I think the CDs themselves are to blame for a lot of sonic ills: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loudness_war
What hi fi system you got ?
- Thread starter greenstiles
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If think goes without saying anything modern has been ruined to make it sound good on £5 iPod speakers, a very sad thing, there is no dynamic range left 
I have some 80's Dire Straits stuff and it initially seems to quiet compared to modern discs but when it wants to go loud, it does, you even forget about the hiss after a while
I have played with some high res audio, infact I have the same Dire Straits album in 24bit/88.2khz and it does sound good but I fear the differences are too small for the average person to ever embrace or push for it, despite it costing the producers almost nothing to include (so it could be free essentially) I'm critical but I can only really enjoy it via high end headphones with a £1000+ amp.
I don't have much time with TDA1541a although I know they are considered the best from the age, especially the DC...a lot of fakes out there though and the whole thing can be an expensive build. My next DAC will be BB PCM1704's perhaps being the last of that generation.
The older I get and the more kit I collect I realise my initial goal of total neutrality (pure) is perhaps misguided, as long as it sounds close to source and you like it be happy.
Perfection is often so transparent half your music is unlistenable and the rest fatigues you quickly...part of the reason I keep the TDA1543.
I have some 80's Dire Straits stuff and it initially seems to quiet compared to modern discs but when it wants to go loud, it does, you even forget about the hiss after a while
I have played with some high res audio, infact I have the same Dire Straits album in 24bit/88.2khz and it does sound good but I fear the differences are too small for the average person to ever embrace or push for it, despite it costing the producers almost nothing to include (so it could be free essentially) I'm critical but I can only really enjoy it via high end headphones with a £1000+ amp.
I don't have much time with TDA1541a although I know they are considered the best from the age, especially the DC...a lot of fakes out there though and the whole thing can be an expensive build. My next DAC will be BB PCM1704's perhaps being the last of that generation.
The older I get and the more kit I collect I realise my initial goal of total neutrality (pure) is perhaps misguided, as long as it sounds close to source and you like it be happy.
Perfection is often so transparent half your music is unlistenable and the rest fatigues you quickly...part of the reason I keep the TDA1543.
Speakers: Monitor Audio RS8
Cable: QED
Amp: NAD THX 218
Pre-amp: NAD C162
Interconnects: Short Dogsplodge
Source is temporary for the moment: Echo Indigo DJ for internet radio and a crappy old NAD DVD/CD player. I'm fed up of burnt out lasers that can't track so going over HDD and DAC at sometime.
PS: That Micromega brings back memories ;-)
Cable: QED
Amp: NAD THX 218
Pre-amp: NAD C162
Interconnects: Short Dogsplodge
Source is temporary for the moment: Echo Indigo DJ for internet radio and a crappy old NAD DVD/CD player. I'm fed up of burnt out lasers that can't track so going over HDD and DAC at sometime.
PS: That Micromega brings back memories ;-)
greenstiles
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Hi Woz, i tried those Dogsploge cables, great value, but i found the to be a bit sharp sounding, and gave voices a siblence, sss a bit........i now use gotham swiss silver coax cable (advertised as a digitol cable) they are very good, not to be confused with their best seller GAC1
LGF and GreenStiles, thanks for getting back to me about my hi-fi and the Mission speakers.
Up until recently, I was using a pair of JPW Gold Monitors -- tiny British bookshelf speakers which had a surprising amount of bass and really projected music into the room. However, I found that I wasn't listening to the hi-fi much, mainly because the treble was really intrusive. Vocalists pronouncing "ssss" and drummers hitting cymbals really sounded too harsh and shrill for my ears.
I sold the JPWs (for buttons :roll: ) and connected up the DM4s, which had been sitting in the house doing nothing for several years. But I still found that certain situations don't sound so good; those high frequencies (again!) and crescendos where lots of instruments are playing at the same time.
I've isolated the tracks where the treble frequencies make uncomfortable listening, and as LGF suggested, it seems to have more to do with the actual recording than it does with my hi-fi. For example, pronunciation of the letter "S" on Lloyd Cole's "Perfect Skin" seems to be harsh no matter what equipment you've got. And it's the same story for the snare drum at the beginning of "Perfect" by The The. So on that count, maybe it's the recordings rather than my equipment.
But I've still got the problem of crescendos. When a just a few instruments are playing down-tempo, like "Older" by George Michael, my modest setup sounds absolutely fantastic. But when lots of instruments play together, it just gets a bit confused and messy.
Hence my looking around for different speakers. The Missions aren't too expensive, so they might be worth a little gamble. I might be pleasantly surprised!
[Edit: LGF suspected that my CD player might be the problem, and I can find out if that's the case by plugging my Sennheiser headphones into the amp. If certain tracks still sound messy, I can't blame the speakers! ]
Up until recently, I was using a pair of JPW Gold Monitors -- tiny British bookshelf speakers which had a surprising amount of bass and really projected music into the room. However, I found that I wasn't listening to the hi-fi much, mainly because the treble was really intrusive. Vocalists pronouncing "ssss" and drummers hitting cymbals really sounded too harsh and shrill for my ears.
I sold the JPWs (for buttons :roll: ) and connected up the DM4s, which had been sitting in the house doing nothing for several years. But I still found that certain situations don't sound so good; those high frequencies (again!) and crescendos where lots of instruments are playing at the same time.
I've isolated the tracks where the treble frequencies make uncomfortable listening, and as LGF suggested, it seems to have more to do with the actual recording than it does with my hi-fi. For example, pronunciation of the letter "S" on Lloyd Cole's "Perfect Skin" seems to be harsh no matter what equipment you've got. And it's the same story for the snare drum at the beginning of "Perfect" by The The. So on that count, maybe it's the recordings rather than my equipment.
But I've still got the problem of crescendos. When a just a few instruments are playing down-tempo, like "Older" by George Michael, my modest setup sounds absolutely fantastic. But when lots of instruments play together, it just gets a bit confused and messy.
Hence my looking around for different speakers. The Missions aren't too expensive, so they might be worth a little gamble. I might be pleasantly surprised!
[Edit: LGF suspected that my CD player might be the problem, and I can find out if that's the case by plugging my Sennheiser headphones into the amp. If certain tracks still sound messy, I can't blame the speakers!
]greenstiles":2uwf3sum said:
I used to dabble with homemade stuff (included a bizarre set-up of video amplifiers) and when I was 18 worked in a HiFi shop (noooo not Dixons!). I just liked the idea that he could make custom lengths to keep the signal path down to a minimum and used quality cable; I'm happy with them. The whole system was a bit hit and miss really; when I auditioned the speakers in a crappy cramped listening room they were bloody awful! Ultimately there's so many parameter but I'm at a point if I get goose bumps with my favorite tracks, I'm happy!
Anyone remember Royd speakers (made in prisons apparently)? I've still got a pair going strong mated to a heavily modded 70s Marantz wire tied monster that I found on the street. Sounds great in the man-cave ;-)
greenstiles
Old School Grand Master
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Royd are cool speakers....
greenstiles
Old School Grand Master
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JohnH if your amp has tone controls, does the ssss go away enough if you turn the treble down a bit ?
