There have always been some recordings on which high dynamic peaks in the high frequencies sounded slightly distorted on my system. The best example are some of Adele's vocals on the Live in Royal Albert Hall Blu Ray, and the trumpet on Abou Khalil's "Blue Camel" (e.g. 10 seconds into the opening track "Sahara"). I always assumed this was a recording issue and did not think much off it.
So a few weeks ago I inserted 6 new Shunyata Anaconda Zitron PCs into my system, and while I was originally disappointed about the impact, I now have the impression my system is really "opening up", with bigger soundstage, more detail and so on. So far so good.
However, I also have the impression the problem of the distortions I experienced has gotten a lot worse. Almost like something that was always there is now under the microscope. In fact, it has become so annoying Adele's Blue Ray has become almost unlistenable, and there are other recordings where I now seem to be having the same (albeit not as bad problem). Luckily, most CD are just fine.
When I played Abou Khalis yesterday the problem was so bad (a slight screech at peak levels - I have experienced "digital clipping" once, which was somewhat similar but worse) I finally decided to isolate the problem and see if I had a system issue.
So first, I changed from playing the ripped track from my server to playing the original CD in my CD player. Same problem, which eliminates the digital source.
Second, since the trumpet is largely mixed to the left channel, which is where the distortion is audible, I changed speaker channel. Same problem on my other speaker - not a speaker problem.
Third, I play the track trough my MSB DAC and ARC Ref 5SE preamp and Jungson Mono's. So I routed the left channel through the center channel of my system, which does D/A conversion and volume control in my Trinnov processor, and has a build in poweramp. Same problem, which rules out the poweramp, DAC and preamp.
Only thing I did not change was cabling and my P5 powerconditioners, but I'd be shocked if this had anything to do with it. The logical conclusions appears to be these distortions are on the recordings, and my system has now become so transparent with the new Shunyata cabling, it has become more audible.
Would you agree with this conclusion? Anything I am missing? Any other thoughts.
Does anyone have the Abou-Khalis recording on a highly resolving system, experiencing the same problem? If anyone wants to volunteer to play the track on their system, give me PM - may be I can get you the file through some fileshare app (never exchanged large files before, but I'm sure this can be done easily).
Anyone find Adele's blue ray distorted in the high vocal range?
I'm very puzzled by this. The Abou Khalil track is so bad, I cannot imagine a bona fide label (Enja) would publish it with this type of distortion on the mix.
So a few weeks ago I inserted 6 new Shunyata Anaconda Zitron PCs into my system, and while I was originally disappointed about the impact, I now have the impression my system is really "opening up", with bigger soundstage, more detail and so on. So far so good.
However, I also have the impression the problem of the distortions I experienced has gotten a lot worse. Almost like something that was always there is now under the microscope. In fact, it has become so annoying Adele's Blue Ray has become almost unlistenable, and there are other recordings where I now seem to be having the same (albeit not as bad problem). Luckily, most CD are just fine.
When I played Abou Khalis yesterday the problem was so bad (a slight screech at peak levels - I have experienced "digital clipping" once, which was somewhat similar but worse) I finally decided to isolate the problem and see if I had a system issue.
So first, I changed from playing the ripped track from my server to playing the original CD in my CD player. Same problem, which eliminates the digital source.
Second, since the trumpet is largely mixed to the left channel, which is where the distortion is audible, I changed speaker channel. Same problem on my other speaker - not a speaker problem.
Third, I play the track trough my MSB DAC and ARC Ref 5SE preamp and Jungson Mono's. So I routed the left channel through the center channel of my system, which does D/A conversion and volume control in my Trinnov processor, and has a build in poweramp. Same problem, which rules out the poweramp, DAC and preamp.
Only thing I did not change was cabling and my P5 powerconditioners, but I'd be shocked if this had anything to do with it. The logical conclusions appears to be these distortions are on the recordings, and my system has now become so transparent with the new Shunyata cabling, it has become more audible.
Would you agree with this conclusion? Anything I am missing? Any other thoughts.
Does anyone have the Abou-Khalis recording on a highly resolving system, experiencing the same problem? If anyone wants to volunteer to play the track on their system, give me PM - may be I can get you the file through some fileshare app (never exchanged large files before, but I'm sure this can be done easily).
Anyone find Adele's blue ray distorted in the high vocal range?
I'm very puzzled by this. The Abou Khalil track is so bad, I cannot imagine a bona fide label (Enja) would publish it with this type of distortion on the mix.
. anyway, the more important issue is, does it sound distorted on your system as well?
