The little man

What are you thinking? Are you happy audioing? Lost and miserable? Take a break, come back with a fresher mind. Sometimes, the idea doesn't come when you seek it, it just appears. I must tip my hat off to some Whatsapp users. Incredible energies. Not for me, my Whataspps day is over.

Yes, writing makes me think. I'm a thinking audiophile. I must also first profess that I was "equipment first, music is secondary". Classical music changed that order. I listen to mostly everything except hip hop and rock, I still come back to classical music at the end of the day. Classical music has that universal standard for a good sound guide. When in doubts, I could pop in the local orchestra for a sound check. Everything has to give way to commercial, in order to sell more copies, the recording engineer always has a hand in editorializing recording. You name it, the deliberate loudness war, noise filtering, compression and a rise in upper mids, I have had enough of these artifacts. It isn't a bright idea using your favorite music as a reference. The emotional appeal and as a sound guide is obviously two different things, not to mention hits and misses. A biased system will always be selective on music. Make sense that you don't take all comments to heart, screen them, find out whose comment is worthy and work from there.

A balanced sound is the key to a good playback. Please, I have grown weary of Chinese CDs. Can't stand the artificial detail, to many folks, boosts the perception of airiness and detail. Totally bullshit. The voices are rendered the honky and punch out when cranking the volume up, inducing the irritating listening ringing. No fatigue sound in high volume playback, calm and at ease, imagine you're in a state of utopia. Plainly psychology, we must refrain the little man in our head dictating our preferences. Vocal cords, breathing, slurpy sweet, coquettish, bass and loudness for instance, the bigger bass and the higher sound pressure level, the better, music doesn't need to play any louder than it should have. Secondly, let your ears do the job. Never subcontracting it to the little man even if you're tempted to.

In the pursuit of sonic excellence, music should be the core of this passion. Develop your interest in music, you will find audioing so much rewarding. It gets closer to musical truths corresponding to the articulation, and the depth of music too. The highlighted note contrast, the stark dynamic, the emotional connection, everything is inter-related. Classical music is the catalyst that fuels my audio endeavor. My deep admiration to the composers for their works, the art of composition, the techniques, the tone color/texture, the mood creations, the harmonies and the drama. By all mean, classical music is not like fast food music, it takes measured and calculated arrangements. From the music sheet to the conducting, the conductor was given the power to make sound through the orchestra and he is the commando who hears all. If the performance is poor, blame the conductor, not the orchestra! Benjamin Zander, the conductor of Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, conducting music requires knowledge, emotions and music intuitive. The question is since women are the better listener, why is the field of composing and conducting male dominant?

To help you springboard to classical music, turn to Youtube, look out for Benjamin Zander masterclass. His class is so inspiring, easy to pick up. Come see the transformation in the young musician's play in the end of the class. Pardon me, I'm not musically trained, but I could comprehend Zander's insights and his touches on the music. He is truthful to the tempo of the composer's work. Watch and be inspired.

Hanging to dry

Jun has been utterly fruitful audio-ly, yet another milestone for my audio performance. Firstly, I had managed to squeeze a considerable amount of detail from the highs, reduce midrange clouds and improve the bass linearity. The reproduction of the piano, for example, the notes are flowing out from the piano, the nuances are supercharged, the notes end with a gradual of shimmering diminishing, just like the real thing. Nimble and polite, never aggressive. Even the harsh sibilance, I could live with it. Whole lots of remedies to make my highs sings the way it is now, including speaker cable change and highs facilitating tweaks, from direct beaming to 360-degree dispersion, the work is finished with a grueling CD playback. From piano to guitar, cymbal and hit hat, violin to cello, my ears decide if my work towards a smooth integration attainable. Passion knows no hardship.

One down two to go, lower midrange boom is a universal problem. Make worse if you have a small room. The secondary reflections time delay is a tad short, they introduce wooliness. The whole idea is to prolong the delay time of primary reflection. Though it is difficult to totally eliminate the ill effects, still, my panels reduce a considerable uncleanness. So effective that I have gotten rid of all my generic 6 well diffusers.

Utopia

Lastly, bass is always a hindrance of a big thing, a real pain in the neck. Bookshelf speakers are spared from the curse. Always keep watch to prevent the bass intrusion into the critical midrange. Homogeneous bass is nonetheless a failure, not being able to differentiate what is what. Standing waves is a second-degree murder, an insufficient drive is a first-degree murder. In both accounts, a serious audio crime is committed. Eliminating standing wave, the airflow shows less tumultuous, I am now happily living with either double bass and drum bass. Definition/tenacity and the other extreme; voluptuous, gushing and rippling properties, I choose to take the middle road. What is better than Tutti by Reference Recording, it literally shakes the room with a neglectable overhang. The bass goes like a wind. My second Power Bank improves the tone weight but it wasn't adequate. Michael Jackson's Billie Jeans reaffirming my lighter tone weight, I instantly become an unrest soul. Crawling up in the dawn, make adjustments and eagerly awaiting sunrise to replay Billie Jeans. The dust has finally settled, it is time for a private champagne celebration. The tone weight is now a close book, I'm feeling a little like living in a utopia, the truth is I am a little tired now, I should get some rest. Adios amigo.

Say what?

What's up with the audio spat? People bitching about tonal balance, give the guy a break. I don't question about personal preference on tonal balance. There is no room for negotiation. If he insists, play me a classical solo piano then I tell you what I think. Vocal always occupies the center stage due to emotive appeal, something we understand on a go but I wanted to stress also there is a life after vocal, the accompanying instruments.

When vocal gets too much attention, the crave for the warmth, sultry, honey sweet, moisture and et cetera, the accompanying instruments will evitably deviate from the truth. In a severe condition, a violin becomes a viola. What's the use of a lemon if it loses the pungency? The salt loses its saltiness? We should stop and reflect are we not taken tonal balance a little too far on our own desire? The opera singer serves a better reference, no microphone is a good thing here. No coloration, no toothy, no jarring, very direct and impactful.

Instead, tonality, aka tone quality should top the audio priority. Refined, smooth, presence, texture, dense, lively, tonal contrast among others, are the desirous description, depends on how creative the reviewers get. These promote transparency. Most misconceive transparency is tone thinning giving a light bottom presentation in which not supposed the case. Likewise, the upper bass always muddies the resolution. Many speaker companies cut back the bass to project more resolution, in a similar fashion, the cable companies too, do the same things. No names, you go check out yourself. In my opinion, transparency is noise floor, see-through quality, our deeds fending off EMI and RFI, resonance, room acoustics. These are the real murderer of transparency. Well, I don't know how a faraday cage could help, I just don't know, I'm sure it helps. Regardless what, the higher transparency the more lifelike performance, you will not be sorry.