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What does "Warm" mean?

In his post today Paul McGowan ([email protected]) had a pretty good post on the subject of warmth.  Here is his definition: "The word usually points at a few related things. There's a slight rise in the lower midrange and upper bass — the region where male voices, cellos, lower piano notes, and the body of most instruments live. There's a softness at the very top, a rounding off of transient energy that feels easier on the ear over long sessions. And there's a sense of weight and body in the music, a presence that makes acoustic instruments feel three-dimensional rather than etched in air. When all three of those things show up together, listeners reach for "warm" because nothing else describes it as quickly."

Paul then goes on to discuss both the good and the bad of this set of characteristics.  In general I associate warmth with harmonic distortion, but prefer it to the stridency or harshness that I associate with intermodular distortion.  I think most people would agree.  Since we all live with a certain amount of distortion, more in analog than in digital playback, I wonder what others think about warmth, or lack of same, and their tolerance or lack of same in their own listening preferences. 

billstevenson
billstevenson OP
1,201 posts
 

It is very interesting that you are equating sound with color.  The late Bob Fulton, famous creator of the Fulton J speaker, used to give a very entertaining lecture on the colors of sound as he heard them.  Warm sound warm colors, cool sound cool colors sort of thing.  I am not doing this justice unfortunately.  @noromance has the right idea.  Comparing my Technics SL1200 GAE (bright white, better detail) to my Denon DP-3000NE (softer focus, warmer) is what particularly prompted my interest in the subject.  If I want to just kick back and relax and let the music envelop me, warmer, softer is what works best.  This is a new discovery for me.  Something about myself that I did not know before.

dr-hooves's avatar
dr-hooves
43 posts
 

Diode malfunction

pindac's avatar
pindac
3,946 posts
 

I keep my terminology for warmth to mean the Sun on my Face or a log well caught alight on the Log Fire in the colder months.

When it comes to end sound, there is Transparency, which deteriorates into Tonal Richness. Each to their own on the cut-off point for each, when detectable and having a discernible, perceivable presence.   

kennyc
2,951 posts
 

I like Paul McGowan‘s definition. I would have defined it as more midrange engagement possibly due to midrange frequency increase.

Seems trying to describe sound with words is often challenging and problematic

 

pryso
2,079 posts
 

Bill. I was thinking of Bob Fulton as I read this.  Years age we had a small dealer in San Diego who sold Fulton products.  Fulton visited a few times to give demos or talks.  As I remember it he assigned a different color to each instrument in a typical symphony orchestra.  Then he would say "that trombone doesn't sound purplish enough", or whatever color he described.  At one time I had a copy of his color chart but that is long gone and I don't remember the details.

As well as designing and building loudspeakers, electronics, and wire he made recordings of local music groups.  They were decent recordings but amateur talent.

As another connection with music he designed mouthpieces for brass instruments.  A friend in my alumni club was in the marching band in college and later the alumni band, playing trumpet.  No idea how we got on the subject, I may have ask my friend about Fulton since I'd heard that connection.  To my amazement my friend said he played a Fulton mouthpiece.

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