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  3. 129868-1601

Glare on Choral recordings, classical vocals

Dear all,

I'm hoping for some clarity on an issue of the quality of choral vocals in digital recordings. It's either my system or the recordings. There is a glare and harshness in the crescendos, and I wonder if it's natural room clipping in the studio or cathedrals in which they are recorded (the delay in some of these spaces can lead to a natural harshness and smearing of the sound), or if I have poor setup in terms of the DAC and/ or the preamp. I use a B&K PRO-10MC and a Schiit Bifrost Multibit. This setup has resolved any issues with digital glare except in the domain of choral music. Do I have to suck it up and consider upgrading to the Gungnir or another device? Should I consider a tubed preamp, maybe the Schiit Freya?

The problem is far less noticeable on vinyl, but most of my choral collection is in the digital domain. 

I've always had problems with the Tallis Scholars recordings on the Gimell label, which are almost always recorded in cathedrals. However, I did listen once to a Tallis Scholars CD on a dealer's rig with a Conrad-Johnson tube pre and Totem Model 1 Signatures, and there seemed to be much better resolution, though this was 20 years ago and I think my younger self was just blown away by the sound in general.

I've noticed that audiophiles and reviewers seldom write about choral music. Is it because they don't like choral music, or is it because it is just really difficult to record choirs well, therefore making choral music a poor choice to show off a system?

Any choral music-loving audiophiles care to comment on their experiences and solutions? 
 
Many thanks,


Paul
paulburnett

Showing 2 responses by dweller

dweller's avatar
dweller
3,831 posts
 
This could be a room "mode" which is sympathetic to the frequency of the vocals. In English, this means that the sound coming out of your speakers may start to echo, or resonate, causing the blurring effect.
Try walking around your room clapping you hands and listening for echos. If found, place some damping material on one of the opposing walls to kill the echo. Keep at it until all echos are eliminated.

Another cause could be improperly designed ICs or speaker wire. Cheap speaker wire (actually, the insulation or "dielectric") will accumulate electrical charge and at some point release it back into the conductor. This will distort the signal going to your speakers and you will hear it.
Obviously this is more likely to happen in loud passages like crescendos.  
dweller's avatar
dweller
3,831 posts
 
More thoughts on causes of glare: Could be due to an imperfect crossover configuration. I remember reading a review of a speaker (can't remember which one) where the author stated the crossover points were at 200 hz and 2000 hz. He stated these were close to ideal as they did not affect the vocal range. An improperly designed crossover (crossover point within the vocal range) can have different drivers producing the same frequency causing IM distortion. Check your speaker's specs.

Another consideration is the composition itself. Composers like to "reinforce" the vocals with instruments of similar timbre (e.g. violins).
This could give the impression of glare when it might just be poor composition or the inability of the speaker to precisely delineate the two sources.
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