Striving for best Digital Signal output for best SQ

[raghupb]

Tampering with EQ is not always degradation. It is tweaking what freq to up/down for a comfortable fatigue free listening experience. In this sense, yes one is altering the original. Most times bit-perfect is not ear-perfect.

I listen to Porcupine Tree a lot. The lead guy Steven Wilson is a brilliant musician and a damn good sound engineer too. Rare combination in the music business. Even so, I don't always agree with his mixing levels (bit-perfect). Many times I use different presets for the same song depending on my mood. After 2 drinks, I want a different sound experience from the same track. I won't talk about other narcotics here Let music be the only vice under discussion.

At the end of the day music listening is a very personal experience. Electronics play an important role in maintaining SQ and near faithful reproduction of the source. EQ plays the role of tweaking the source itself to suit ones mood.

Warning!
After SW EQ you may question why you spent serious moolah on certain links in the chain. Remember SW EQ is available only on PC/Laptop. Other sources still need decent electronics; so it is still money well invested.

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[koushik]

Saikat and Sound_cycle, are you two looking for consensus in audio forum?

Anyway, my finding is as follows:
1. BDP is better transport than DVDP of similar caliber.
2. Single Board Computer (like my BBB) is far superior music server (transport) than un-tweaked generic PC.

 

[sound_cycle]

SW EQ is available only on PC/Laptop

MiniDSP hai na

ciao
gr

 

[raghupb]

MiniDSP hai na

ciao
gr

I was not aware of such a product.
I stand better informed. Thanks.

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[jls001]

Don't confuse "bit perfect" with equalisation (or mastering). Equalisation tweaks the amplitude of a portion of the audio spectrum. Probably the original phase may also get altered (I'm guessing out loud here). What the player sends to the DAC after all the tweakery is what it sends. If the DAC received every one of those bits without loss or alteration, then the communication channel between the computer and DAC is bit perfect.

 

[matbhuvi]

If you are using a mac as a transport, i would highly recommend Audirvana Plus. Izotope SRC is a brilliant upsampling tool with various parameters to tune. There are quite a bit of article available to tune the upsampling in coherence with your setup. I find that better than what my DACs do (Geek out / Audio GD NFB 10ES).

 

[raghupb]

Don't confuse "bit perfect" with equalisation (or mastering). Equalisation tweaks the amplitude of a portion of the audio spectrum. Probably the original phase may also get altered (I'm guessing out loud here). What the player sends to the DAC after all the tweakery is what it sends. If the DAC received every one of those bits without loss or alteration, then the communication channel between the computer and DAC is bit perfect.

I think the digital information is altered when one tweaks the loudness of certain frequencies. What I do is equalize down. Meaning, start from 0dB and reduce the frequencies that sound harsh to -3dB or more.
If you are using foobar2000, you can load a preset and do auto-level. This keeps the max at 0dB and equalizes down.

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[jls001]

The digital representation of the audio definitely changes when you change the amplitude. What I was trying to convey is that the term "bit perfect" applies to a transmission/communication medium, in this case from pc to DAC.

For speaker playback, don't use automatic gain control since it works on the principle of automatically reducing peaks and lifting troughs so that one gets a more uniform SPL. This probably sounds good on the radio broadcast but it throws away dynamic crescendos and also artificially boost low level sound. This is a bad thing if you're listening to recordings with high dynamic variations like many western classical pieces where the pieces are written to be played that way.

To go OT even further, in a misguided attempt to sound loud on radio, most modern popular music has compressed dynamics (this compression is different from bit rate compression as used in mp3, mp4, etc) so they sound loud almost uniformly without musical crescendos/peaks or quiet passages. This is better known by the term "loudness war".

When listening on a headphone, personally I use gain leveler in order to avoid damage to the ears.

 

[raghupb]

Agree with "jls001" on the "loudness war". In fact, there are many articles on this. Don't remember the exact write up, but one laments about the fact that an entire generation is growing up listening to streaming music with out knowing the difference between recorded music and streamed music.

Automatic gain control or in case of foobar2000 replay-gain, should be used judiciously.
AGC evens out highs and low and makes the song/album evenly loud over the listening period. The good part is that many SW players allow for flexible way of applying AGC.

In summary, having PC based SW to playback music via USB/OPT/COAX and then DAC/AMP/Speakers is a boon and a bane. It only becomes a bane when used indiscriminately without knowing what's going on.

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[raghupb]

To differentiate between live music, recorded music and streamed music, I urge FMs to try and listen to live un-amplified music. Even a decent brass band at a "baaraat" is a good example of un-amplified music. It sounds very different. Unfortunately, in India we only get to hear live music via speakers most of the time.

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[jls001]

Even a decent brass band at a "baaraat" is a good example of un-amplified music. It sounds very different.

Totally agree that brass bands sound really good. Every now and then, brass bands pass by my house, playing gospel standards. The trumpets playing the soprano "voice", the sax playing the tenor "voice", the snare and bass drums providing the rhythm section. But the occasions are unfortunately grim as these are funeral marches.

The worst "live" bands are those we hear often on our streets - loud to the point of being obnoxious, just one guy on a cheap electronic synthesizer playing some popular tune - slightly off key and with no respect for the original beat or time signature, the bass drummer banging away on his hide like it's going out of fashion, etc.

I also make it a point to go to western classical concerts whenever time permits (but compulsorily once a month). This reminds me that tomorrow is the last of the monthly concerts at Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai by the Chamber Ensemble of the Symphony Orchestra of India. The best thing about this series is the theatre is relatively near to where I live, and it's cheap. I've been introduced to so much new music over the last many months due to these concerts. Bless SoI:clapping::clapping: