Putting my speakers to the test.

[IMHO]

No matter what you feed into them it will not sound good. Nothing from a highly compressed mp3 music file can come close to real music from a good cd or old vinyl record.Sent from my GT-N7000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

I was just going to say the same thing. I was experimenting transferring from vinyl to mp3, and listening back to back it was amazing how much detail was missing. Interestingly, I stopped actually listening to music when cds came out.

T.

What ADC did you use? What impedance and gain matching did you do? How good was the analogue signal chain and transport? What MP3 compressor did you use and what were the bandwidth and bitrate settings? Why did you choose (lossy) MP3 and not lossless?

There's many factors involved when converting from analogue to digital, and it's pretty easy to mess it up. Done properly, the only difference you'll hear when doing follow-up listening tests will be a few more pops and crackles on the original source as more dust settles on it

Hi again.

The questions are irrelevant as no matter what equiptment you use, MP3 will not be as good as analogue or higher quality digital due to conversion rate and compression, but I assume you already know this so why do you quibble.

I chose MP3 as I was simply transferring music to to my phone for travel.

Fourty years ago I was a geeky audiophile and myself and my Thorens turntable have looked after my LPs well so there are virtually no crackles or hiss.

T.

I can only assume this was a while ago, before the age of smartphones?

The good news is, there's absolutely no need to use MP3 on any Android, iOS or even newer Windows Mobile and Symbian phones - all support lossless audio in one format or another.

That still doesn't change the fact that the analogue signal chain, ADC, and compressor all need to be good quality and properly optimized & level/impedance matched though (when converting from vinyl that is). One thing wrong in the chain and all the sudden the noise floor is through the roof, dynamic range reduced to rubble, or even all top end frequencies compromised..

Edited June 19, 2013 by IMHO

[AngelsLariat]

Dynamic Range Database

Though it's an interesting tool, I haven't found that DR results correlated very well with perceived sound quality. I also haven't found that speakers capable of reproducing the greatest dynamic range necessarily sound better than speakers with less able to reproduce the sound of cannon fire. If that were the case, PA speakers with gigantic horns would be the ultimate audiophile speakers.

[IMHO]

Dynamic Range Database

Though it's an interesting tool, I haven't found that DR results correlated very well with perceived sound quality. I also haven't found that speakers capable of reproducing the greatest dynamic range necessarily sound better than speakers with less able to reproduce the sound of cannon fire. If that were the case, PA speakers with gigantic horns would be the ultimate audiophile speakers.

It's funny you should mention that, hehehe

For my listening room I've had a pair of Jamo R909's running off some big Bryston power for several years now, and of course love them to death. Earlier this year I went out and bought some PA speakers for a series of Songkhran parties, so I wouldn't have to drag my home speakers around, nor get outgunned by some hack with 1000watts of mud nearby out-powering me...

After shopping around and auditioning gear for over a month, I ended up buying some JBL PRX600 series, and I have to say that these things have completely changed my perception of what PA systems can sound like - they probably sound about 80% as good as the Jamo's - which puts them well above most home audio gear out there. Their dynamics and balance (almost ruler-flat FR out of the box) are just amazing, and as everyone got drunker, they kept getting louder without breaking a sweat.

Not saying they're a replacement option for good home gear, but definitely not to be simply dismissed as "Junk But Loud"

[joeaverage]

after high school i used to work for a sound company that did PAs for nightclubs, events and the like, and the owner lived above a warehouse on the edge of a residential neighborhood and had a full Community rig in his living room with 4 subs and powered by a rack of about 10 Byrston 2 and 4Bs.

we used to smoke naughty things and crank up the newly released on cd (big thing in 85) 1812 Overture with digital cannons and the windows used to bow dangerously and neighbors would call in explosions.

never forget it.

unfortunately the experience ruined m for sound because the time i spent balancing PAs comes rushing back to me every time i hear one that has not been balanced, which is pretty much every time i go out.

[IMHO]

after high school i used to work for a sound company that did PAs for nightclubs, events and the like, and the owner lived above a warehouse on the edge of a residential neighborhood and had a full Community rig in his living room with 4 subs and powered by a rack of about 10 Byrston 2 and 4Bs.

we used to smoke naughty things and crank up the newly released on cd (big thing in 85) 1812 Overture with digital cannons and the windows used to bow dangerously and neighbors would call in explosions.

never forget it.

unfortunately the experience ruined m for sound because the time i spent balancing PAs comes rushing back to me every time i hear one that has not been balanced, which is pretty much every time i go out.

My first intro to pro audio was similar, also in clouds of smoke, but the system was the mastering console in a recording studio, and the music was always cinematic acts like Floyd and Frampton

And yes, always wondering whether the roadies/installers for pro sound understand that music should have midrange, bass should get below 80Hz, treble is not all centered at 6-8kHz, and that stacking regular FOH speakers creates awful comb filtering effects.....

[AngelsLariat]

Dynamic Range Database

Though it's an interesting tool, I haven't found that DR results correlated very well with perceived sound quality. I also haven't found that speakers capable of reproducing the greatest dynamic range necessarily sound better than speakers with less able to reproduce the sound of cannon fire. If that were the case, PA speakers with gigantic horns would be the ultimate audiophile speakers.

It's funny you should mention that, hehehe

For my listening room I've had a pair of Jamo R909's running off some big Bryston power for several years now, and of course love them to death. Earlier this year I went out and bought some PA speakers for a series of Songkhran parties, so I wouldn't have to drag my home speakers around, nor get outgunned by some hack with 1000watts of mud nearby out-powering me...

After shopping around and auditioning gear for over a month, I ended up buying some JBL PRX600 series, and I have to say that these things have completely changed my perception of what PA systems can sound like - they probably sound about 80% as good as the Jamo's - which puts them well above most home audio gear out there. Their dynamics and balance (almost ruler-flat FR out of the box) are just amazing, and as everyone got drunker, they kept getting louder without breaking a sweat.

Not saying they're a replacement option for good home gear, but definitely not to be simply dismissed as "Junk But Loud"

I'm not writing off horn loaded speakers as being junk, there is something to be said for lively sounding speakers. There was a bit of an audiophile craze about a decade ago that involved using wildly efficient horn speakers together with flee powered tube amps. To some people that was the ultimate. And old PA speakers like the Altec Lansing "Voice of the Theatre" do cost a fortune when they appear on the used market. Just saying that dynamic range isn't everything.

[mrbojangles]

The Zeppelin's arrived at my brothers house in the UK and he has tried them out for me. His summation was simply put into one word "awesome". I can't wait to go and pick them up in a few weeks.