to that the fact that "digital" is still an immature (not well understood) technology and this is a recipe for disaster. I like this audiophile's somewhat "old school" approach: http://www.high-endaudio.com/philos.html  (though when it comes to "digital" I don't think he has enough experience to be relevant). Perhaps its a question of taste (for example, having equipment that lets you listen to music really loud).

Maybe this could explain your pessimistic outlook about "high end" today.

 

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On 3/27/2021 at 4:35 PM, davide256 said:

My definition of audio digititus

     a unique sensation from digital music in the treble region usually associated with irritation from the piece played and listening fatigue even with

    favorite pieces. A subtle "thats not right" (see Galaxy Quest for context) feeling during playback that can cause one to flee to other pieces

 

I am curious if others have observed as I have that particular pieces, recordings excite audio digititus in their system. When I first became a CA/AS

member, it was the bane of much of what I played. Over the years following member experiments and postings have really helped me to whittle it down.

 

Music by "The Cranberries" used to be not just irritating but actually painful to listen to; with member recommended server and DDC improvements,

now its just bright.

 

Where I perceive digititus remaining  now in my system is mass women's choir and violins, in movie soundtracks like Avatar, Ready Player One. Its like the

fundamental frequencies are right but the harmonics are distorted/off pitch. I bought the vinyl versions of both, no like issues there.

 

Anyone else want to name music that creates this love/hate relationship for them?

 

 

Can you share a specific track which you find particularly irritating ? I would be curious to listen to one.

 

I've had a similar experience at someone's house where some tracks sounded particularly harsh (in the highs as well), but were fine when I played them in my system. This did not happen with all tracks that day... The explanation from this person was that his system was more transparent... Could be ! I think on that day there was something wrong with his (I'd heard it sound better) - and it may not have had to do with the digital side of things. 

 

Here's a track that was quite irritating (not to my taste, but that's besides the point) - I doubt it had anything to do with the recording:

 

 

https://storage.googleapis.com/cloudplayer/samples/04 camélia jordana %26 baptiste trotignon - i'm a fool to want you.flac

 

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50 minutes ago, davide256 said:

For "Ready Player One" 96/24 flac download, the wordless choir passages

track 1/ The Oasis

track 18/ This is wrong

 

For Avatar 44/16 cd ripped flac version, wordless choir passage

track 6/ Climbing up to iknimaya

 

The Lord of the Rings 44/16 cd ripped flac version, wordless? choir

track 14/Lothlorien

 

available on Qobuz, same issue as local play

 

Thanks. I'll give them a try tonight and report back. It may not be of much use to you, but I am curious to see myself what they sound like.

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5 hours ago, Rexp said:

The track you uploaded comes from this album? I like it, thanks

 

Screenshot_20210330_081152.jpg

Don't think its that album - the cover is different. Not really my cup of tea, but glad you like it. 

 

I listened to the tracks mentioned by @davide256. Nothing struck me with the choirs. Will try with headphones as well.

 

If its not the equipment, and not the recordings, it could also very well be that one's ears are more sensitive to certain frequencies? 

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5 minutes ago, Rexp said:

I only listened to  "Ready Player One" on Tidal, sounds horrible. 

 

I forget which is which, but 3 of the 4 tracks sounded like they had very little dynamic range. I ended just scrolling quickly to compare some passages. The choirs did not sound any different than the rest... 

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2 hours ago, Rexp said:

Here's two Herb Alpert albums on Tidal, one is digititus free: Both sound good on vinyl. 

 

 

Screenshot_20210330_144457_com.aspiro.tidal.jpg

Screenshot_20210330_144436.jpg

 

"North on South St." sounds electronic, as opposed to Rise which sounds more "acoustic". I find the music on "North..." to be irritating, but that's just my personal preference, and I am not sure I would like it any better on vinyl even if the recording was improved... But this Tidal version is definitely unpleasant to my ears. I'm not sure I would qualify this as "digititus" per se... 

Here is the spectrum analysis of the first track of the second album (Jump Street). There's a lot going on !

 

Capture.JPG.2a6704c0e9883761e70f7da8015b4cfb.JPG

 

I'd be curious to hear what a vinyl rip of that song sounds like and see if the spectrum is any different. 

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