2. misc-audio
  3. 177356-2092

What is this term 'analytical' ?

I see this routinely in reviews & comments and so do you:

It’s too analytical. It’s so analytical that it’s not musical. Etc.

What does this mean? You can actually hear stuff? You picture math problems on a chalkboard? A shrink’s couch?

Isn’t the entire point of this hobby to hear music clearly? But apparently: not too clearly?

128x128zufan

Showing 4 responses by cd318

cd318
2,636 posts
 

A boosted treble/high frequency response giving the impression of detail at the expense of timbre and tonal contrasts.

It’s an old trick that often succeeds in gaining the listener’s attention.

Hi-Fi journalism is littered with such anecdotes as the following, " I’ve heard this track countless times but I’ve never noticed X or Y before."

 

The only place you might need this elevated response is in monitoring where you want to put a spotlight on possible issues especially in the so called presence/brilliance bands up to 9 kHz.

It is generally agreed that the industry favourite Sony MDR 7506 headphones employ this frequency response for exactly that purpose.

In domestic audio its a sure fire way to discover the dreaded listener fatigue.

 

cd318
2,636 posts
 

@tomcy6

Let me add, all the notes and details are there, they just don’t connect with you emotionally.

 

Yes, I’ve experienced this a few times at shows.

A quite strange experience.

Something is wrong, or something is missing.

In either case you’re not immediately sure what that might be.

 

cd318
2,636 posts
 

@rja 

"Analytical" is something I’ve been fighting ever since I got into this stupid hobby.

The arrival of "Digital" made things worse.

 

 

I felt the same way for a very long time. Always looking for a particular kind of elusive sound - warm, analogue, organic, seductive, human, lacking grain etc.

 

Nowadays, I have gained considerable respect for digital, especially for its temporal qualities.

However, it's nothing less than a tragedy that we have ended up with decades of recordings that have been dynamically ruined because of the so called loudness wars.

 

This is akin to putting a 55kph limiter on a Ferrari. Now even if most of their customers wanted such a thing, would Ferrari ever do it?

cd318
2,636 posts
 

@edcyn 

How 'bout we start using a new term -- convincing. Does the sound fool you into momentarily believing there's no longer an electro-mechanical intermediary between you and the music?

 

What a brilliant suggestion!  'Convincing' - I love it.

 

On a good day, with a good recording I'd give my system an 8.

Otherwise we're talking 5 or 6.

 

The only system I heard that got near to what you're describing was a vinyl / tube system playing some 50s jazz LP through the Avantgarde Trios.

I should have stayed and listened longer, but it seemed so outlandishly out of my reach back then that I quickly dismissed it as an unreachable fantasy that might become uncomfortable if I became too familiar. 

Many years later I'd now love to revisit that system to see if it could do the same with other material.

Perhaps someone with more experience of the Trios could chime in?

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