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poor source material

Hello friends,

Before I begin, let me make a quick disclaimer. I am VERY new to this hobby and just started putting together a budget system the other day, so if this sounds like a stupid question please go easy on me!

Anyways, I currently have a pair of Dynaudio Focus 140s, Rotel CD player and a receiver rated at 100x2. I quickly discovered that I am going to have to invest in a good amp but, I also noticed that a lot of albums (that I used to think sounded ok) sounds terrible on my new system. Of course, room acoustics and gear are partly to blame but, am I wrong in putting the blame largely on the album itself?

Is there anything that can be done to make these poorly recorded albums sound 'better'? Like I mentioned, I will be investing in a nice affordable amp, like a Halo A21 but, I'm not sure how much difference it is going to make. How about adding an equalizer?

I've tinkered with the tone controls and it is a quick fix but, a few albums are still unbearable.

I have also toyed with the idea of setting up a separate budget system on the side, strictly for use with lower quality recordings. I'm thinking of using very affordable gear with 'forgiving' speakers. Is this a stupid idea? Or do I just have to accept the fact that some albums simply will never sound good no matter what you do to them?

Any advice, thoughts or comments would be greatly appreciated!!

Thank you all so much!!!
ucsb21
pacific_island_audio
49 posts
 
The better your equipment, the more you are going to notice differences between recordings, both good and bad. There's nothing we can do about improving the recording, it *is* the source. I'm finding myself increasingly more concerned about buying better recordings than better gear.

If you're system is biased with coloration, it will tend to make everything sound more uniform. Some find this more pleasant to listen to because it helps hide the imperfections of recordings. It's a double edged sword, a choice between either pretty and artificial, or real and wrinkles.
shadorne's avatar
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shadorne
7,467 posts
 
If you are referring to hyper compressed modern CD's then you are not alone with this problem. A lot of music is mastered today for car systems and boom boxes. This can help but it won't cure a hypercompressed CD - it may only take the edge off it slightly.

If you only like Metallica, Green Day, Arctic Monkeys, Fratellis and such fare then unfortunately you are in trouble - you may want to search for Vinyl - usually these are not mastered so badly but you are looking at significant effort and cost to try to get better source recordings.
unsound
7,315 posts
 
You may be new, but it didn't take you long to discover one of the biggest banes of our hobby. Poor recordings, often times, just might be the weakest link in our systems. A good equalizer might help sometimes, not help other times, and a poor equalizer might make things worse most of the time. The balancing of a systems resolution to deal with the variable quality of recordings often times comes down to very personal choices.
tobias
1,534 posts
 
As Fafafion suggests, you could start to think about component upgrades. If you find the right combination of pieces, the poorly-recorded music can sound much better.

There is a caveat, though. Systems, and people's listening tastes, can take different directions. Some like a setup that can pull the last squeak of detail out of the recording, revealing the mechanics and structure of the music like sunlight on Mercury (the planet, not the label). Systems like this can make the poor recordings stand out with embarrassing clarity.

It is also possible to build a system which, while still providing piles of detail, doesn't make you want to sideline a great performance just because the recording is blah. If this is the kind of system you want, build it by shopping with your favourite poor recordings among the test material.
newbee
4,751 posts
 
If I had your problem I'd simply get a cheap 2d CD player and put a cheap equalizer between it and your receiver and reserve its use for those times you must hear the poorly recorded CD's.

There is no really good way of dumbing down a system so bad CD's will sound good, but I agree that you can improve the sound of a lot of 'bad' CD's if you put the money into a carefully thought out up-grade of your system.

A lot of folks have found that using (some, not all) tube CDP's and tube buffers helps with some CD's which are simply recorded hot and need some taming in the highs. With a buffer or tube CDP/DAC you can also control the tone quite a bit by tube selection.

Just something to think about.

Oh, another cure of sorts - when you are listening to the 'bad' CD's turn down the volume! :-)
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