System sounds different on different days?

caesar · Feb 7, 2011

To celebrate the Chinese New year, I went to my favorite Chinese restaurant. The pot stickers there are the best in town already, but today they were especially delicious. I know the chef, and the recipe is the same and the ingredients are always the freshest. So was it me and my taste buds, or was the pork fresher or better tasting, or were the ingredients slightly better than usual?

Coming back to systems, show attendees always talk about the systems sounding better later in the show. My system always sounds GREAT, but some days my system sounds AMAZING. Is it me? Am I more relaxed or better able to focus? Or is it, as some claim, the electricity "quieter", or is it something has settled/ "unsettled", or yet something else?

Johnny Vinyl · Feb 7, 2011

There was a discussion about this in another thread, although I can't remember which one. I am firmly in the camp of assigning it to how one feels, as opposed to equipment playing a role. Mood plays a huge factor IMO, as does being relaxed, and having an open mind. That, combined with some proper lighting, and perhaps a beverage of choice , are the reasons that some days my system rocks more than normal.

fas42 · Feb 7, 2011

I am firmly in the camp of assigning it to how one feels, as opposed to equipment playing a role.

And I am firmly in the other camp ...

When you say amazing, it it that the sound is "cleaner", has more life, seems to have separated even more than usual from the speakers, is able to go louder without starting to irritate, all these sort of things?

Frank

JackD201 · Feb 7, 2011

Seeing as my voltage regulation isn't in yet, I get my system sounding different at different times of the day.

But mostly it's just fine

Gregadd · Feb 7, 2011

Humidity and temperature also play a role. My system sounds best on cold winter nights.

naturephoto1 · Feb 7, 2011

You may also want to check the volume of the system and monitor that since that can most definitely have an affect on the over all sound as well as giving the equipment enough time to warm up to reach their optimum performance.

Rich

Old Listener · Feb 7, 2011

> System sounds different on different days?

caesar said:
To celebrate the Chinese New year, I went to my favorite Chinese restaurant. The pot stickers there are the best in town already, but today they were especially delicious. ... So was it me and my taste buds, or was the pork fresher or better tasting, or were the ingredients slightly better than usual?

Of course, things taste different on different visits. Recordings sound different on different occasions. All sorts of things determine how good a particular piece of music sounds to me when I play it. How fresh is it for me? (How long since I last heard it?) How does it fit my mood now?

There can be physical causes for a difference in my reaction. 40+ years ago, I measured background sound levels in my apartment. The 1am sound level was 20 dB lower than the daytime level.

Bill

caesar · Feb 8, 2011

Old Listener said:
> System sounds different on different days?

Of course, things taste different on different visits. Recordings sound different on different occasions. All sorts of things determine how good a particular piece of music sounds to me when I play it. How fresh is it for me? (How long since I last heard it?) How does it fit my mood now?

There can be physical causes for a difference in my reaction. 40+ years ago, I measured background sound levels in my apartment. The 1am sound level was 20 dB lower than the daytime level.

Bill

Yes, there certainly are a lot of factors out there that can have an impact. I have seen some bands play a dozen times or so. They sound different (in a minor way) every time. I always wonder - is it me or is it them?

To me a lot of the emotion of the artist or the performance is conveyed by the pauses between the notes. If I can connext with the artist, I perceive the pauses better and connect better. So yes, it seems that our perception, our energy, our ability to focus as well as ambient noise levels, equipment noise levels, etc., all play a part.

Mike Lavigne · Feb 8, 2011

no, it does not sound different on different days, except that i recently discovered that my isolation footers 'settled' on my heavier components. about every 6 weeks they need to be removed and 'agitated' to retain the 'action' for ultimate isolation.

i do have the Equi=tech whole power grid isolation transformer so i get 'late-night' power all the time. and HVAC so my humidity and temp are constant.

certainly my moods vary; so sometimes i want the simplicty of my music server, instead of vinyl or tape. my perspective on the music changes and so my concentration level and emotional response.

when something sounds 'off' in the system it's because there is a problem. with 5 arms and cartridges, and a tubed phono stage, there are components which do change over time and require some tweaking. so you do need to stay on your toes and be open to the system having issues which may need adjustment. however; it is very much the exception that these need attention, and it's not like they go back and forth from bad to good and back again. with multiple sources there is always the oportunity to compare and notice changes in one source.

JHM · Feb 8, 2011

When something sounds "off," I use the Cardas/Ayre Burn-In and System Enhancement CD.

hifidelity1 · Feb 8, 2011

As of late when find something is off, it's mostly due to mood or sinuses which at times I just dont listen, because it makes my tweakeritus act up! (lol)

Bruce B · Feb 8, 2011

Well I've narrowed down to when my system is off. It's usually when I'm handed some local metal band's files to master!

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System sounds different on different days?

caesar

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Johnny Vinyl

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fas42

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JackD201

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Gregadd

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naturephoto1

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Old Listener

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caesar

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Mike Lavigne

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Bruce B

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