Difference in sound between day and night. Help!

Only when dealing with knuckleheads. 

Do you have to work at being irrelevant? Or does it come naturally?

Nice try, but apparently you didn’t get the memo that Schumann frequency is good for humans and for sound. Besides Schumann frequency is not “information” as I was using the word in my comment you quoted. Better luck next time.

Right. And the brain is a sensitive radio transceiver that picks up extraneous information floating around at night. Got it. Thanks.

Uh, the Schumann frequency is 7.8 Hz, with wavelength circa 26,000 miles, so that’s probably irrelevant for discussions of HF transducers. Besides, the Schumann frequency is not a day/night phenomenon as there are always lightning storms, etc. somewhere on Earth to feed the electromagnetic waveguide, as it were. Finally, there’s nothing wrong with the Schumann frequency for the sound. That’s why Schumann frequency generators are so popular. 

whostolethebatmobile

I have noticed the night/day effect for at least the past 25 years since I first bought electrostatic speakers. I tried all sorts of remedies, but as millercarbon said earlier - anything you do to make it better in the daytime will also make it even better at night. And there are lots of things you can do.

I accepted the phenomenon years ago, but one thing still really puzzles me. It involves making a digital transfer of a vinyl record in the daytime, and the same transfer again late at night, on highly optimized equipment. You would think that the one made late at night would sound better on playback, no matter when it was played, on the same system, night or day. But in my experience it doesn't. Both copies sound relatively the same on playback, no matter what hour of the day or night they were made. But they both sound better played back at night. The one made at night sounded better at the time of recording, when monitored on speakers or headphones, but not on playback. In other words, the day/night effect does not seem to be recordable. Specifically, the daytime deterioration does not seem to be recordable. Does this indicate that the only components which suffer daytime deterioration are the loudspeakers (or ears)?

Good work there. Not only thinking it up, but presenting the reasoning and weaknesses and all just the way it should be done. You are hereby awarded one official attaboy.

Yes correct it should be recordable. Mikey Fremer has been recording and playing back his haute cartridges for enough people long enough to be sure you should be able to hear, if the difference is indeed in the signal. Of course your recording is a weak test, since it only records changes from the very beginning of the chain leaving open the possibility of more happening downstream. But its hard to think why anything would affect the amp and speakers and not the phono stage and cartridge.  Even then you should be able to hear something. And you don't.

So you (we) definitely do hear a difference, and will for the sake of argument say its not anything to do with anything from the speakers back.

That would seem to leave only the room. 

Well, guess what? Ted Denney III has this thing he calls FEQ which he claims is, "a single channel ULF (Ultra Low Frequency) RF pulse generator that acts as a low-frequency dither to overpower the ambient RFI and EMI fields in your listening room."  https://highend-electronics.com/products/synergistic-research-feq-x4 Which I would've thought was bunk. Except I've heard his HFT and ECT and PHT all of which work on a similar dither principle and all of which work amazingly well.

The ionosphere is a charged layer of atmosphere some 350 miles (roughly, its more a zone than a sphere) above the Earth. All sorts of charged particles and radio waves come in and get caught or channeled by the ionosphere. These waves bounce around and resonate, same as certain bass frequencies resonate in your room. Which your room is on Earth and more to the point within this resonating EMI field.

Schumann resonance. You could look it up.

The planet rotates. Most of the radiation is solar. Stands to reason this all results in day/night EMI cycles.

So not saying for sure this is what's happening. HFT, ECT, and PHT all work by introducing dither, more than likely sonically and/or mechanically, which makes things sound a whole lot better. FEQ introduces radio dither, which all the guys who have tried it swear works amazingly well. HFT helps smooth sonic noise, ECT addresses mechanical, FEQ EMI.

How's that for interesting?

Thanks for your thoughts geoffkait and noromance. I agree with the main points and with the likelihood of additional factors being at play, including the unknown.

You’re close. Very close. The brain is analogous to a sensitive radio transceiver in the sense it picks up background information whether you are aware of it or not. It’s conscious and subconscious. Thus, when there’s less extraneous information floating around at night in the form of electromagnetic waves your brain’s 🧠 Signal to Noise Ratio is higher. It’s an illustration actually of mind-matter interaction. There’s no substitute for Signal To Noise Ratio. Mystery solved! This is not to say there can be other additional reasons why things sound better at night. 

@whostolethebatmobile It sounds better at night because your hearing/brain is more sensitive at night. It is physiological and evolutionary. You've done the test. 

I have noticed the night/day effect for at least the past 25 years since I first bought electrostatic speakers. I tried all sorts of remedies, but as millercarbon said earlier - anything you do to make it better in the daytime will also make it even better at night. And there are lots of things you can do.

I accepted the phenomenon years ago, but one thing still really puzzles me. It involves making a digital transfer of a vinyl record in the daytime, and the same transfer again late at night, on highly optimized equipment. You would think that the one made late at night would sound better on playback, no matter when it was played, on the same system, night or day. But in my experience it doesn't. Both copies sound relatively the same on playback, no matter what hour of the day or night they were made. But they both sound better played back at night. The one made at night sounded better at the time of recording, when monitored on speakers or headphones, but not on playback. In other words, the day/night effect does not seem to be recordable. Specifically, the daytime deterioration does not seem to be recordable. Does this indicate that the only components which suffer daytime deterioration are the loudspeakers (or ears)?

I'd be interested to know if anyone else notices the same, or maybe the opposite effect?

At words poetic I'm so pathetic.

PS : Now it is nice day and night, night and day. Not by Cole Porter, kkkk.

I had the same problem that you have now. When I bought PS Audio P5 Power plant the sound is the same all the day.

Class D amps are very susceptible to AC quality, call your amp manufacturer for a recommended synergy.  I had a transformer hum on one of my monoblocks on a Saturday afternoon and then switched my amps off my Shunyata Vray, to my Transparent Reference PIMM conditioner.  noise floor dropped instantly, bass tightened up, imaging solidified and transformer hum went away

A used Equitech Q model would make a dramatic improvement. Maybe you can demo a new one then”shop around”. I would never be without one again.  

So I’ve also noticed the difference in sound between day and night.  I easily picked up on it early on in this hobby and had never had anyone tell me about it before I had noticed.  I actually started a thread about it when I noticed it and asked what was going on.

Whats interesting is that a noticed a two fold difference on snowy nights. I didn’t know if that had to do with less ambient noise or with the ground being a better ground... maybe someone else could chime in about that?

What you say jibes very well with my unusual experience. It was on Christmas Eve when we had deep snow and 0 temps. My system sounded so good that I stayed up all night listening.

Without a doubt it's "The power grid"; meaning the broader power grid had almost no traffic.

I have moved a number of times, and no matter where, there is a day and night correlation if you listen carefully enough, and what makes it even more significant is that it's better after midnight, but that difference is so close that some attribute it to a psychological difference.

Would you say the difference is day and night?

I’ve never tried to evaluate my system on a day V night survey, but I had a problem with a tripping circuit breaker. Ran a dedicated 20 amp circuit just for the preamp & power amp, only expecting the breaker to stop tripping. The soundstage depth, width, height, imaging, and bass slam was not anything I had heard previously. If you can’t run a dedicated circuit, perhaps you could try removing anything that isn’t audio related and plug them elsewhere. 

I have always noticed this, and have always attributed it to the lower ambient noise both external and internal, perceptible in the listening space at night.
I believe that I become acclimated to ambient noise to the point where I am not always consciously aware of it, but I can still notice the difference in my perception of the music when the ambient noise floor is lowered.

As others have commented, it may be alcohol consumption that, among other things, makes music sound so much better.  Want a real boost in perceptive audio performance?  Smoke some good weed just prior.  you will quickly pick out nuances in your favorite tracks that you've never heretofore noticed.  Promise.  Oh....do not drive while doing this or after.

I’ve noticed the same thing, OP. Music sounds better at night. There are a few things that might cause this:

1) Less businesses operating which otherwise make for dirtier power lines.
2) Your perception physically changes. Afterall, it’s night time - you need to be able to hear the jaguar in the bush because you can’t see it. Your brain is most assuredly making different neurotransmitters at night.
3) A better ground. (I actually put a lot of faith in this one even though I don’t have measurements.) When the sun shines on Earth, it excites electrons in the ground (this is called circadian “charge” or something like that name.) The dark side of Earth doesn’t receive this charge. The charge flows from light side to dark side - these are called tellurian currents. They are measurable at dusk and dawn. Of all the places you can be (light side, dusk, dawn or dark side) the dark side will have the least electrical activity in the ground.
4) Some combination of the above.
5) None of the above.

Instead of fighting it, I’ve come to embrace it: “Oh, it’s night time, I bet my audio system sounds great! Let’s go listen.”

Hello twoleftears.
Thanks, I know it, but I live overseas and in my country (Argentina) there's no dealer offering Power Conditioners with trial period.
If i decide to buy one, it will be a blind purchase, like I did with all my system.

@plga There are mail-order stores like Music Direct, Audio Adviser and several others, that offer 30-day full return on purchases.

Uh, if your brain 🧠 is too relaxed maybe you’re taking the wrong booze, drugs. Snooze, you lose! 😴 I do some of my best listening on pure caffein. ☕️

I have dedicated AC service to my 2- custom designed audiorooms all running hospital grade outlets or better all outlet dedicated runs. I have my own transformer off a new main AC line to my property. I use Supra AC strips. I mention the changes in brain waves pre sleep as the main reason systems booze sex movies books etc can all be preceived as more relaxing at night is because your brain is relaxing. Even my systems sound better at night and its not do to AC line noise.I have never mentioned anything at all about line conditioning not working. Just stated the fact that the human brain goes into a pre relaxed state at night and that humans tend to fall for confirmation bias.

Get off the grid and go with batteries with an inverter.  

Hi boxer12,
Yes, I've tried a budget Power Conditioner, the Bada LB5600, and it made an improvement on the system, as changing the Power Cables did.
Now I will have to analize buying a more expensive Power Conditioner or drink wine during day time as other suggested  :-)
The thing is I cannot borrow a Power Conditioner because there's no dealer where I live, so I have to buy it blind and this is an expensive and uncertain way to upgrade my system.

I suggest you perform a double blind listening test between day and night.  You will need to be locked in a totally dark room for several days and nights.

john... 
Have you ever tried a power conditioner? The reason I'm asking is you have mentioned both "pre sleep state" & "confirmation bias" in this thread to explain the differences you can't hear with cleaner power, be it through a conditioner or the grid itself.  

  

geoffkait13,855 posts01-31-2019 2:09pmLess sunspot activity, less traffic (cars, subways, trains, buses), less RF.

+1

Especially when they’re drunk on cheap wine 🍷 

 Confirmation bias is a phenomenon wherein decision makers have been shown to actively seek out and assign more weight to evidence that confirms their hypothesis, and ignore or underweigh evidence that could disconfirm their hypothesis.

Prolly has something to do with moonshine :)

Be very afraid of stalking fusers, who often will emerge from darkened corners to slay nayesayers.

You mean we have to worry about stalkers now?

Not only pre-sleep but perhaps evolutionary. Hearing sensitivity is much more heightened at night as a defense against predators.

Meant to say middle of a song.

Yea, I notice a difference in sound quality after midnight with or without a conditioner. When I first installed a good conditioner in my system and the music stopped for a split second in the middle of a sound it was so quiet I thought my amp blew, scared the hell out of me and I jumped out of my chair to shut the system down. 

Hi B
I live in Argentina, far away!
That makes it harder for me to get good prices and to try new equipment. 
Thats why I started this topic. 
Thank you all for the answers

I don't know where you are located, but my conversations with Pat at SMcAudio in CA, revealed that their power showed significant changes as the day progresses. Late Evening and Early Morning being the time when power provided the best sound.
So, it would seem that overall usage was related to sound quality.
Here on the East Coast, I have not experience such a difference, thankfully.
B

Hi Paul
For me the differences are too obvious to believe they are generated in my mind.
I feel them all the time and in different hours in the night and at different volume levels and many times I felt them with out any previous expectactions whatsoever. It was like getting a nice unexpected surprise. 
There is some technical explanation and there must be a technical solución, at least a partial one. 

Don't knock it till you try it there johnk, you have no idea what your talking about. First Running Springs Audio (passive)conditioner I bought I told no one in the family. My wife came in the room first day( not at night) and asked what did you buy " that sounds really good" she could careless about 2 channel audio. Even my kids noticed without telling them, they listen to music off there phone. Explain that one johnk

Was that audio engineer one of the SOBs who have been compressing the life out of our CDs for the past twenty years? Have they been teaching neuroscience in audio engineering schools? I did not know that. 

Is it actually dark/dim in your room at night and light during the day? If so could be at least part of it is you are less distracted and more focused on listening at night.

Also could be you are less stressed/more relaxed when listening at night so you respond more positively.

Don’t assume none of it has to do with you the listener.

Facts are facts science has proven changes in brain pre sleep its well supported by research. But this isnt about facts its about a audiophile wanting others to agree that his new purchase is OK.

Early mornings are great.  I'm an early riser and have a nice collection of headphones if I want to pump up the volume a little.

But, early morning hours ARE great times to listen. Especially Sunday morning. On week days not so much, it’s light already and the hustle and bustle of a workday has already begun. You must be a late sleeper.