Videos of Acoustically-Coupled Audio Recordings

[Ron Resnick]

Just about any headphone is better

hopkins, Brad,

Why futz with headphones? Why not just plug the iPhone into a line level input on the big stereo? (Maybe it's my imagination but I feel like people are oddly resistant to do what seems to me to be a very obvious way to improve videos of audio comparison quality and learn more from the videos: replaying the recorded music from the video back on our own big stereo systems.)

 

[hopkins]

hopkins, Brad,

Why futz with headphones? Why not just plug the iPhone into a line level input on the big stereo? (Maybe it's my imagination but I feel like people are oddly resistant to do what seems to me to be a very obvious way to improve videos of audio comparison quality and learn more from the videos: replaying the recorded music from the video back on our own big stereo systems.)

When you do that you are adding all your room reverb to the recording, which is something you avoid with headphones.

There's a reason why professional recordings are usually made relatively close to the music source (even with a single mic).

Secondly, and this may be more controversial, but a speaker may add its own colorations/distortions, while it is easier to get a pretty neutral response from a decent headphone.

I prefer listening to music through my speakers than with headphones, but still use headphones as a reference for certain aspects of sound reproduction.

 

[Mike Lavigne]

hopkins, Brad,

Why futz with headphones? Why not just plug the iPhone into a line level input on the big stereo? (Maybe it's my imagination but I feel like people are oddly resistant to do what seems to me to be a very obvious way to improve videos of audio comparison quality and learn more from the videos: replaying the recorded music from the video back on our own big stereo systems.)

personally i don't like looking at a laptop, but hearing my big rig. it's off putting. i prefer the headphone + laptop video. the point is the joining of video and sound of different scales. my mind is less confused and hears better with headphones.

an alternative would be to eliminate the video, but most video's i prefer seeing when considering the lower resolution quality of video sound.

there could be multiple video types and maybe some material might work better on the big rig plus laptop video. but then there is the complication of connectivity with the laptop and big rig adding to the question.

just my personal comfort zone.

 

[Argonaut]

When you do that you are adding all your room reverb to the recording, which is something you avoid with headphones.

There's a reason why professional recordings are usually made relatively close to the music source (even with a single mic).

Secondly, and this may be more controversial, but a speaker may add its own colorations/distortions, while it is easier to get a pretty neutral response from a decent headphone.

I prefer listening to music through my speakers than with headphones, but still use headphones as a reference for certain aspects of sound reproduction.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ … also listening to such recordings merely via an iPhone / iPad or android equivalent inbuilt speakers makes very little sense imho.

 

[Rexp]

When you do that you are adding all your room reverb to the recording, which is something you avoid with headphones.

There's a reason why professional recordings are usually made relatively close to the music source (even with a single mic).

Secondly, and this may be more controversial, but a speaker may add its own colorations/distortions, while it is easier to get a pretty neutral response from a decent headphone.

I prefer listening to music through my speakers than with headphones, but still use headphones as a reference for certain aspects of sound reproduction.

I think Youtubers recommend listening with headphones because they don't want folks to listen on phone/laptop speakers not because headphone listening is inherently better than proper loudspeaker listening. Headphones don't in general offer the imaging capability of a good speaker set up.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Musica Nuda "Eleanor Rigby"

Shure MV88+ on tripod

 

[Ron Resnick]

Musica Nuda "Eleanor Rigby"

iPhone mic handheld

 

[Ron Resnick]

I think the MV88+ is superior to the MV88. I think the MV88+ thinning out/bleaching the sound a little bit, but not as much as did the MV88. The MV88+ is what we all should be doing these videos with.

I think on "Eleanor Rigby" the difference in resolution between the MV88+ and the iPhone mic is striking. In comparison I think the iPhone mic sounds like it was dropped in a bag of cotton before the recording began. My other feeling is that, on this track, the iPhone mic inaccurately and unrepresentatively warms up the tonal balance, and smoothes out the sound. On the other hand the MV 88+ is slightly thinning out the sound, making it sound, to me, like Boulder on Magico.

The sound on the videos from the MV88+ has a patina of digital dryness and a bit of an edge of sharpness compared to what I am hearing in the room. But, overall, I think it is superior to the iPhone mic and more representative, certainly of the resolution I'm hearing in the room.

I believe the MV88+ is the mic on which we should standardize.

 

[Rexp]

I think the MV88+ is superior to the MV88. MV88+ is what we all should be doing these videos with.

I think on "Eleanor Rigby" the difference in resolution between the MV88+ and the iPhone mic is striking. In comparison I think the iPhone mic sounds like it was dropped in a bag of cotton before the recording began. My other feeling is that, on this track, the iPhone mic inaccurately and unrepresentatively warms up the tonal balance, and smoothes out the sound.

The sound on the videos from the MV88+ has a patina of digital dryness and a bit of an edge of sharpness compared to what I am hearing in the room. But, overall, I think it is far superior to the iPhone mic and more representative, certainly of the resolution I'm hearing in the room.

I believe the MV88+ is the mic on which we should standardize.

You're gonna hate me for saying this but based on this video, I'd say the MV88+ is not as good as the Zoom IQ7. Why!? You ask, well the video sounds quite similar to what I hear when I play the Tidal/Qobuz version. Normally there is a bigger delta between an all analog source via Youtube versus my Tidal/Qobuz playback. With @morricab videos it is clearer when an analog source is playing versus a digital source.

 

[hopkins]

I think Youtubers recommend listening with headphones because they don't want folks to listen on phone/laptop speakers not because headphone listening is inherently better than proper loudspeaker listening. Headphones don't in general offer the imaging capability of a good speaker set up.

Headphones and speakers are two very different experiences. You get a purer sound with headphones since you have no room interaction and no interaction between the left and right channel, but you lose out on the sense of space. In general, I prefer listening to music with speakers, but I don't always have the option to do so. Also, I do use headphones as a reference to get an idea of how a track should sound in terms of tonality and instrument separation, for example. It's like a "reality check" (on those aspects only).

But when it comes specifically to recordings of speakers, if you want to know what it sounds like from the recording position with a single mic, you will have a more accurate picture with headphones.

Everyone can do what they are comfortable with, of course, and if headphone listening is going to take the fun out of it, then speakers are ok as well!

 

[Ron Resnick]

You're gonna hate me for saying this but based on this video, I'd say the MV88+ is not as good as the Zoom IQ7. Why!? You ask, well the video sounds quite similar to what I hear when I play the Tidal/Qobuz version. Normally there is a bigger delta between an all analog source via Youtube versus my Tidal/Qobuz playback. With @morricab videos it is clearer when an analog source is playing versus a digital source.

Fair enough!

I returned the Zoom iQ7 before I played with it. Putting the microphone on a mounting bracket separate from the iPhone lightning jack seals the deal for me.

 

[hopkins]

I think the MV88+ is superior to the MV88. I think the MV88+ thinning out/bleaching the sound a little bit, but not as much as did the MV88. The MV88+ is what we all should be doing these videos with.

I think on "Eleanor Rigby" the difference in resolution between the MV88+ and the iPhone mic is striking. In comparison I think the iPhone mic sounds like it was dropped in a bag of cotton before the recording began. My other feeling is that, on this track, the iPhone mic inaccurately and unrepresentatively warms up the tonal balance, and smoothes out the sound. On the other hand the MV 88+ is slightly thinning out the sound, making it sound, to me, like Boulder on Magico.

The sound on the videos from the MV88+ has a patina of digital dryness and a bit of an edge of sharpness compared to what I am hearing in the room. But, overall, I think it is superior to the iPhone mic and more representative, certainly of the resolution I'm hearing in the room.

I believe the MV88+ is the mic on which we should standardize.

Hard to compare the MV88+ with the MV88 since you had that channel imbalance problem with the MV88... Hard to compare as well with a Zoom IQ7 without hearing the same track recorded on the same speakers.

The recording with the MV88+ is very good, and much better than with your iPhone, no question about it.

You may want to try moving the mic a little closer to the speaker and see how that sounds. It seems like you are recording pretty far from the speakers (at the end of your room, judging from the pictures - is that where you sit ? Even so, the mic does not necessarily have to be in the listening position to get the best sound...).

 

[hopkins]

Normally there is a bigger delta between an all analog source via Youtube versus my Tidal/Qobuz playback.

Some LPs sound very much like their digital versions...I don't see how you could generalize.

 

[Blue58]

Fairly good representation of in room sound, however the iPhone mic is a little dry and doesn’t capture the juiciness. I actually prefer the iPhone mic to my Apogee mic.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Elton John Greatest Hits "Saturday Night's All Right For Fighting" (DCC Compact Classics)

Shure MV88+ on tripod

 

[Rexp]

Some LPs sound very much like their digital versions...I don't see how you could generalize.

True but with AAA recordings, I find I can usually spot the digital version.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Elton John Greatest Hits "Saturday Night's All Right For Fighting" (DCC Compact Classics)

iPhone mic handheld

 

[Ron Resnick]

On this Elton John track the tonal balance of the MV88+ sounds bright and hi-fi-ish compared to what I hear in the room.

On this track the tonal balance of the iPhone mic is representative of the tonal balance in the room.

Other than the tonal balance, I think the MV88+ sounds better in every way.

 

[hopkins]

On this Elton John track the tonal balance of the MV88+ sounds bright and hi-fi-ish compared to what I hear in the room.

On this track the tonal balance of the iPhone mic is representative of the tonal balance in the room.

Listening to the original track (YouTube version, does not seem to be on Qobuz), it does not have a lot of low-end. The recordings roll-off the bass further, and the difference may therefore be more obvious on this track. Perhaps the MV88+ have too much bass roll-off (as opposed to the build-in mic of the iPhones), even though it has better resolution ?

I would still suggest you experiment recording with the MV88+ closer to the speakers (and/or with different angle settings). Different mics capture the room differently.

 

[Ron Resnick]

I would still suggest you experiment recording with the MV88+ closer to the speakers

This I will not be doing. I think one of the elements of standardization is to record from the listening position.

To me recording from other than the listening position is adding yet another variable.