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In Reply to: RE: I wonder... posted by Tre' on April 07, 2015 at 11:48:47
Hi Tre
To be clear, your ears will reliably tell you how loud something sounds and one should avoid exposure to that kind of sound.
That being said technically speaking, there is a large difference between the amplifier signal needed to reproduce a given signal and how loud that particular signal might sound.
For instance, playing a record with a tiny scratch, that "tick" might be a large enough signal to require a very large peak or might even clip with a smaller amplifier yet it doesn't "sound" loud at all because it is so short as your sense of "loud" is an average over a short time.
On the other hand, a steady mid range tone will sound very loud at a vastly lower actual power level.
This matters when you want to play older or now specialty hifi recordings which generally had / have much more dynamic range than the typical modern mp-3 or most "re-mastered" old recordings.
You can often tell if you have a modern or old recording by how high you have to turn the volume knob to be at the right listening level.
The loudness wars in the recording industry have brought us recordings that are compressed and as hot as can be recorded, using a recording medium that has never had more dynamic range available.
Ironic
If you're not bored to tears by now, here is a little application that lets you examine audio files like a VU meter but shows slow average, fast and peak signal levels playing a music file.
http://www.orban.com/meter/
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Or this?
Sound Forge 8
Tre'
Have Fun and Enjoy the Music
"Still Working the Problem"
YES that will do as well, also Cool edit had that feature.
Note here the peak level is about 18dB over the RMS level which means the peak power is nearly 100 times the avg in that particular recording.
Best,
Tom
Irony indeed. We can record 130 plus decibels on a Blue Ray, and the idiot powers that be force engineers to produce 2 db of dynamics where everything screams at you all at one.
Deplorable.
Yeah it is so weird, it's kind of like they perfected the paper making process just as the artists switched to drawing with burnt sticks and feces.
People wonder why music often doesn't sound "real" haha
Even with simple passive networks of yesteryear, the most "real" sounding music I have had in my listening room in the last 40 years have come from Jazz recordings, instrumentals or vocals, through speakers you have designed. This comes from a music lover with an engineering, trumpet, and drums in his musical background. We won't even discuss the garage band periods.Even though we have diminishing returns in 24 bit depth and enough 192 Khz. resolution to please the world's bat population (overkill IMHO) music recordists don't even take full dynamic advantage of the "lowly" CD!! As former member of the AES in the mid 70's, I remember hearing a DBX compander system, which gave us a glimpse into what the upcoming CD might sound like..............amazing over Khorns at the time.
Well recorded DYNAMICS over horn loaded speakers is the only thing that can give us any illusion of reality. Everything else sounds soft and laid back to my ears. Most "audiophiles" simply don't get it and never will.
I really got a laugh with your burnt stick analogy. LOL.
Edits: 04/08/15 04/08/15
Having had AER/back-loaded horns in the past, and listened to many examples, I had recently drifter away from horns for any number of reasons (can't accommodate things like Bionors or find ones like TP1s or Hegemans, etc).
But a friend is going through the process of slowly modifying his Klipsch Khorns with ALK crossovers, and B&C drivers. Combined with his high-mass plattered Garrard 401, I was completely bowled over by a sound I've not heard since listening to Vitavox-based horn systems. Effortless dynamics, tonally accurate and easy-sounding waves of sound - without honk, shout or other parasitic noises. Just great.
Now my recently acquired stacked ESL57s seem something of a diversion from 'the path'.
Big J
"... only a very few individuals understand as yet that personal salvation is a contradiction in terms."
Hi Claude!
I remember as my audio system slowly became better and better. I noticed I was purchasing less & less Progressive Rock ---{ which I really love to this day }--- by YES, EL&P, Genesis, Triumvirate etc. and more & more Jazz! The Jazz just sounded much better to these ears. It took awhile for the Prog-Rock to wane and Jazz to wax. But, thankfully due to the much better sonics of Jazz recordings, not as long as I would have thought!
I'm listening to Afterdark by Halie Loren
Thetubeguy1954 (Tom Scata)
Central Florida Audio Society -- SETriodes Group -- Space Coast Audio Society
Full-range/Wide-range Drivers --- Front & Back-Loaded Horns --- High Sensitivity Speakers
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