1. Home
  2. misc-audio
  3. 196329-173637

Realism in instruments how to achieve it?

Hi all,

Based on the recommendations of this forum I added a BAT VK3i Preamp to my system a few months ago and it lifted my whole system, before that I was going from SMSL RAW MDA1 DAC directly to Apollon Purifi Amp, now the BAT is in between and it gave me that warmth and analog sound I was looking for. Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Nat King Cole all sound real and "In the Room" feeling. On the analog side which I don't use as often I added a Lector tube phono preamp and it made a massive impact more than on the digital side. The thing I noticed on the digital side is that voices mainly sound so real more than instruments which have body and textures but not yet reaches that realism I feel from hearing voices mainly and when I play a record instruments are just more live and real. Guitars specifically sound much better with the BAT preamp in the signal but other instruments like in classical symphonies are not quite there yet.

Is it the speakers that gives that realism to instruments?

I cycle between Totem Arro and Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home speakers. Also, have a JBL 530 in storage but needs a speaker stand.

Two upgrade path I thought of: Push pull power tube amp or a single ended amp. The issue that my setup is in a modest bedroom and heat is a concern. Another thing I thought to add is a R2R DAC with a tube buffer like the upcoming Fiio Warmer Dac.

Another upgrade I considered is going for British bookshelf speakers like Spendor, Harbeth, Graham Audio.

What do you think is that realism in instruments can be achieved more with speakers or with a tube amp in the chain? should I just be pleased with what I have and ignore upgrades for now?

Thanks and sorry for the long post.

sheri2022
sheri2022 OP
14 posts
 

@mapman So this gonna sound stupid but I have a sub and Roon! not one of the premium sub like Rel but Elac 1010, I was using it with the Rotel amp before I got the BAT preamp which have 2 pre out xlr/rca. I use the xlr for the amp but never thought to try the other rca out for the sub. I tried it at the moment and glad I did! 

Still early and it's not "realism" yet but with crossover at 80 Hz I hear more impact from instruments even on Jazz album like Dexter Gordon One Flight Up, Clarity somehow on a few songs from Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Cream than what I'm used to. I don't know why I neglected the sub but I was afraid to insert it in a tube preamp with no sub preout. I'll do more listening in the next few days but sub is a new improvement.

Regarding Roon, I used the Parameter EQ (I don't see a specific DSP toggle in the Muse menu, unless DSP is EQ) few weeks ago to smooth out treble and bass response but didn't notice much difference and the room response was not that bad just a small spike in mid bass when I measured it using a measurement app so I turned it off after a week, that was with the Totem the Sonus Faber in this room definitely needs EQ. Thanks for the help!

fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,651 posts
 

It is microphone technique that determines realism.

Of course if you are looking for a particular sound you need particular instruments.

To me Ray Chen's current Strad does not sound as good as the previous one I heard him play.

 

 

mapman's avatar
mapman
23,598 posts
 

Nice.  Here is another handy reference to help understand what you hear and what might be done about it applying parametric eq in Roon.  
 

Audio Frequency Chart

ditusa's avatar
ditusa
2,396 posts
 

It is microphone technique that determines realism.

I agree!

Big speakers in a small room See here! 😎

Mike

mapman's avatar
mapman
23,598 posts
 

@ditusa excellent video and spot on advice.  

On related topic I most strongly recommend learning how to do automatic room correction by creating a custom convolution filter file and applying it in Roon.  

 

More to discover