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Striking a balance between musicality and resolution

As my years and experience in this hobby continue to grow I notice a divergence between those seeking extreme resolution and detail from their music reproduction systems and those in search of maximum musicality.

In theory, high-end audio systems should provide more than garden variety stereo systems. In my view that means more detail and information should be heard from a high-end music reproduction system than one hears from ordinary HiFi stereo systems set ups. BUT is there such thing as too much resolution and detail in a stereo system’s sound presentation?

Some people feel that a less detailed presentation that is easier for your brain to process has better flow and provides more enjoyable listening.

So there is the dichotomy. Should one pay more to hear less? Can a frequency response performance that is curtailed at both frequency extremes be desired and praised?

Those that seek a “more musical” presentation usually point to their belief that that is how they hear live un-amplified acoustic music in the real world. In nature, high frequencies attenuate and decay with distance from the source and sound waves get absorbed, diffracted, reflected, and diffused by the environmental factors and landscapes; so they are not wrong in stating that in the real world the sound of music is less detailed and extended. The issue is that when we listen to our music reproduction systems at home we are not listening to live un-amplified music in a concert venue, but rather professionally produced audio recordings typically recorded with close-microphones techniques.

So the question is, do we want our systems to reproduce the sound on the commercial audio recordings accurately or does one want hear the sound the way one thinks that it should sound?

Lucky for me, I have enough systems at home that I have been able to design, set up, and tune them for different targeted resultant sound, sound presentation, and sound qualities. For instance, my OKTAN6 ultimate horn system is a dissecting microscope, my Pinnacle horn system aims at extreme musicality, and my WAAR reference system is a chameleon, which can be adjusted to sound exactly how you want it to sound in real-time.

My “test-bed” system takes on the sound character and sound qualities of the components in use and it is excellent for evaluating what new components have to offer or bring to the table in terms of sound qualities. But with the Acapella TW-1S ION plasma super-tweeters extending the high frequencies, the TBI Emperor subwoofers extending the low frequencies, and the highly detailed & nuanced Digital Audio Denmark AX24 DSD dac streaming HQPLAYER as the source, the “Test Bed” system is a highly resolving system.

As with everything else in life, is there a happy medium or compromise that gives you the best of those worlds? I believe that there is and that great music reproduction systems can be tuned to strike a balance between musicality and resolution. If one listens to the evolution of my OKTAN6 ultimate horn system for instance you can hear that the fine tuning is driving the sound in that direction.

So during last night’s listening session I adjusted the sound of my “Test Bed” system to a more musical sound presentation. The “Test Bed” system is always in flux so it allows me to experiment, explore, tweak, tune, and have fun with it.

Here is an audio recording from last night’s listening session that captures the revised sound presentation and conveys the sound qualities that exemplify a more organic sound versus a more delineated & resolved sound presentation:
 

The Way It Goes

 

carlos269
atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,430 posts
 

I’m still in disbelief by your lack of understanding of basic electrical properties. Don’t distort the matter, what exactly in my quote is either poorly written or nonsense?

@carlos269 Here is the nonsense quote:

in an analog chain the signal gets consumed along the way by the path resistance and that’s why there is a need to amplify the signal at certain stages along the reproduction chain, while digital on the other hand maintains its coded integrity and the digital signal is preserved along the way.

Somehow a distinction is drawn; in the analog case Ohm’s Law prevails while in the digital case (as best this can be interpreted) its does not. 

Further, you reasserted in your attack on me a statement with which I concured, which supports that what you think of the first half of the quote above is correct. So this makes the comment about digital either grossly incorrect or its just poorly written; the only way to interpret the statement being that somehow Ohm’s Law doesn’t apply to digital, which clearly it does, including errors that can occur despite its ’encoded integrity’ (and is why things like parity bits exist...). If there is a different interpretation, that means  that the original statement was poorly written, enough to be nonsense. 

BTW this statement:

I have degrees in physics and electrical engineering and @atmasphere has neither.

-is false, and your demeanor suggests possibly in more ways than one. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.  

Folks, please keep in mind that when looking at YT videos, nothing prevents someone from simply dubbing in what he wants you to hear. They cannot be used for proof of sound quality, something any engineer knows inside and out. 

 My personal opinion is that volume level matching the two recordings would not change a thing, regarding the perceived musicality or resolution of either system.

Your opinion is wrong. Its well known in blind testing that matching levels is mandatory. 

 

carlos269's avatar
carlos269 OP
485 posts
 

@mahgister Well the one thing that I can tell you is that none of my rooms are acoustically controlled. When what you hear at the listening chair position is govern by direct sound, the brain does a wonderful job of arbitrating reflected and refracted sounds in temporal phase. Room effects can be mitigated to a great extent. Here is audio recording of my OKTAN6 system playing the same track in my acoustically uncontrolled room:

Tipy top high level system in acoustically engineered and controlled room?

OKTAN6 system in acoustically uncontrolled room

 

 

carlos269's avatar
carlos269 OP
485 posts
 

@atmasphere of course Ohm’s law applies equally to both analog and digital “electrical” signals, but what you failed to grasp was the inclusion of the word “coded”. The digital “coded signal” is not subjected to Ohm's law as the “coded signal” is a  binary string. You should also know this as well.

You can keep trying to figure out how to dig yourself out if the hole because you are only digging yourself in deeper.

mahgister's avatar
mahgister
15,061 posts
 

It seems you are very knowledgeable in "physics" calling atmasphere ignorant by lack of physics experience, but your sentence here demonstrated acoustics ignorance :

@mahgister Well the one thing that I can tell you is that none of my rooms are acoustically controlled. When what you hear at the listening chair position is govern by direct sound,

In a small room (most room) the reflective waves of sound modify the direct sound of the speakers  causing phase cancellation and comb filterings.

How do you think it takes to the sound at his speed to reach your ears from all sides of the room versus the direct sound waves of the speakers ? 

I am not a physicist , you are, compute it and read about what is psycho-acoustics cost of the Hass effect on the sound perception and why reflections are necessary especially if we know how to control them ....

 

The perfect room with direct sound and no reflections is an anechoic chamber... The worst place in the world to enjoy music...

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
12,430 posts
 

The digital “coded signal” is not subjected to Ohm's law as the “coded signal” is a  binary string.

By this comment, you appear to think that a binary string does not exist in a circuit, or only does in a circuit not subject to Ohm Law. Clearly nonsense. 

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