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Best deal to test sound quality


hdls

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Hi everyone,

Please advise on the best way to analyse sound quality of my speakers (my budget is limited but would like to check once and for all which parameters make more sense).

Thanks a lot in advance for your help.

Chris

 

 

System: Synology 1513+, Samsung dedicated silence laptop, Foobar2000, Asus Muse USB DAC, NAD 275 BEE amp and Monitor Audio Gold 300 speakers.

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I was dealt the following advice :

Whatever product you listen to, regardless of cost, if your emotion is moved by your favourite music when you put it on, then this product or system has a value to you. But if that does not happen—even if the product is very expensive—then it has no value to you.

 

«

an accurate picture

Sono pessimista con l'intelligenza,

 

ma ottimista per la volontà.

severe loudspeaker alignment »

 

 

 

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Hi everyone,

Please advise on the best way to analyse sound quality of my speakers (my budget is limited but would like to check once and for all which parameters make more sense).

Thanks a lot in advance for your help.

Chris

 

 

System: Synology 1513+, Samsung dedicated silence laptop, Foobar2000, Asus Muse USB DAC, NAD 275 BEE amp and Monitor Audio Gold 300 speakers.

 

Are you planning to purchase new speakers? What is your budget, more precisely than "limited"? What is your primary complaint about your current speakers?

One never knows, do one? - Fats Waller

The fairest thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science. - Einstein

Computer, Audirvana -> optical Ethernet to Fitlet3 -> Fibbr Alpha Optical USB -> iFi NEO iDSD DAC -> Apollon Audio 1ET400A Mini (Purifi based) -> Vandersteen 3A Signature.

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Hi everyone,

Please advise on the best way to analyse sound quality of my speakers (my budget is limited but would like to check once and for all which parameters make more sense).

Thanks a lot in advance for your help.

Chris

 

 

System: Synology 1513+, Samsung dedicated silence laptop, Foobar2000, Asus Muse USB DAC, NAD 275 BEE amp and Monitor Audio Gold 300 speakers.

 

 

Are you thinking of doing room measurements and analysis with something like REW (free, but donate to it if you find it as helpful as I)? Be careful here, in some ways - ignorance is bliss, and opening that can of worms can lead to many, many late nights, frustration, and a steep learning curve. The end, corrected results certainly justify the means, but it's a big commitment.

Ryzen 3900x Roon Core PC -> Intel i9900k HQPlayer W10 machine -> iFi Zen Stream NAA

Holo May KTE, Benchmark LA4 preamp

SMC Audio upgraded DNA-125 Amp

Dynaudio Confidence C2 Platinum speakers

Vinyl rig - Schiit Sol, Nagaoka MP-500, Mod Squad PhonoDrive phono stage

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Hi Jud, thanks for your comment, but no, in fact I am quite happy with my system as is, but I am looking for simple, inexpensive and logical steps to improve my listening experience - the "anatomy" of my living room being quite complex I thought sound measurements & room correction could make a big difference.

Thanks,

Chris

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Hi toddrhodes, yes indeed I would like to do some room measurements. I appreciate your comment but I am ready to invest time if people think it's worth a try. I will look into REW which I didn't know before.

Thanks,

Chris

 

Hi Chris - REW is a very capable, albeit intimidating to the first, second, and maybe even third-time user, but given time and practice it reveals a LOT that we just become accustomed to in our listening rituals, but that can be corrected and improve our experience. Flat frequency response, for example, is something many strive for as a baseline and then tweak to their liking, but may not realize they have a significant gain or null at certain frequencies. Our brains are pretty awesome at filling in gaps, but getting the response to a better place just makes everything seem better. And again, I like a bit of a smiley face curve, give me a little extra thump and a little more sparkle up top with a neutral midrange and I'm happy.

 

Then you get into issues like phase response (which I don't fully understand) and reflections, and the gains to be had there in terms of staging and imaging are pronounced and palpable - WELL worth the effort to find and correct them. This comes from measuring different speaker positions, listening positions, toe-in, and room treatments. This is where things get tedious but, IMO, very worthwhile.

 

In my setup, I have a Dayton Audio EMM-6 Mic and an MXL USB Mic Preamp. I then run JRiver in "Wasapi loopback" mode so I can play the output sound of REW's sweeps through the JRiver processing engine so that any changes I make in Parametric EQ or Room Correction (which is now disabled, thanks to REW) are easily visible on subsequent measurements. That combination is NOT necessary when making phase or Impulse (aka reflections, for the sake of simplicity) measurements, which is nice in my setup since it's a bit of a chore to get the Mic and even my PC Display to show me my audio PC instead of my "standard" PC which I'm typing this on.

 

There are plenty of other options but honestly, I've only had seat time with REW to speak of. I tried out Dirac Live but was not happy with it. I have theories on why it didn't work for me specifically but having little expertise with it, I'd just be speculating so I'll just leave it at that. HomeTheaterShack.com has all kinds of information and the download for REW if you want to dig further. Good luck - and happy Googling ;)

Ryzen 3900x Roon Core PC -> Intel i9900k HQPlayer W10 machine -> iFi Zen Stream NAA

Holo May KTE, Benchmark LA4 preamp

SMC Audio upgraded DNA-125 Amp

Dynaudio Confidence C2 Platinum speakers

Vinyl rig - Schiit Sol, Nagaoka MP-500, Mod Squad PhonoDrive phono stage

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