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taqueso posted:I prefer the pure tones of sine waves to the cacophony of music. That electronic crap is worthless. I have an aeolian harp in my backyard, with a matrix of negative ion generators running to make sure there are no air pollutants preventing those precious sound waves from reaching my ears.
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Mar 25, 2015 22:52
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taqueso posted:I prefer the pure tones of sine waves to the cacophony of music. Music is a lot of pure sine waves just aid on top of each other. Also if you want good results and have a spare bit of cash the MiniDSP Dirac stuff is as close to a magic box as you'll get without straying off into stupid pseudoscience. A good combination of FIR and IIR filters to compensate for early reflections and room modes plus impulse and phase linearisation is well worth the small trade off in delay. I think it starts around $800, includes the DSP box and mic and software.
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Mar 26, 2015 00:03
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Neurophonic posted:I think it starts around $800, includes the DSP box and mic and software. From a position of ignorance about what they actually do "behind the scenes:" what does that do that the auto-calibration mic/software that comes with most receivers doesn't? I mean we're talking $800 vs free, (at least if you're buying a new receiver anyway) so it should be something major, right?
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Mar 26, 2015 00:26
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Theris posted:From a position of ignorance about what they actually do "behind the scenes:" what does that do that the auto-calibration mic/software that comes with most receivers doesn't? I mean we're talking $800 vs free, (at least if you're buying a new receiver anyway) so it should be something major, right? Most auto calibration simply runs IIR filters to generate a 'flat' (often bass boosted or gradual downward sloping but whatever) magnitude response. Essentially you're correcting in only the frequency domain, which can cause issues with phase shift and exacerbate room modes or end up with weird sounding results. The Dirac thing is basically a hand holding baby's first approach to seeing those same measurement results, and allowing you to pick a target response before aiming to correct towards that using convolution in DSP to correct not just magnitude but phase and cabinet anomalies such as horn reflections, smearing etc. It's a little hard to explain the core concepts without getting super into AES paper stuff that assumes a chunk of prior knowledge, but their own site has a fairly rudimentary 'whitepaper' and some links to other similar tools/apps that explains it to an extent. http://www.dirac.se/media/12044/on_room_correction.pdf In practice the difference can be quite startling even for a novice though. You end up with more consistent coverage in the target listening area, better pattern control/rejection outside of it and a more 'natural' sound due to many frequencies arriving at the same time, closer to a real instrument. $800 is cheap for the results it can get, partly because it only works on a few channels. Doing this for a multi-driver multi-cabinet array at say an arena level carries costs of many many thousands of dollars in software, DSP/amp channels and measuring hardware alone. However like anything it isn't a magic bullet, just a set of compromises that can yield positive results in return for a bit of effort and sacrificing overall delay in the system.
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Mar 26, 2015 00:42
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If you're willing to put the work in to learn it, you can get similar results from REQ wizard (free) a USB calibrated mic (~$70) and a Mini DSP without the dirac software (~$100). You just have to put a lot of effort into manually tweaking your settings instead of following the directions on the magic box.
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Mar 26, 2015 01:25
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The real solution is to remodel your listening room with acoustics in mind.
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Mar 26, 2015 02:50
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Or just use headphones.
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Mar 26, 2015 04:32
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A nice speaker system in a nice room is better than headphones.
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Mar 26, 2015 04:44
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LifeSizePotato posted:Agreed. You don't understand, we have the capability to make 14nm CPUs, 40 terabits/s fiber optics across the Atlantic but not audio testing equipment that are objectively better than our ears.
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Mar 26, 2015 08:40
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fart simpson posted:A nice speaker system in a nice room is better than headphones. But several magnitudes larger and expensive.
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Mar 26, 2015 09:06
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Headphones are nice but when you have mates over and you want to listen to Dethera it's kind of awkward to plug in several sets of headphones.
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Mar 26, 2015 10:38
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JK no-one wants to listen to Dethera.
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Mar 26, 2015 10:38
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Audiophile reviewers always must listen to some kind of female vocalist [jazz or Latin, take your pick], at least one dadrock band and one rock band that someone that old would consider "modern" like Coldplay, Radiohead or Cake. You'd think if they actually were trying to get a good comparison they'd listen to the same "test suite" every time but then they wouldn't be able to show off their cool musical taste. My favorite speaker shopping song is the long version of "The Box" by Orbital, I've listened to it a million times and it has pretty much every kind of sound in it.
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Mar 26, 2015 16:34
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qirex posted:Audiophile reviewers always must listen to some kind of female vocalist [jazz or Latin, take your pick], at least one dadrock band and one rock band that someone that old would consider "modern" like Coldplay, Radiohead or Cake. You'd think if they actually were trying to get a good comparison they'd listen to the same "test suite" every time but then they wouldn't be able to show off their cool musical taste. One of my guilty pleasures is going into high-end speaker shops and trolling them with my music taste.
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Mar 26, 2015 16:36
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KillHour posted:One of my guilty pleasures is going into high-end speaker shops and trolling them with my music taste. Same. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fDgSSU5_K0
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Mar 26, 2015 16:43
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qirex posted:My favorite speaker shopping song is the long version of "The Box" by Orbital, I've listened to it a million times and it has pretty much every kind of sound in it. It's also a phenomenal record that sounds as good today as when it came out. Think I'm gonna go home in half hour and play that sucker real loud.
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Mar 26, 2015 16:56
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Prison Sex by Tool is actually a really good song to test speakers.
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Mar 26, 2015 17:13
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The production quality on Da Unbreakables by Three-Six Mafia is excellent and I don't hesitate to recommend it as a test album.
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Mar 27, 2015 01:16
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Late '90s French Ska or nothing.
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Mar 27, 2015 01:22
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GWBBQ posted:The production quality on Da Unbreakables by Three-Six Mafia is excellent and I don't hesitate to recommend it as a test album. Thought about posting this earlier, thought it would be assumed I was trolling. Godspeed.
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Mar 27, 2015 02:42
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KillHour posted:If you're willing to put the work in to learn it, you can get similar results from REQ wizard (free) a USB calibrated mic (~$70) and a Mini DSP without the dirac software (~$100). You just have to put a lot of effort into manually tweaking your settings instead of following the directions on the magic box. Of course. But it's a LOT of effort to learn how to know what data to use and what to throw away, how to measure for different things, etc. Also, use of IIR filtering can only get you so far. There is some really, frankly quite mad stuff going on with high end FIR and mixed-phase DSP going on right now that just pickles my brain, but at the base level it can make a huge improvement in a system if used properly. The Dirac thing is out of my 'yeah I'll buy that' range but if you suddenly won big on a scratch card and wanted to make an extremely good room just to listen to music without throwing away oodles of cash and time learning about acoustics then combining the (not so) black box with some proper nice off the shelf oblate spheroid horns and reflex subs is a good way to go. Could do it for under $7000 total and poo poo all over most audiophile setups.
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Mar 27, 2015 03:01
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KillHour posted:One of my guilty pleasures is going into high-end speaker shops and trolling them with my music taste. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb2jDNZ5JuQ This poo poo will ruin your house with a decent sub.
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Mar 27, 2015 09:06
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Wasabi the J posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb2jDNZ5JuQ Unironically would like to hear more stuff like that.
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Mar 27, 2015 15:31
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taqueso posted:Unironically would like to hear more stuff like that. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2849356 In other news, Erich at DIY Sound Group is shipping out my drivers today! http://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-nd105-4-4-aluminum-cone-midbass-driver-4-ohm--290-212 http://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-dc28f-8-1-1-8-silk-dome-tweeter--275-070 Using them to replace the destroyed midrange and tweeters in some old Sony tower speakers. Now I need to figure out how to build a passive 3-way crossover....
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Mar 27, 2015 16:05
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KillHour posted:http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2849356 http://www.diyaudioandvideo.com/Calculator/APCXOver/
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Mar 27, 2015 16:27
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I knew about that. I just need to do some more research. I don't have the frequency response data for the woofers in those speakers (can't find them published anywhere), and I need to do some reading on how to pick crossover points and matching speaker sensitivity. And that calculator wants me to put the lower crossover point rather high. I can't imagine the 12" woofers in those speakers are going to do well at 300+Hz. Maybe I'm wrong, though. KillHour fucked around with this message at 16:44 on Mar 27, 2015 |
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Mar 27, 2015 16:37
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shortspecialbus posted:Prison Sex by Tool is actually a really good song to test speakers. Nah, that whole CD is mastered to poo poo. The volume is way off and the bass is weirdly missing. Anything by Tool later than that though, is a great way of hearing if the setup gives you detail in the lowend. KillHour posted:In case you haven't noticed, the kind of people that will obsess over minor differences in sound between two systems are not very interesting people, in general. I doubt most audiophiles really enjoy music very much. I posted this a little over 2 years ago on why I think audiophiles do this: Khablam posted:Hmmm, yeah, you're touching on something that gets expressed in quite a few different ways I think. tl;dr - it's not that they don't enjoy music, it's that they're scared to genuinely express what they do listen to. They don't want "well of COURSE you wouldn't hear the difference, listening to poo poo like that" as a comment on their opinion.
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Mar 28, 2015 12:25
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That or they're just dumb people with bland taste in music.
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Mar 28, 2015 13:02
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http://test.tidalhifi.com/ Wow.
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Apr 1, 2015 02:29
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Four in five correct, well done! You have an ear for detail and a good audio system, it’s for people like you that we have created the service. You deserve TIDAL for 14 days. The song that I missed was the song I actually know (Hotel California) and I took the test on my Macbook without any special DAC or even headphones. Guess I do have golden ears after all 
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Apr 1, 2015 03:51
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I apparently got all 5 correct. Even though I couldn't hear a difference at all (through a proper 2.1 setup with external DAC and active crossover). I just guessed on each one, but apparently I'm who they created the service for. 
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Apr 1, 2015 03:59
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KillHour posted:I apparently got all 5 correct. Even though I couldn't hear a difference at all (through a proper 2.1 setup with external DAC and active crossover). I just guessed on each one, but apparently I'm who they created the service for. I got 4 of 5. I'm curious as to whether someone can actually "miss" all 5 or if they're cynically giving out 5s and 4s. And if they *do* actually accurately report if someone misses all 5 does it say something like, "Begone pleb! Stick to your lovely MP3s and cheap box wine."
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Apr 1, 2015 04:09
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flosofl posted:I got 4 of 5. I'm curious as to whether someone can actually "miss" all 5 or if they're cynically giving out 5s and 4s. And if they *do* actually accurately report if someone misses all 5 does it say something like, "Begone pleb! Stick to your lovely MP3s and cheap box wine." I'm pretty sure it's just marketing schtick to get people to sign up for free trials.
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Apr 1, 2015 04:52
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I wouldn't be surprised if 4/5 of them actually had FLAC files for both buttons, and it was only possible to get 1 wrong at most.
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Apr 1, 2015 05:26
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Randomly guessing I got 1/5 and 2/5. According to download helper each page had 2 flac files of equal sizes. I'm not sure I understand their thought process. Wouldn't you want to accentuate the difference to show people why they should buy your service?
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Apr 1, 2015 05:51
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TheLastManStanding posted:Randomly guessing I got 1/5 and 2/5. According to download helper each page had 2 flac files of equal sizes. I'm not sure I understand their thought process. Wouldn't you want to accentuate the difference to show people why they should buy your service? It's probably a direct CD rip FLAC vs a FLAC transcoded from a 192 kbps MP3.
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Apr 1, 2015 05:54
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4 out of 5 but I genuinely couldn't tell the difference either (iMac -> DAC -> Sansui Amp -> Mordaunt Short large bookshelves). Thanks Tidal for proving that FLAC is a complete waste of time for me!
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Apr 1, 2015 11:40
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I got 2/5. Guess my work computer's on-board sound through my regular earbuds just isn't enough! EDIT: Redid it just picking B for all of them and got 4/5.
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Apr 1, 2015 14:51
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Got a stinking cold, perforated right ear-drum, listening on £10 Sony earbuds plugged into the headphone socket on a crappy Acer Chromebook. 4/5 - got James Blake wrong. Sign me up!
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Apr 1, 2015 15:32
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I got 3/5 I am a scrub. And did everyone have some annoying background clicking in every track? It wasn't like.. aliasing from compression it was just a high pitched chattering.
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Apr 1, 2015 16:00
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