Playground for practical listening exercises

[tokenbrit]

.. you have a black animal damper on the right side and not the left (not to mention the bed). My black animal damper has been trained to lay down between the speakers as some of my clips may have shown. ;-)

Good to know that not all Black Animal Dampers are BAD :) Is that what gives the Katan advantage? Obviously K9 friendly ;)

[markiteight]

For me, Nait and Katans.

Agreed. It's amazing what a day can do. I wasn't too keen on the Katans yesterday but in these clips they really sing.

Although I do have to say one set of recordings is invalid. Your acoustic treatment got up and wandered off in one of the clips. ;-)

[beck]

I am guessing that most people on this forum in essens agree about what is good sound from a system. I think it is very small changes to the balance of the sound and music that can cause disagreement.
After two days of living with my speaker setup I discovered that though full of sonic splendour (near headphone like) it did not catch my appreciation for the music.

Back on the horse (or should I say cow?!) again I regained my enjoyment of music with small changes to the setup of the speakers once again and doing so discovered that I can change the music in any direction not knowing which setup will please me before listening.

It is complex!

Can you hear the music stiffen?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hbxylvj2xoe39 ... 2.mov?dl=0

Can you hear the music come alive?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/aczpd7624maaq ... 4.mov?dl=0

[Charlie1]

I enjoy the second (more recent) clip more too.

Also think I can hear what you like more about the first clip. I wonder if it is a bit deceptive though. Listening again and I'm thinking that perhaps the first clip is only giving the illusion of bringing the musicians more together. I can't actually follow what's going on as well throughout the entire band - i.e. it's harder for by brain to follow more than one musician at a time even though they seem better synchronised at first glance.

[u252agz]

I think Timing is much better in the second and therefore sounds more musical to me.

[ThomasOK]

Nice of you to give some tone back to the drums, definitely clip 2. I'm still listening to it, but it is likely to end soon. :-(

[beck]

Nice of you to give some tone back to the drums, definitely clip 2. I'm still listening to it, but it is likely to end soon. :-(

It is absolutely silly how much it is possible to change the sound just by moving the speakers around. Tone, pitch, timing............ you name it.

[Spannko]

There’s something fundamentally wrong with the first clip. Musically, it’s all over the place. Clip 2 is much better.

[u252agz]

I agree - it’s the timing I’m sure which is all over the place and consequently messes up the music.

Without ‘good’ timing - I don’t even bother listening to the ‘sounds’ - I just switch off, and usually within a few seconds.

Surprising that speaker positioning can affect this quite so much.

[beck]

This is just too interesting for me to stop now. I am investigating closer to the wall positions with promising results.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/i24xp7ocbfu8s ... 7.mov?dl=0

Old Klyde setup (volume one notch down) to compare with:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/8c2ey72s4fcp9 ... 0.mov?dl=0

[markiteight]

I prefer the second clip in both this and your previous post. Out of all 4 I think the second clip in your previous post is the best.

[beck]

Thank you for all the comments so far. This will be an investigation that will continue for my part. Too interesting not to dig deeper.
The goal for me is to hear a band playing and not notice anything strange about the sound. Not a hunt for better sound.

[Charlie1]

There's something I prefer in clip 1 - the bass guitar and drums seem really in sync. However, a bit like yesterday, I can't follow the music as a whole so well and prefer clip 2.

Like MiE, I prefer yesterday's clip 2 overall - just seems to flow better.

[beck]

I am having too much fun not to share my clips with you all.

Previous favorite (from the clips above):

https://www.dropbox.com/s/aczpd7624maaq ... 4.mov?dl=0

New setup closer to the wall:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/52836oj5krm76 ... 0.mov?dl=0

[Charlie1]

I still prefer your previous favourite (clip 1). Even the echo of the wooden blocks at the beginning is more enjoyable. In fact, the blocks throughout seem more 'part of the music' than on the second clip.

Do they have a name, other than wooden blocks? :)

EDIT: Are they Claves?

[beck]

I still prefer your previous favourite (clip 1). Even the echo of the wooden blocks at the beginning is more enjoyable. In fact, the blocks throughout seem more 'part of the music' than on the second clip.

Do they have a name, other than wooden blocks? :)

EDIT: Are they Claves?

Yes, and I think I agree with you. Well, speaker setup is important. That is for sure...

[beck]

I think I hit bulls eye with my speaker setup.

Previous:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/o80bpx67okg90 ... 4.mov?dl=0

Now:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/f5oq6pfzzifi3 ... 5.mov?dl=0

Or am I only dreaming?

[lejonklou]

I think I hit bulls eye with my speaker setup.

Previous:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/o80bpx67okg90 ... 4.mov?dl=0

Now:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/f5oq6pfzzifi3 ... 5.mov?dl=0

Or am I only dreaming?

Previous is better.

[markiteight]

I think I hit bulls eye with my speaker setup.

Previous:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/o80bpx67okg90 ... 4.mov?dl=0

Now:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/f5oq6pfzzifi3 ... 5.mov?dl=0

Or am I only dreaming?

Dreams are good! But Previous is better.

[markiteight]

I've been having a bit of fun this weekend too:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3ocb07xz8smd4 ... 5.MOV?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/oq4vz9rpfxdq1 ... 1.MOV?dl=0

[beck]

Thank you lejonklou and markiteight for your answers.

I think people get it now. Speaker setup can be time consuming! :-)

[beck]

I've been having a bit of fun this weekend too:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3ocb07xz8smd4 ... 5.MOV?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/oq4vz9rpfxdq1 ... 1.MOV?dl=0

Watch out! I foresee that you end up like Charlie1 with you house full of speakers. :-)

You sure know how to pick the “fun” ones. Are they Tukans (or “new” Kans)?

[markiteight]

I've been having a bit of fun this weekend too:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/3ocb07xz8smd4 ... 5.MOV?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/oq4vz9rpfxdq1 ... 1.MOV?dl=0

Watch out! I foresee that you end up like Charlie1 with you house full of speakers. :-)

You sure know how to pick the “fun” ones. Are they Tukans (or “new” Kans)?

Ha! It's a good thing I don't have a lot of space or I probably would be up to my ears in speakers.

They are my old Tukans that I gave to my parents years ago. They were out of town for the weekend so I commandeered the speakers for a couple days. I already had the Kan stands set aside "just in cases."

"Fun" is probably the best one word summary for Tukans. They bee-bop along quite nicely, especially when pushed by the Nait.

[u252agz]

I think I hit bulls eye with my speaker setup.

Previous:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/o80bpx67okg90 ... 4.mov?dl=0

Now:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/f5oq6pfzzifi3 ... 5.mov?dl=0

Or am I only dreaming?

Previous is better.

I agree-previous is much better.

[Charlie1]

My preference is for the newer clip. I find it easier to follow the music and enjoy it more. However, listening again, I can hear the previous clip is more tuneful so understand why others enjoy it more.

I don't know why sometimes the more tuneful option is not as enjoyable to me. I used to assume I had it wrong when Fredrik or Tom posted a different preference and would conclude I was rubbish at Tune Method. But I've learned to accept I'm just different and don't always share the same preference. This doesn't really fit when our concept of Tune Method though, or does it? I sometimes wonder if I should even be posting here any more. My only defence is that I'm picking things based on ease of understanding and following the music, not HiFi criteria.

Is this left-brain / right-brain listening, or something else?