Very few musicians hear the way we think. I was around a lot of them back in the 70’s, classical acoustic instruments mostly. Whole lot of them. They all need a 440 tuning fork to tune properly. Or if not a tuning fork then some other reference like a piano. Point being, they listen just like we do: by comparison.
Only one out of all the probably hundreds I saw had "perfect pitch" the ability to know when she was hearing 440 or whatever. I know she did, because someone pulled out a tuning fork one time and from across the room she called out the frequency and named the note.
Changing the speed on a record does more than change the frequency. Each note from each instrument is accompanied by its own individual harmonic signature or timbral structure. Whatever you want to call it, it is unique to that particular instrument. This structure is harmonic in nature. So when you play something at a different speed it shifts everything up equally. Something that never happens in nature. In the real world when you play a different note, or shift the same note up (sharp) or down (flat) it shifts not only the fundamental frequency but the whole harmonic structure along with it.
See, this idea of "tone" is a lot more complex than we give it credit for. You can’t just turn a tone control up or down, the result will be as artificial as playing the record too fast. This is why it is possible to have a speaker with obvious tonal colorations that might sound better than one without them- if it nevertheless gets the harmonic structure right our ears forgive it. Unless we are the kind of listener for whom one thing overrides the other.
Which is why it is kind of goofy to be asking these questions the way people do. Nobody but you knows how important these things are to you. Are you building your system for some imaginary musician who might by chance drop by some day, in the hope of impressing them? Or are you building it for your own enjoyment, you and your family and friends?
Anyway, you are right to be asking about the system and not doing like most and asking about the speakers. Usually when people think of tone they think of speakers. But put any component (including your speakers) on something like Townshend Pods that eliminates a lot of this tone-distorting harmonic ringing so many components are prone to, and then you will hear how much tone is messed up even by things like a DAC or amp. It is really quite staggering how many things are messed up this way. And yet we still somehow manage to enjoy listening.
Only one out of all the probably hundreds I saw had "perfect pitch" the ability to know when she was hearing 440 or whatever. I know she did, because someone pulled out a tuning fork one time and from across the room she called out the frequency and named the note.
Changing the speed on a record does more than change the frequency. Each note from each instrument is accompanied by its own individual harmonic signature or timbral structure. Whatever you want to call it, it is unique to that particular instrument. This structure is harmonic in nature. So when you play something at a different speed it shifts everything up equally. Something that never happens in nature. In the real world when you play a different note, or shift the same note up (sharp) or down (flat) it shifts not only the fundamental frequency but the whole harmonic structure along with it.
See, this idea of "tone" is a lot more complex than we give it credit for. You can’t just turn a tone control up or down, the result will be as artificial as playing the record too fast. This is why it is possible to have a speaker with obvious tonal colorations that might sound better than one without them- if it nevertheless gets the harmonic structure right our ears forgive it. Unless we are the kind of listener for whom one thing overrides the other.
Which is why it is kind of goofy to be asking these questions the way people do. Nobody but you knows how important these things are to you. Are you building your system for some imaginary musician who might by chance drop by some day, in the hope of impressing them? Or are you building it for your own enjoyment, you and your family and friends?
Anyway, you are right to be asking about the system and not doing like most and asking about the speakers. Usually when people think of tone they think of speakers. But put any component (including your speakers) on something like Townshend Pods that eliminates a lot of this tone-distorting harmonic ringing so many components are prone to, and then you will hear how much tone is messed up even by things like a DAC or amp. It is really quite staggering how many things are messed up this way. And yet we still somehow manage to enjoy listening.