Headphones vs. loudspeakers

[Mo0o]

what's the difference between a monitor and a speaker

 

[Tiamat]

On my speakers, sounds like there is a slight boost in the upper bass, and nothing above 12khz (a hollow sound without any "air" or "life").

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: AgaBoogaBoo

Originally posted by: spidey07
darkswordsman,

Listen to a nice stereo. It isn't just bass that vibrates the body. Vocals/strings are what do it for me. Your whole body resonates with the tone. You can't get that with headphones.

*nod*

/me bows down before those ML's

Let's not get deep into the role the skeletal system plays into hearing shall we?

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: Mo0o
what's the difference between a monitor and a speaker

Monitor is for text and speaker is for mp3.

Bzzzzzzt! Ok forget about the computer stuff! :laugh:

The term monitor comes from the studio control room - a loudspeaker system producing as uncolored sound as possible to monitor the recording room. Studio monitors typically have uncolored sound - that is they do not exaggerate certain areas (e.g. bass or highs) like a lot of home speakers do.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: MS Dawn

Originally posted by: spidey07

Sorry....for some reason any audio on my laptop has an overwhelming buzz of a wireless analyzer.

pssst! Laptop audio? :|

Head over to MOTU and pick up something like this and plug it to your system.

Dude, I'm on the road. Laptop is all I got.

And why aren't you telling me why there is such a overwhelming/pulsing buzz on my laptop speakers? I expected more from you.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Originally posted by: MS Dawn
Same piece, much different sound stage:

the first blizzard

the second blizzard

So it would be possible for them to mix it so that it would be dynamic I guess is how you would say.

For some reason I'm thinking back to the movie the Descent, and how they went through some small passages and then there were much wider open caverns. I don't recall making note of the sound stage, and the audio wasn't optimal anyway. It would really add to the feel of a movie to have a more intimate sound in some parts with a very open sound in others. I was kinda wondering if this would be more possible through the source or the listening devices, and how the latter would effect it. Is there such a thing as a dynamic driver where it can adjust its own sound or is it mostly the source that determines that. What would be the difference between the two sonically? Is there an adjustment of dynamic range or is it by brightening certain frequencies?

Sorry if I'm rambling and not making sense.

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Dude, I'm on the road. Laptop is all I got.

Still get it and a pair of custom molded IEM's and take your sound with you. Dude! For < $2k you can have decent sound anywhere the lappie goes.

Because laptops have horrible shielding for all those little things you plug into the slots that emit radio waves that poison the air.

Originally posted by: darkswordsman17


So it would be possible for them to mix it so that it would be dynamic I guess is how you would say.

For some reason I'm thinking back to the movie the Descent, and how they went through some small passages and then there were much wider open caverns. I don't recall making note of the sound stage, and the audio wasn't optimal anyway. It would really add to the feel of a movie to have a more intimate sound in some parts with a very open sound in others. I was kinda wondering if this would be more possible through the source or the listening devices, and how the latter would effect it. Is there such a thing as a dynamic driver where it can adjust its own sound or is it mostly the source that determines that. What would be the difference between the two sonically? Is there an adjustment of dynamic range or is it by brightening certain frequencies?

Sorry if I'm rambling and not making sense.

Yes it can be done (Q-Sound, Hughes, Bob Carver Sonic Holography) but the success of such technique including inter-aural crosstalk cancellation via active inverted arrays (Mathew Polk, SRS 1988) is very dependent on careful speaker placement and surroundings. This is why the stereo image rarely sounded as good in the home as it did in the specialized showrooms touting these systems.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Originally posted by: MS Dawn

Originally posted by: spidey07

Sorry....for some reason any audio on my laptop has an overwhelming buzz of a wireless analyzer.

pssst! Laptop audio? :|

Head over to MOTU and pick up something like this and plug it to your system.

Wow. I'm guessing not seeing a price is probably an indication of how expensive it is?

I'm trying to get me a nice USB DAC/AMP combo to use with my laptop. I'm hoping to score a Meier Corda Aria for a nice price, but will likely settle for something much less (HippoHiFi Bloat possibly) in the interim. I've though about the E-MU 0404 USB as its popular over at Head-Fi but I don't really need anything but the DAC/AMP combo (so I figured it'd make more sense to spend more on something specifically with that in mind).

 

[Rubycon]

What OS?

Presonus firebox is cheap ($300) and has a crazy headphone amp. It can drive a speaker and is quiet still! I had one get splashed from being too close to the poolside during a rougher sea day. Wiped it down and never missed a beat. The screws are a bit rusty (pool is saltwater) but sound is still perfect.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: MS Dawn
Yes it can be done (Q-Sound, Hughes, Bob Carver Sonic Holography) but the success of such technique including inter-aural crosstalk cancellation via active inverted arrays (Mathew Polk, SRS 1988) is very dependent on careful speaker placement and surroundings. This is why the stereo image rarely sounded as good in the home as it did in the specialized showrooms touting these systems.

Ahhhh so grasshopper. You see the light.

But it can be done. Indeed it can be reproduced in the home. Q-sound was pretty good IMHO.

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Ahhhh so grasshopper. You see the light.

But it can be done. Indeed it can be reproduced in the home. Q-sound was pretty good IMHO.

I hear the light.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Originally posted by: MS Dawn

Originally posted by: spidey07

Dude, I'm on the road. Laptop is all I got.

Still get it and a pair of custom molded IEM's and take your sound with you. Dude! For < $2k you can have decent sound anywhere the lappie goes.

Because laptops have horrible shielding for all those little things you plug into the slots that emit radio waves that poison the air.

Originally posted by: darkswordsman17


So it would be possible for them to mix it so that it would be dynamic I guess is how you would say.

For some reason I'm thinking back to the movie the Descent, and how they went through some small passages and then there were much wider open caverns. I don't recall making note of the sound stage, and the audio wasn't optimal anyway. It would really add to the feel of a movie to have a more intimate sound in some parts with a very open sound in others. I was kinda wondering if this would be more possible through the source or the listening devices, and how the latter would effect it. Is there such a thing as a dynamic driver where it can adjust its own sound or is it mostly the source that determines that. What would be the difference between the two sonically? Is there an adjustment of dynamic range or is it by brightening certain frequencies?

Sorry if I'm rambling and not making sense.

Yes it can be done (Q-Sound, Hughes, Bob Carver Sonic Holography) but the success of such technique including inter-aural crosstalk cancellation via active inverted arrays (Mathew Polk, SRS 1988) is very dependent on careful speaker placement and surroundings. This is why the stereo image rarely sounded as good in the home as it did in the specialized showrooms touting these systems.

"I don't know what you just said...but it touched me in a very special place."

Ok, so yeah, it's possible but its a question of how much you're willing to spend.

What OS?

WinXP for a while, then probably Vista later. Very doubtful that it'll be MacOS or Linux. I've got a small firewire port and then USB. Not sure if its 400 or 800 or if it could power an external card or anything. The reason I was thinking DAC is that I wouldn't have to do too much setting up compared to a sound card, although at the same time I guess I wouldn't necessarily have the control over it (would I be able to do kernel streaming through Foobar to a USB DAC?) as much.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: MS Dawn

Originally posted by: spidey07

Ahhhh so grasshopper. You see the light.

But it can be done. Indeed it can be reproduced in the home. Q-sound was pretty good IMHO.

I hear the light.

meh, if your speakers were actually setup well you would actually see the light.

 

[Rubycon]

Seems like driver development is slow to Vista and nearly non existent with 64 bit Vista. Also remember that 64bit Vista will NOT boot with unsigned drivers! You have to boot using the F8 option and bypass the requirement. That's silly.

But Mac OSX and XP SP2 drivers are mature and working. Still no 64bit XP driver though. :|

Originally posted by: spidey07

meh, if your speakers were actually setup well you would actually see the light.

Oh I do see it - when Professor Lirpa's 15kHz test tone is played at 0 dB through those colossal Accuphase monoblocks kW's of powers go right to the the hexagonal wire voice coil of Mister Morel MDT-33. The voice coils respond by shedding their heat which quickly boils their bath of ferrofluid like the Pacific when the killer 'stroid comes in 3307. Devoid of liquid cooling the temperatures rise to the point of incandescence. Let their be light! The funky iodine colored smoke has an acrid odor of severely overheated askerol and is probably equally bad to inhale. But yes we see the fricking light!

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: MS Dawn

Oh I do see it - when Professor Lirpa's 15kHz test tone is played at 0 dB through those colossal Accuphase monoblocks kW's of powers go right to the the hexagonal wire voice coil of Mister Morel MDT-33. The voice coils respond by shedding their heat which quickly boils their bath of ferrofluid like the Pacific when the killer 'stroid comes in 3307. Devoid of liquid cooling the temperatures rise to the point of incandescence. Let their be light! The funky iodine colored smoke has an acrid odor of severely overheated askerol and is probably equally bad to inhale. But yes we see the fricking light!

You had WAY too many drugs in the late 70s/early 80s. Sadly I understood what you were saying.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Originally posted by: MS Dawn
Seems like driver development is slow to Vista and nearly non existent with 64 bit Vista. Also remember that 64bit Vista will NOT boot with unsigned drivers! You have to boot using the F8 option and bypass the requirement. That's silly.

But Mac OSX and XP SP2 drivers are mature and working. Still no 64bit XP driver though. :|

Originally posted by: spidey07

meh, if your speakers were actually setup well you would actually see the light.

Oh I do see it - when Professor Lirpa's 15kHz test tone is played at 0 dB through those colossal Accuphase monoblocks kW's of powers go right to the the hexagonal wire voice coil of Mister Morel MDT-33. The voice coils respond by shedding their heat which quickly boils their bath of ferrofluid like the Pacific when the killer 'stroid comes in 3307. Devoid of liquid cooling the temperatures rise to the point of incandescence. Let their be light! The funky iodine colored smoke has an acrid odor of severely overheated askerol and is probably equally bad to inhale. But yes we see the fricking light!

Definitely my reasoning for waiting on Vista and my looking more at a DAC/AMP than a sound card.

I'll be honest, the "audiophiles" of AT are more entertaining than those on other sites I frequent (including Head-Fi). In fact if I'd been exposed to the typical sorts and not the characters here, I very likely would have been utterly turned off from the audio world and be reveling in my ignorant bliss on my earbuds and iTunes music. In fact at times I wonder if perhaps my newfound audio insight and analyzation has dulled my enjoyment of the music itself, but then I go to the trouble of setting it up for my current best audio solution (CD->digital out to Onkyo reciever->blu-tak modded AT A900s, far from great but it sufficens until I can afford more) and realize I can have my cake and eat it too.

 

[EGGO]

*sigh* *looks at his UE super.fi 5 Pros and becomes jealous*

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: darkswordsman17
I'll be honest, the "audiophiles" of AT are more entertaining than those on other sites I frequent (including Head-Fi). In fact if I'd been exposed to the typical sorts and not the characters here, I very likely would have been utterly turned off from the audio world and be reveling in my ignorant bliss on my earbuds and iTunes music. In fact at times I wonder if perhaps my newfound audio insight and analyzation has dulled my enjoyment of the music itself, but then I go to the trouble of setting it up for my current best audio solution (CD->digital out to Onkyo reciever->blu-tak modded AT A900s, far from great but it sufficens until I can afford more) and realize I can have my cake and eat it too.

Dude, don't be turned off by snobish audiophiles. Shamefully I'm one of them, but I like to keep it in check.

As long as your love of music and the ability and desire to listen to it remains strong that is all that really matters.

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: spidey07
You had WAY too many drugs in the late 70s/early 80s. Sadly I understood what you were saying.

<- Drug free always.