BSG Technologies Qol signal ...advertised in TAS,,what is it ?

[Husk]

Qol

Steve, Glad you were able to hear it. It certainly seems like there are a lot of mixed views on this product. I was thinking about ordering one, but I believe now I will sit tight and see how all this plays out.

 

[Steve Williams]

I was sitting in the 2nd row just behind the listening position. My buddy was in the sweet spot holding the remote. I closed my eyes during the music as I kept asking myself when is he going to hit the remote. I opened my eyes only to find him doing just that.

 

[treitz3]

I was sitting in the 2nd row just behind the listening position. My buddy was in the sweet spot holding the remote.

With regards to the listening position you were in, that's not an optimal spot to be listening and could explain why no change was detected from you. There are bodies, heads and chairs in front of you that block, reflect and bounce sound waves everywhere. At home, I would venture [and hope] that this is not the case. A good example would be the change in the sound scape by just removing one's eyeglasses.

I do have to ask you this, was it on a two channel system or a monaural?

 

[Steve Williams]

Tretz

as I said, this is where I started off listening and my ears were merely inches behind those of my friend. Hearing little if anything I moved everywhere including up front. As I stated, these are my aural findings and YMMV

FWIW I have a 2 channel system

http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showt...-Of-Steve-Williams&p=3412&viewfull=1#post3412

 

[treitz3]

Hello, Steve. Please allow me to clarify. I was wondering if the system you heard at the show that had the Qol signal was in stereo or monaural. I apologize for any confusion. Since you had been up in the front row for your observations [and I would assume in the listening position] with no detectable change, it makes me wonder why a 4K price tag is associated with it. There was obviously quite a change in the oscilloscope's reading but this was on a monaural signal, hence the question.

 

[Steve Williams]

Treitz

I wish I knew but the comment made by the rep was mono but just not certain what he played for us.

Again, I can give my comments and yes I am aware of the oscilloscope changes

All I can say is that for $4K and "my" ears it just didn't give me that "aahhhh" effect

Rather "I don't get it effect"

 

[treitz3]

Fair enough, Steve. Thank you.



Enjoy the music.

 

[Steve Williams]

BTW speaking of oscilloscopes, the most impressive demo I saw at the show was given by Caelin of Shunyata Research using an older cable of his against his newer and much less expensive cable employing the new Z-ton technology. He was able to clearly demonstrate changes on the scope that showed the new cable that was less money to be superior

 

[DEV]

With regards to the listening position you were in, that's not an optimal spot to be listening and could explain why no change was detected from you. There are bodies, heads and chairs in front of you that block, reflect and bounce sound waves everywhere. At home, I would venture [and hope] that this is not the case. A good example would be the change in the sound scape by just removing one's eyeglasses.

I do have to ask you this, was it on a two channel system or a monaural?

Hi Trtz,

I would have to disagree with your statement above, with all the chatter in relation to this product I don't believe it should matter where you are sitting nor standing the changes "any" should be obvious. They would be in my system anyways.

 

[treitz3]

I finally had a chance to hear this unit today and I was thoroughly impressed with what it does. So much, in fact, that I will be getting one for my rig. I hate the fact that I will be adding another component into the chain but it took an average sounding 100K rig and catapulted it into a stellar rig on a completely different level of musical reproduction. The change was definitely not subtle.

 

[treitz3]

Would a potential side effect occur for poor recordings that are too hot/sibilance/reverb/delay-echo/etc, or even good recording that have certain ambiance or audio effects?
By side effect I mean that these become more emphasized or even unnatural.

There was nothing unnatural or gimmicky sounding about this unit and I didn't notice anything that became more emphasized. Just an incredible enhancement of the sound scape.

Is this just a rehash of Carver's auto-correlation?

Nowhere even remotely close.

It makes me wonder if the demo that Steve and his friends had was even hooked up or if it wasn't hooked up correctly. The differences were outstanding to me and most definitely not a subtle change either.

 

[Bruce B]

There was nothing unnatural or gimmicky sounding about this unit and I didn't notice anything that became more emphasized. Just an incredible enhancement of the sound scape.
It makes me wonder if the demo that Steve and his friends had was even hooked up or if it wasn't hooked up correctly. The differences were outstanding to me and most definitely not a subtle change either.

I had an extensive demo here in the mastering room. The effect is not subtle and is quite an exaggeration of the sound field, and unnaturally so!

I could get the same exact effect and do an A/B comparison with another member of the PNW Audio society. We both felt that my console, with the variablility of the effect, was much better.

 

[treitz3]

Hello Bruce, I take it that it must be system dependent then. On the Dynaudio speakers I heard them on, I heard no exaggeration of the sound field and with the unit bypassed it sounded rather bad. With it engaged, there was a considerable improvement on many aspects of the reproduction. They come with a 30 day money back deal so if I do not like how it reacts in my rig or if I hear anything like you describe, I will simply return it.

I only had about an hour and a half to audition this unit but it was enough to leave with a favorable impression, at least with that rig. It may be a completely different scenario in my rig. What are you referring too when you speak of your console, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Steve Williams]

Hello Bruce, I take it that it must be system dependent then. On the Dynaudio speakers I heard them on, I heard no exaggeration of the sound field and with the unit bypassed it sounded rather bad. With it engaged, there was a considerable improvement on many aspects of the reproduction. They come with a 30 day money back deal so if I do not like how it reacts in my rig or if I hear anything like you describe, I will simply return it.

I only had about an hour and a half to audition this unit but it was enough to leave with a favorable impression, at least with that rig. It may be a completely different scenario in my rig. What are you referring too when you speak of your console, if you don't mind me asking?

I was simply underwhelmed by the CES demo

 

[Bruce B]

What are you referring too when you speak of your console, if you don't mind me asking?

Rupert Neve Mastering console

 

[DEV]

On the Dynaudio speakers I heard them on, I heard no exaggeration of the sound field and with the unit bypassed it sounded rather bad. With it engaged, there was a considerable improvement on many aspects of the reproduction.

Is this the 100K system you refered to prior? What exactly did the system consist of?

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Hello Bruce, I take it that it must be system dependent then. On the Dynaudio speakers I heard them on, I heard no exaggeration of the sound field and with the unit bypassed it sounded rather bad.

Why should this be? i would be more comfortable with a good recording in a good setup.

 

[treitz3]

The main components of the system had Dynaudio speakers [around 16K, don't know the model#], an Esoteric SACD/CD player [around 13K], some kind of Esoteric preamplifier [didn't ask] and two mono block tube amps with 4 KT120 power tubes per side and I believe that the IC's were Nordost. I wish I had more specifics and I might be able to provide you with more information later on. It wasn't really a good sounding setup with the Qol disengaged and the rig I have at the house rose to a completely different level of audio reproduction in comparison. With the Qol on, the system was now up to par and everything sounded much nicer. We listened to some audiophile recordings, Jazz, country and some of the newer releases like Adele live in concert and with both the familiar and unfamiliar, the Qol sounded great.

Every time we switched it off, the life just got sucked out of the system. Details were lost, the bass decreased, the sound stage didn't necessarily collapse but it sure did shrink considerably. It seemed as if the decay and natural roll off times were shortened and it just plain sounded rather bland. The Dynaudio's do not image as well as my speakers, so I could not really tell if the spatial locational cues were affected at all but this will be a very important test for it when it comes to my rig. If it messes at all with the imaging, it's out the door. For what the Dynaudio's do offer with the imaging aspects, I could not detect any unnatural imaging artifacts, only a nice enhancement thereof.

 

[Husk]

Qol

Treitz3, Here is the comparison I would like to see commented on. When you say you can hear a big SQ diff when you engage and disengage, I can understand that. The comparison is that I would like to see commented on is a back and forth SQ comparison of the engaged SQ compared to removing the unit all together.

 

[DEV]

I gotta say I'm VERY skeptical!

I've read having it in your set-up within and by switching it off really isn't being bi-passed completly at all and could be doing some weird negative things to your over all sound still being in the mix so turning it on only enhances what ever it is doing. The only way would to be really know your own system's sound and incert it and then make notes of what you hear to be different playing numerous pces of music and then completly remove it.

Numerous indiviuals whom I know who have heard it said they wouldn't buy one but non have actually heard it in their own system.

I await for someone to do this and let us know, will be interesting.