If Warmth Is a Distortion, Why Do So Many Audiophiles Still Defend It?

"If Warmth Is a Distortion, Why Do So Many Audiophiles Still Defend It?”

There are many shades of distortion! Better SQ is a tradeoff between different kind of distortions, e.g., number even/odd  harmonics in the signal, time domain (transients) vs. single tone irregularities, inter-mods vs single tone, difference in phase vs frequency behavior, etc..

The key is a distortion of original soundtrack at the listener ear point! 

Which of these two audio recordings, of the same track streaming from Tidal, sounds most accurate to you:

Misty (MB horns & OB Subs)

Misty (FC MB & EHS Subs)

To me the warmth versus neutrality is more about frequency response contour and spectral content & spectrum rather than distortion or distortions profile. Sure there are certain distortions that fatten the sound and other transients and attack capabilities that  round the sound which is perceived as adding body but this can all be also achieved by simply making some judicial adjustments to the frequency response contour of the system without having to introduce any additional distortion generators.

WRONG @carlos269  because you insist with out success that manipulating the recording signal makes no additional distortions but you never in your thread proved/(facts that you are rigth.

That signal Manipulation is a distortion that did not came in the recording we are listening.

R.

Every single element in our systems and listening environment contributes to the composite resultant sound that we hear at the listening chair position. The question is, do you leave the resultant sound as a raw aggregate or do you take charge and control the outcome?

Stick around Super-fan and you will continue to learn and understand that our  unique choices of equipment, cables, listing  acoustic environment/room, and our electrical power, RFI environment, and things such as temperature and humidity all cause small perturbations/manipulations to what we hear when we playback the “original recording”.

The questions then becomes, do you leave all the influences on what we hear uncontrolled? Or do we take charge, if we have the knowledge and know how, to control what we hear?

As Dr. Ernst said, “if you don’t understand the concept then none of the details will make sense to you”!

Carlos  : ""  or do you take charge and control the outcome?  ""

50+ years ago this is the kind of " take charge and control "" according what each one of us like it:

Test super audio pro euro 4 way system hiend #bose #pioneer #amthanhbai #audiophile #speaker

Today you can do it in the analogue domain with the Harmonic Linearizers by FM Acoustic  or in a digital domain using  adavanced proccessors. In both cases you are Adding and/or Substracting signal information that does not comes in the original recording and where the " new " signal of that recording goes according what you like and these manipulations give you " control " of what you like that means ( like it or not ) is a equalizer item with today technology that alters the original recording.

Well there are thousands and thousands of audiophiles/MUSIC lovers that we want to listen what is in the recording in exactly the same way that @westcoastaudiophile posted:

" The key is a distortion of original soundtrack at the listener ear point!  "

That’s it, simple.  

You like to have that fallacy of " control "  using the proccessors as a toy where you have fun playing that toy in almost the same way several of us made it 40-50 years ago.

To each his own.

Ovbiously that you do not comprenhed all those yet. Jus follow playing your " game " and be happy.

R.