Videos of Acoustically-Coupled Audio Recordings
- Thread starter Ron Resnick
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A couple more data points, from tonight’s listening session, powered by only 1.25 Watts from a custom one-of-a-kind Type 46 SET amplifier:
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No room room treatments at all.
Always, in all ways!
Just a little proof for the doubters.
Imagine how much money I can save someone who is going to embark on a custom dedicated room project.
For all that hit the IGNORE button, call me I can help you get good honest sound without all the trappings of the audiophile world.
I also found it difficult. It is easier to notice differences in speakers than these types of differences, at least on a recording, even with 300$ microphones.
Yeah fancy recording equipment doesn't always result in good recordings. I'd like to think the vids I posted show clear differences tho..
With the Denon vs McIntosh video, I can't say I hear a significant difference that I could not attribute to "expectation" resulting from switching between the two segments of the video. I like the other video because there is a seamless switch from one equipment to the other.
I prefer both Carlos' and Ron's video to Fremer's by a distance. Fremer does have clarity and dynamic ranger but if Carlos replaced his Lampi DSD dac (which is the equivalent of Lampi 4) with an optimized DHT Lampi it would get there is my gut.
Both are way more natural. There is an axis of natural and artificial sound, and there is an axis of resolution. It is better to move from lesser res to higher res along the axis of natural sound rather than start with artificial sound. It is difficult to sit through the track on the big wilson Dartzeel, the first note from the piano is bad timbre, while on the smaller speakers and on Ron's the whole track is easily sat through and enjoyed.
The timing, rythm, tone, is all quite better than Fremer's. Ron's seems a bit too big compared to Carlos'. There are some obvious differences in bass, dispersion style, and balance between the two. On coherence it is Carlos > Ron > Fremer. I like Ron's grounded sound.
Both are way more natural. There is an axis of natural and artificial sound, and there is an axis of resolution. It is better to move from lesser res to higher res along the axis of natural sound rather than start with artificial sound. It is difficult to sit through the track on the big wilson Dartzeel, the first note from the piano is bad timbre, while on the smaller speakers and on Ron's the whole track is easily sat through and enjoyed.
The timing, rythm, tone, is all quite better than Fremer's. Ron's seems a bit too big compared to Carlos'. There are some obvious differences in bass, dispersion style, and balance between the two. On coherence it is Carlos > Ron > Fremer. I like Ron's grounded sound.
A few clarifications:
1) My LampizatOr DSD-Only Dac is not the equivalent of a Lampi 4. It was was maxed out by Lukas and his team in 2021, details can be found on this site. I would not change a thing with it or exchange it for any other LampizatOr dac as it sounds phenomenal to me.
2) Unlike every other “tube” dac, which tack on a tube stage on the output stage of a solid-state dac, the ValveDac is the only dac in the world where the tubes are actually used in the conversion process.
3) These two recordings are of one of my full-range 8” driver installed in a back-horn loaded cabinet. The full range speakers are augmented by a pair of subwoofers crossed at 80Hz.
4) Considering the sound represented on these two videos is of 8” drivers being driven by only 1.25 Watts for the full range drivers and 25 Watts for the subs, this is quiet telling in the comparison to the twin-tower Gryphon Pedragons and the multi drivers Wilson Chronosonic XVX, driven by the 650 watts per channel VTL Siegfried and 465 watts per channel Dartzeel NHB-468 amps. Some food for thought.
5) In the room, I prefer the ValveDac over the LampizatOr as the vocals just sound like a real woman in the room more than I have heard before, well my Whammerdyne and Tron Electric SET amplifiers, among others, also produce ghost like images.
6) The haphazardly arranged equipment is my listening space and has never bothered me, and apparently doesn’t bother Michael Fremer of his room, but it has certainly bother others throughout the year. I stick to my belief that engineered, custom bespoke room builds and room treatments are more about vanity than substance. At the end of the day it is ONLY the results that matter.
7) Successful assembling a world class music playback system is like cooking and the results are not as much about the ingredients or quality/cost/level-of-prestige of the equipment, but more to do with the chef and the person in charge. I have not used a professional set-up person; these system are moved around and repositioned by me frequently, within a few minutes. You can not compensate for knowledge.
8) Maybe next time I will put up a video of the same song with my custom Open Baffle based on Fertin silver voice-coil field-coil drivers or a video of the big system, based on the Wisdom Audio Adrenaline Rush speakers, augmented on the low frequencies by the Wilson Audio WAMM Series VII subwoofer towers and on the high frequencies by the Acapella Audio ION TW-1S plasma super-tweeters, with 1,400 watts per channel of amplification for comparisons.
9) Since Jay from Jay’s Audio Lab is a consultant and we have an Elliot out there selling and giving advice, I have made a decision to offer my knowledge for consulting services. Please PM me if you want a consultation.
10) I have reached a point where I have too much equipment for my own good and enjoyment. I will be parting with some of my rare, unique and one-of-a-kind components, but I will not be selling them individually. I will offer up for sale, to interested parties, complete curated systems from my collection that include everything, cables and accessories. The sale will include support in installation and set-up at the customer’s home so that no paid set-up professionals are required. PM if you are interested. These are special curated systems that are not available elsewhere and will be one’s in the lifetime end game acquisitions, of course unless you wish to keep chasing big yellow buses. But if all you want to do is listen to and enjoy music reproduced with exceptional quality then this will meet and exceed the intent and desire.
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To be determined with the prospective user of my service. It may be included in the cost of the purchase if someone buys one of my curated complete systems. I got tired of others with very little knowledge offering their service. No need for them as I can provide proof of the finish product upfront, in my home, in a non-treated environment.
Most " advice " is given from either an ego standpoint or a commercial one in high end audio.
Sounds great! Perhaps @Ron Resnick can record the same track?
Listen to Truly by Lori Lieberman on Qobuz https://open.qobuz.com/track/157236737
Ron has recorded this track through his favorite media, analog vinyl LP:
Perhaps Ron will rerecord it from a digital source like Qobuz as you have suggested, but I’m afraid that these days Ron is too busy chasing his tail trying to address in-room frequency response measurements with various electronic and physical room treatments; this is the wrong approach if you ask me. That is quite ironic as Ron used to preach to me and others that measurements didn’t matter to him and that he didn’t care about measurements, but he now appears to be all consumed with them. If he gets in touch and hires me as his sound consultant, I would certainly solve his problems and relieve him of all his headaches.
When I compared your YT vid to my Tidal playback, yours won! However I then realised its a 24/192 track and Tidal only has the 16/44.1. Playing the Qobuz 24/192 fixed things.
I was streaming the Tidal 16/44.1 track when I recorded those videos. The higher resolution source file 24/192 track from Qobuz should make a positive difference. I do not subscribe to Qobuz or buy their files. Please share a video of your system playing back the 24/192KHz source file. Those of us that do not do Qobuz would all like to listen to what the higher resolution track sounds like in comparison to the Tidal 16/44.1KHz track for this recording since you say that it “fixed things”, whatever that means, care to elaborate?
Andro, why not just simply post a video of your system playing back the same track, Lori Lieberman "Truly"? We can compare the sound of your system, over YouTube, to Michael Fremer’s video and to others posted on this thread, like Ron’s video.
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