Sibilance


Anyone else troubled by sibilance on Patricia Barber(IMPEX, 1STEP)) otherwise wonderful recording "NIGHTCLUB"?

128x128jw944ts

I have the first Trinity Sessions vinyl I bought in the 1980s. It has issues.  The recording engineer re-released this record a few years ago and cleaned up a lot of the sibliance in the recordings. Some would argue art is not without its flaws but I enjoy the newer version more than the old one. 

My benchmark for this is Cowboy Junkies Trinity Sessions.  I’ve tried both an AT Art 9XI and a Koetsu Rosewood and a wide range of VTA setting with little change. I found changing cartridge loading helped the most. 

I have this LP and zero nasties in a sibilance. Most likely a product of your setup. 

I bought this record about six weeks ago, and changed amps since then. Listened to it again all the way through this Sunday. No sibilance with either Raven Osprey or Rogers EHF-200MK2.

On the other hand, if I recall correctly, yours is not the first mention of sibilance on Barbour LPs. So in this case, it might be the LP. Do you hear sibilance with other vocalists? I also doubt Patricia gets up to 3-4KHz ( per Mijo) in her vocal range.

@jw944ts This is a very common problem which affects the majority of systems occurring with female voices, violins and woodwinds. Stuff with a lot of output in the 3-4 kHz region. The BBC developed the BBC or Gundry dip to handle this problem. It attenuates the frequency response in this region I believe it is by 3 dB but I could be wrong. It is in this region that our hearing is most sensitive and where many rooms are most active! Speakers that disperse widely and rooms that are not well treated are by far the most common protagonists. Is it possible that a recording could be the culprit? Yes, but highly unlikely. It is also possible that a frequency response aberration in the speakers themselves is the problem but good designers are very aware of this problem and try to avoid it.  Many people do not even realize they have a problem and think this is the way these instruments sound! 

You can buy Acoustic Foam Tile online for peanuts and experiment taping it up on walls in various locations before you spend a lot on room treatments. Many people will initially think a properly treated room sounds dull. In relation to what they are use to listening to it is relatively dull. The high frequencies are well localized instead of being blasted around the room by one reflection after another.

Assuming you are talking about a record, you might try adjusting the VTA of your tonearm.  Lowering the back of the tonearm a small amount might tame that sibilance.