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Seeking advice on high kHz annoyance in my system

Some of my go to recordings for testing my system have always been classical piano. I listen for mid-range clarity, the audibility of the “action” of the piano, e.g. hammer and pedal sounds coming through, as well as clarity in upper register.

After recently making substantial changes to my system (see below), I hear (or continue to hear) an artificial or secondary ringing/buzzing (sorry, not a good description in the upper register of piano recordings.

Trying to isolate the issue, I hear this across a wide selection of recordings of the same Mozart piano sonata to varying degrees (all 44.1kHz/16 bit) regardless the pianist and recording. Although relatively newer recordings appear to have this artifact more than older ones.

Before I continue with my Quixotic search for the “final 10%”, I’d like to identify the cause and tame this high frequency annoyance.

My thoughts:

(1) My once golden, now 63-year-old ears? Unfortunately, I have no intention of visiting an audiologist during COVID.

(2) This was present in my previous system as well and I'd hoped to eliminate it through recent upgrades. It may or may not have been helped. Can't recall.  It’s been so long since I’ve been to alive recital or concert, I don’t recall if the same annoyance happens live. 

(3) My 21”x16”x14” room is untreated other than for rugs, book-shelving on a side wall and ordinary furnishings, paintings, etc.

(4) More noticeable at higher (but not excessive) volumes.

(5) Occurs through speakers and headphones (HD800s and Campfire Ara iem using Dave or Mojo)

(6) XLR and speaker cables are older Synergistic Research (Element and Tungsten). Using silver tuning bullets (no snark, please), and have not tried gray or black, which are said to darken the sound (roll-off?) slightly. Have experimented in the past and found slight differences in sound character. Will try this next.

Recently moved from BHK 300s and pre with Modwright-modded Oppo Sonica DAC and Fidelizer Nimitra Signature server as Roon core to my current system:

Roon Nucleus Plus w/ Teddy Pardo LPS

D’Agostino Progressive Integrated

Chord M Scaler w/ Teddy Pardo LPS

Chord Dave DAC

Focal Kanta 3’s

Cables: Synergistic Research, Wireworld, Wywires. Stock Chord BNCs between M Scaler and Dave

Grateful for any thoughts as to cause/solution?

 

 

 


128x128cantorgale
cm6td
14 posts
 
Pianos really do make lots of high frequency ringing sounds because of the way the higher strings sympathetically resonate with any notes that are being played. There are no dampers on the highest strings, and when the pianist steps on the sustain pedal there are no dampers touching any of the strings, so they’re all free to resonate. That's part of what gives a piano its characteristic sound. The fact that you hear the ringing sound with lots of recordings and with different playback equipment, including both speakers and headphones, suggests that what you’re hearing is real. The fact that you don’t recall hearing that sound in live performances might be due to the fact that you weren’t close enough to the instrument. Most recordings are made with the microphones right next to the piano, or sometimes even inside it. The real test would be for you to stand right next to a piano while someone plays it, but I guess that will have to wait until after the pandemic is over. I bet you’ll be able to hear the ringing sounds.
mijostyn's avatar
mijostyn
8,164 posts
 
Noromance is on to something. Impacted ear canals can do funny things
But impacted that long? Worth having your doc take a look. Ear drops will not do it. Your ears will have to be irrigated.
Millercarbon, tinnitus is always worse in quiet situations. Music can sometimes make it disappear entirely while it is playing. Masking.
There are other ear problems that can cause distortion at certain frequencies. Dislocated ossicles, fused ossicles, perforated ear drums amongst the most common. 
But for sure, if you are hearing it on headphones it is obviously not the room. It is also not the speakers which are the most common offenders. 
Electronics usually do not do this stuff but you can swap out any devices both the headphones and speakers have in common. 
After all this I would make an appointment with a good ENT doc. Do tell us what happens. 
ejr1953
895 posts
 
I have enjoyed a pair of Focal Sopra No2's since they first arrived in the U.S.  I have heard them driven by a number of amplifiers, but not yours, and they seem to sound better with a more "mellow" amplifier driving them.
cantorgale's avatar
cantorgale OP
114 posts
 
@cm6td5. Great post, thanks.  Trying to think (way) back to my conservatory days sitting on practice room floors listening to some of my amazing pianist friends.  I do seem to recall that the sound was overpowering at times.  
cm6td
14 posts
 
By the way, the same thing happens with other stringed instruments. If you’re right next to a violin you’ll hear ringing noises that don’t sound very musical, especially when a note is dying away. You aren’t normally aware of those sounds because usually you’re pretty far away, and violins are designed to sound good at a distance. But microphones aren’t usually placed out in the audience where your ears would normally be, because that results in an unsatisfying recorded sound. Microphones can’t do the auditory processing that your brain does, so if the microphones are far away the direct sound of the instrument tends to be overwhelmed by hall reverberation. To make up for that they place the microphones very close to the instruments, but that means the recording captures sounds you don’t normally hear when you’re in the audience. I think that’s part of the reason people frequently complain about how violins sound in recordings.
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