Does Every Track Sound Great on Your System?


How do you know if it is the recording or your system?

By way of example with a focus on bass, for some songs I like the amount of bass, then another song I feel like it needs more bass to hit harder, and then another song I feel like there is too much bass and it is boomy. Does that ever happen to you? I feel like I am getting the treble sorted out, but going back and forth on the bass.

Can anyone listen to the first 20 second of the song Temptation by Diana Krall from the Girl In The Other Room album and let me know if there is a bass component that is a bit much? The vocals sound good so no issue there.

Thanks.

12many

Yes a consistent frequency response across different songs is a challenge.  You have two choices.  Optimize the bass for each song or shoot for an average that sounds best for most and live with it.  

Diana Krall's Temptation sounded OK acoustically) without any adjustments on my system.  While playing Almost Blue the bass wasn't as prominent but still withing my limits of enjoyment. 

What helped me was lowering the crossover frequency of my subs and moving them away from the wall.

Do you have a sub, or a method to adjust bass? Every room and setup is unique, so finding "0" is always a bit of a compromise unless you adjust on the fly. Once in a while I adjust for flyers, but usually just let them play out. If that’s a song you listen to often, you can try some bass reduction, move your listening position a bit, or even pull the speakers out from the walls some.

Hard to say since it’s relative to what you like and how your system sounds but it sounds good on mine.  Definitely bass presence but not too much.  There are a few songs that sound anemic on my system but that’s just the recording since others sound full.  I was just listening to an album that sounds “thin”, Van Halen 1984.  Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours sounds fantastic and is the sweet spot for how I like songs recorded.

Best to just enjoy the actual music.

SQ can vary listening  to different genre recording and media.

This is a good question. Over time folks struggle with their system and different recordings.

 

My first reaction is that you are listening to your system and not the music. You are focused on a couple parameters. I think this is probably because of your system, not be cause you are focusing on the wrong thing. When I sit down and listen to my system, I am instantly drawn to the music… I have to force myself to listen to the system. In a couple of earlier iterations my system stuck out and I was drawn to listen to it (and would get bored pretty quickly).

I have continually learned about what makes a system sound good. After fifty years, I am now of the mind that the real keys are overall tonal balance, midrange bloom (high resolution in the midrange), as well as rhythm and pace. Your observations strike me as those one would make with a system that is shy on midrange as well as rhythm and pace. Because instead of drawing you in to the intimacy and emotional content of the music you are drawn to the ends of the spectrum and their balance.

Typically if your system highlights the details you are drawn to the mastering techniques and venue instead of the content. This will make many recording sound off. My system emphasizes the midrange without overemphasizing the detail (it’s there, just not too obvious) and the rhythm and pace draws me in. Almost all albums sound great. There are some simple terrible recording, like early Yardbirds that sound terrible, well, because they sound like tin.