The older I get,the more'picky'I get at what I listen to.

Huck · « **on:** 13 Dec 2021, 12:44 pm »

Hi: Seems that in my later years,(72)I tend to be more fussy about what I like to hear...when I was younger,I could pretty well listen to almost anything,but now in my later years,I tend to find some CD's (rock) very annoying or irritating,especially in the upper frequencies.
I have had my hearing professionlly tested and I do have some hearing loss in the mid and higher frequencies,but now the higher frequencies on some rock CD's seem to make the situation worse.
I have maybe 550 CD's and I have cherry picked about 40 that are well mastered and basically sound good to me,so if I have a upper frequency loss,why do I want to turn the treble down on most of my music??Thanks

Craig B · « **Reply #1 on:** 13 Dec 2021, 01:05 pm »

It's funny. When I saw your subject line, I thought you were going to talk about contemporary musical style or content and how unappealing you find it. I know I do. The "newest" non-classical artist I've been able to warm up to is Guster, and that was over 20 years ago. I tried an Ed Sheeran album once and couldn't muster enough interest in what I was hearing to finish it (though I do admit to having two Mumford & Sons albums that get very sporadic playing).

As far as sound quality goes, are you saying that there are fewer new recordings now that you can listen to, or that even the recordings you used to enjoy you find unlistenable now?

Huck · « **Reply #2 on:** 13 Dec 2021, 01:13 pm »

Hi:
I am saying that some CD's I have that I bought a while back sound lifeless and bright,whereas before I could listen to them no problem....then I ask myself.."why did I buy this or that CD??.
Even some 'Gold' (MFSL,AF,DCC) discs don't sound all that appealing to me and some never really did.Thanks.

Digi-G · « **Reply #3 on:** 13 Dec 2021, 01:22 pm »

As I get older (I'm 60 now) I find myself listening to more and more different stuff that I didn't before.

But it's weird that you have hearing loss AND the high frequencies bother you. Hmmm.

We just remodeled out house and our family room (my listening space) went from carpet to vinyl floors. It sounds different. We have a rug in front of the speakers but the sound isn't as warm and lush as it used to be. I'm in the process of building some new speakers (gr research) so eventually I think I'll need to tweak the room to get it sounding good again.

My point is, maybe you need to do something similar, so you can enjoy all of your recordings. Change speakers. Get a (new) DAC. Room treatments. I don't know, I'm just thinking out loud.

Hope you find a way to enjoy all your music again.

mav52 · « **Reply #4 on:** 13 Dec 2021, 01:33 pm »

at 69 I listen to the same music on CD and LP's that I listened to back in the 60's and 70's and 80's. Plus stream , but pretty much the same types, classic rock, jazz, and blues. Not really into any of the news pop stuff. Plus I added a decent headphone system to my 2 chl rig and that does assist in the weaken hearing we all encounter t as we age.

SteveFord · « **Reply #5 on:** 13 Dec 2021, 02:18 pm »

I think the playback gear has simply gotten better and you realize just how bad some of the recordings are.
I had an early Stones CD and CD-R of the same thing on yesterday and it was just dreadful.

Mike B. · « **Reply #6 on:** 13 Dec 2021, 02:36 pm »

I am listening to more music that is relaxing than high energy rock and blues that I once lived on.

Huck · « **Reply #7 on:** 13 Dec 2021, 02:51 pm »

Hi:
When I listen to music,at least on my speaker system,I tend to listen 'into' the music,if that makes any sense, as opposed to listening as background music when doing a cross-word or Sudoku.
I listen mainly around 75db,maybe some peaks at 80+ and maybe more on a well mastered disc.
Why do the upper frequencies bug me more now,but not before?(tweeters are fine)...they bug me more,especially on a lifeless,no soundstage and non engaging CD?.
Thanks.

Tyson · « **Reply #8 on:** 13 Dec 2021, 03:05 pm »

I am also extremely sensitive to high frequency hash/irritation. So much so, that I've built my entire system around dealing with it. I've developed a multi-pronged approach that works pretty well:

1. Room Treatments - a lively room will always aggravate this problem, so treat the room well. This doesn't have to be expensive or look bad. I built out some custom room treatments that look cool and go perfectly with my decor.

2. Tubes - particularly in the DAC and preamp I find tubes vital to getting the highs reproduced properly

3. Hapa Audio cables (especially their "Aero" digital cable) - these are the only cables I've found that let through a lot of information but don't add any hash to the signal while doing it.

4. Remove anything that is not pure copper from the signal path - this means your cables should have pure copper (or pure silver) connectors, your speaker wire should too. On all your gear (DAC, Preamp, Amp) replace the stock RCA connectors with pure copper ones, on your amp, replace your binding posts with the WBT low mass high copper connectors. If you are brave, replace any capacitors with the Miflex copper caps in your DAC/Preamp/Amp, and on your speakers replace the brass binding posts with WBT low mass high copper and look at the crossover - Swap out any caps for Miflex or Vcap ODAM caps, the inductors with high purity copper foil inductors and any resistors with copper Path Audio resistors.

I put the changes in order of impact, so definitely start with the room treatments, that gives by far the biggest bang for the buck.

Huck · « **Reply #9 on:** 13 Dec 2021, 03:25 pm »

I forgot to add that I have just aquired a new DAC which has both toslnk and RCA coax digital inputs from my OPPO 95 CD transport for which I am using both so I can switch on the fly while listening.
toslink seems to be less clear that coax,which is good for me when listening to a bright CD,I just make the switch to toslink and I can pretty well listen without switching back to the more clearer/cleaner coax setting.
The new DAC seems to be for the better sonically,but only minimally,more like meh.

Don_S · « **Reply #10 on:** 13 Dec 2021, 04:20 pm »

Quote from: SteveFord on 13 Dec 2021, 02:18 pm

I think the playback gear has simply gotten better and you realize just how bad some of the recordings are.
I had an early Stones CD and CD-R of the same thing on yesterday and it was just dreadful.

This is what I was thinking. It certainly is true for me. My listenable library has shrunk as my system improved. Many older recordings are dreadful. I no longer have any tolerance for abrasive sounds.

I loaded an old classical CD (Telarac) to my server recently and swore it had deteriorated. It was horrible. Can CDs "rot"? I think I read that was possible.

fredgarvin · « **Reply #11 on:** 13 Dec 2021, 04:29 pm »

sensitivity to higher frequencies is very common in aging ears.

SteveFord · « **Reply #12 on:** 13 Dec 2021, 04:38 pm »

I believe CD rot will actually be visible on the disc.
This was just a case of bad recordings, the CD-R was made from an album which sounded equally bad.
As a kid I listened to it hundreds of times, I thought it was great.
Last night it was what the hell? This is horrible!

I.Greyhound Fan · « **Reply #13 on:** 13 Dec 2021, 05:51 pm »

I too have expanded the genres of music that I listen too. But in the last year a have become a little more picky for some reason.

listenermark · « **Reply #14 on:** 13 Dec 2021, 06:51 pm »

I've never listened to a wider variety of music than I do now. Being able to stream radio from around the world (WFMU, KCRW, KEXP, fip.fr, KUZU, etc...) has introduced me to artists that I would have never found on my own. And, as much as I hate to admit it, the algorithms powering Tidal's recommendations have turned me on to many of my new favorite artists.

Huck · « **Reply #15 on:** 13 Dec 2021, 07:29 pm »

Quote from: fredgarvin on 13 Dec 2021, 04:29 pm

sensitivity to higher frequencies is very common in aging ears.

I wonder why that is??...I should have asked my audiologist

Elizabeth · « **Reply #16 on:** 13 Dec 2021, 07:39 pm »

Irritating highs are mainly the fault of your system. not the CD. LOL
I own a mountain of Classical CDs from the early years 80's and zero problem with irritating high frequencies. And I am a total high frequency maven.
I spent a fortune though, in AC power delivery. and THAT is where the high frequency problem is in your systems. crap AC from the walls going right into the music.

Just my two cents from a crazy old bag who knows nothing about music reproduction.so just ignore me..

Mariusz Uszynski · « **Reply #17 on:** 13 Dec 2021, 07:46 pm »

I'm 57 year old.I have noticed (about 2-4 years ago), I could not listen to more than 2 cds per day (heavy metal music).I thought, that's it grandpa, give it up.That changed recently, when I sold my Arcam AVR-450(receiver) and BDP-300(bluray), went to the local store and purchased new toys for "big boys", Bryston amp, preamp and cd player + Cardas XLR cables, kept the Dynaudio speakers.Now, I re-discover my music again.I have some underground Scandinavian Metal, that really sounds amazing on my new equipment.So, I have noticed, that some days, I listen up to 10 cds per day.

Big Red Machine · « **Reply #18 on:** 13 Dec 2021, 08:02 pm »

I think the dac has a lot to do with your results. I have everything ripped and playing through JRiver, only the most horrendous recordings are unbearable. I love Van Halen but their recordings always sucked. Much prefer 96/24 over everything else but redbook through the Bricasti is just fine. So for those using CDP's with so-so dacs in them, there might be some of the issue.

But yes, too much music, too little time.

Tyson · « **Reply #19 on:** 13 Dec 2021, 08:05 pm »

Agreed, if you drop a new piece of gear in your system and less of your music is listenable, you've gone in the wrong direction.