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Since I have a lot of crap recordings but are some of my favorite music this interest me. However, most of us have computer setups these days. This means we don't get up and physically put recordings on. If we did, then it would be no big deal to turn the knob while your at your rack. I tend to sit in my chair and randomly select songs from my library on my ipad or iphone. So for this to be of good use to me, it would be nice if it had remote capabilities.
In my case, I seek tone control not due to deficiencies in recorded material or compnents but deficiencies in my own hearing. I have moderate tinnitus of the high pitched ringing type. It is aggravated by certain higher frequencies, volume and perhaps other characteristics of the music which I do not understand. Renee Fleming's "Amazing Grace" hurts while Jessye Norman's does not. Almost every song on a Roberta Flack album hurts when played at normal volume. I like string/piano quartets/quintets but I now search out cello performances.I first noticed this problem when auditioning speakers after many years without any serious system. Of the limited number of speakers auditioned, Devore, Daedalus and Linn speakers were much kinder to my defective ears than others. I have wondered if an equalizer of some type might help. I see on Audiocircle and Audiogon that some people use Metric Halo equipment (usually ULN-8 or LIO-8) but I do not know if these are equalizers. Parametric equalizers are quite expensive and, I think, quite complicated. A simple, clean device that would allow attenuation of offendig frequencies would be welcome as would an option of adjusting several frequencies to get the most pleasing sound at low listening levels.I know I will be altering accurate reproduction of the music, but inaccurate reproduction would be better for me than a painful unpleasant experience. Thank you for bringing up this topic.
First of all, I am sorry to hear about your tinnitus. But I am discovering that a change in what our ears like or tolerate changes for most people as we age, regardless of tinnitus.When I was younger, music I would not consider really harsh and tinny and loud, did not bother me at all. Now when I see kids (mine and other) listening to music from YouTube (!) through headphones so loud that I can hear what they are listening to from 10' away, I wonder how they manage.Over the years I've found myself migrating to tubes and components/brands with a "softer and more forgiving" sonic signature. But I still had issues with some recordings whose music I love but that sounded harsh and fatiguing to my ears.Here's my suggestion for you (based on how I did some of my research and experimentation on what makes some recordings harsh and fatiguing):1) I would try to borrow an equalizer (parametric or graphic) the type or quality of the EQ does not really matter at this point (you can even do this with a software EQ depending on your setup), your goal is to identify what frequencies you find most "offensive". 2) Play one of the recordings you mention as aggravating your tinnitus (or sounding harsh) e.g., the Renee Fleming's Amazing Grace you mention.3) Play around with the EQ settings. Try cutting a few dbs around, say, ~2KHz; does that help? If not, move up or down in frequency and/or cut until the music sounds more pleasant, less fatiguing, etc. Sometimes, a bass boost makes the music sound richer so you can listen at lower volumes and still get that satisfying rich sound. Once you know what ails you and how it can be fixed then you can decide if the investment in an audiophile-quality equalizer (parametric/graphic, HW/SW) is worth it.I had always thought that brightness (treble frequencies) were responsible for hard, fatiguing sound. But, by doing what I've described above, after many experiments over a period of months I've determined that -- at least for me -- what makes some records fatiguing and harsh has much more to do with the midrange frequencies than the treble -- and also with the overall volume.This is not too surprising since our hearing has evolved to be most sensitive to the higher end of the midrange frequencies, roughly 1-4KHz (e.g. to hear the sound of a baby crying ... or the wife calling ).My "formula" for making those recordings sound more delicious is the one represented in the image of the curves I've uploaded in a previous post. Some recordings just need a little bass boost, others need a bit of a cut in those midrange frequencies, etc. There are, by the way, infinite variations between the curves that I selected. Because some recordings need more "fixin'" and others less. The big knob in The Delicious One is not there just for looks, the large diameter makes it easier to easily dial in just the right amount of effect.Sorry about the long post, but I hope this suggestion will help you. It's a frustrating fact of this hobby and passion of ours that as we grow older we are in a better financial situation to buy great gear ... while our hearing is going South.Alberto
Hi Alberto. What frequencies does the unit covers? I saw the video, and if i understand right, the initial turn will increase bass then proceed to cut down the upper mid/lower highs, and further to cut the highs.You have lean,thin and warm, harsh sounding discriptions. As you may know, these adjectives might have different meaning to different people. How will one know that the effects will suitable to the listener?
(If I may) Did you see reply #32 above?
....apologies, OT, why can I not see the post #. I use Firefoxif that matters. or do I need to change something locally.
Do you not see the Reply # in the post header? It should appear in all browsers.Steve
Hello Ricardo,Apologies for the delay in replying to your questions (I cringe a bit every time I have to re-read the original title thread ).
Hey! I didn't know you were going to be reading this.
Alberto,will you be displaying your new item at AXPONA?
Alberto,I am responding tongue-in-cheek, hence the emoticons. It's all been cool from my end and I'm glad from yours. Over-priced was just a term I used that just came into my head - also, I put it as a question rather than a statement, which I think makes a difference. This is one of those gray areas where for some in audio, it's not much at all and for others (like me) it's very expensive.I didn't know about google alerts and analytics. Interesting.I did find you because of a little side ad in FB - so it's really all your fault!!!
