What HIFI?

[First Aid]

Something on another thread made me wonder...
most people i've worked with including myself have pretty shitty systems/ listening enviroments at home or in the car despite doing a day job using some of the highest spec audio kit out there!

WHY?

i reckon its probably something to do with needing a real world reference and a break from the detail for those few hours off!

anyone else noticed/suffer from this and got any explanations?

[UnderTow]

Originally Posted by First Aid

Something on another thread made me wonder...
most people i've worked with including myself have pretty shitty systems/ listening enviroments at home or in the car despite doing a day job using some of the highest spec audio kit out there!

WHY?

i reckon its probably something to do with needing a real world reference and a break from the detail for those few hours off!

anyone else noticed/suffer from this and got any explanations?

I only ever listen to music at home in my home studio. Nothing amazing but it certainly beats most HiFi systems. I really don't like to listen to crappy HiFis. I prefer silence.

Am I the exception? Or are there more people like me that find "bad sound" annoying and prefer not to listen?

Alistair

[First Aid]

i'm not sure i'd say i enjoy the lo fi sound just i think it may be useful in a sense of not forgetting that most people will never hear the music in the same way the engineer gets to.

i hate crap sound but for some reason haven't felt the need to spend big money on the systems i use in everyday life and find them a useful reference to listen to mixes/masters on as i've heard so much varied music through them.

maybe one day i'll get a manley rig

[Waltz Mastering]

After listening hyper critically for 6 or so hours a day in the studio, it's good to turn-off and hear a song for a song and not a recording.

TV sound is the hardest for me to deal with outside of the studio. I'm convinced 95% of all broadcast are "badly" brickwalled and are very fatiguing to my ears.

[Bob Olhsson]

The problem is that lo-fi systems are all over the map with a huge variety of different problems. Compensating a problem for one can easily sound absurd when played on a different cheap system.

High quality monitors help us to drag things into the ballpark for all while offering a special treat to those who chose to invest in better sounding audio gear.

[First Aid]

TV sound on most channels is terrible especially the ads! unsurprisingly the bbc usually wins out on both counts!

sometimes the bad sound and inane banter of the TV is just what you need for half an hour at the end of the day though...

[UnderTow]

Originally Posted by Waltz Mastering

TV sound is the hardest for me to deal with outside of the studio. I'm convinced 95% of all broadcast are "badly" brickwalled and are very fatiguing to my ears.

Ah yes. I find listening to my TV more fatiguing than listening to my studio monitors even when they are playing 2x, 3x, 4x times as loud. (Well I try to avoid the most crushed and clipped material).

And yes, most TV broadcast is badly brick-walled. And not just once! Once in the studio (and once before if you include most music added to the program), once at the TV station and more often than not, once at the cable company. (Certainly with digital cable TV). It is amazing anything gets through!

Alistair

[First Aid]

Originally Posted by Bob Olhsson

The problem is that lo-fi systems are all over the map with a huge variety of different problems. Compensating a problem for one can easily sound absurd when played on a different cheap system.

High quality monitors help us to drag things into the ballpark for all while offering a special treat to those who chose to invest in better sounding audio gear.

of course, never mix to the lower standard! I'm sure we all know a good master should translate well anywhere, so not so much as to get the middy reference from mixcubes or boombox etc. to check the radio mix, something any good mix engineer should probably be doing anyway but more just to put yourself in the position of the average listener by trying to be one for a little bit each day or so rather than just checking what they're getting for a few seconds when A/B'ing a mix.

I think if i had a top notch system at home and/or in the car i could lose touch up my own arse a bit...

[tribeofenki]

a nice question and true indeed... do not know why, but most of the people seem prone to categories as: sound engineer, composer, audiophile...

I just dived into audiophile scene after my first dive into music engineering.
Just seemed a necessary step. For now, Harman Kardon Surround armed w/ Infinity woofers. Nice Booming here.

[UnderTow]

Originally Posted by First Aid

unsurprisingly the bbc usually wins out on both counts!

I just watched Top Gear. It certainly wasn't crushed to death.

Alistair

[finetuner]

My explanation is that after spending all your money on a mastering setup, there's nothing left for a decent home system...

Besides that, i can certainly relate to this:

Originally Posted by Waltz Mastering

After listening hyper critically for 6 or so hours a day in the studio, it's good to turn-off and hear a song for a song and not a recording..

[First Aid]

Originally Posted by UnderTow

I just watched Top Gear. It certainly wasn't crushed to death.

Alistair

No but that Evo definitely was! The BBC set or helped develop a lot of the audio standards we all swear by today so once they start screwing it up we're all in trouble!

[lerone]

Originally Posted by First Aid

Something on another thread made me wonder...
most people i've worked with including myself have pretty shitty systems/ listening enviroments at home or in the car despite doing a day job using some of the highest spec audio kit out there!

WHY?

i reckon its probably something to do with needing a real world reference and a break from the detail for those few hours off!

anyone else noticed/suffer from this and got any explanations?

Wow, that is the complete opposite to me. I can't actually handle listening to music on crap sound systems anymore, It really irritates me and just winds me up a bit. The tv in our house sound fairly dire, so when the missus watches something i have to put up with it. OCD

[wado1942]

My home theater is about as good as my studio monitors. Actually, the mains are just a LITTLE bit better but I also don't have a sub.

[Peakly]

Originally Posted by First Aid

most people i've worked with including myself have pretty shitty systems/ listening enviroments at home or in the car despite doing a day job using some of the highest spec audio kit out there!

That's me. The studio has Von Schweikerts and Hsus and several other options, but the only sound system in the house is a 10 year old cheap ass boom box that my kids don't want anymore. When I think about it, it doesn't make any sense. But I play everything on it from Bob Marley to Handel, and it sounds fine! It doesn't bother me a bit.

Maybe like you said, it's a relief to not care and just listen to music without analyzing anything.

Mychal

[jdg]

i have PC speakers at home hooked up to the TV. sounds better then the TV speakers

[First Aid]

Originally Posted by Peakly

Maybe like you said, it's a relief to not care and just listen to music without analyzing anything.

Mychal

i think you're right it's the not caring bit that's important, just being able to at worst go 'ooh bit of sibilance on that vocal... oh yeah not my problem!'

having said that i probably wouldn't even notice it once i'm at home!

[First Aid]

Originally Posted by lerone

Wow, that is the complete opposite to me. I can't actually handle listening to music on crap sound systems anymore, It really irritates me and just winds me up a bit. The tv in our house sound fairly dire, so when the missus watches something i have to put up with it. OCD

what does bother me however is crap PA's at events. There is no excuse and it's always cheapskate promoters to blame for not forking out for some competent pros and getting the local idiot in who has been in PA for 3 years and kept buying more kit he can't control as a solution to his problem of not being able to make 2 amps 4 speakers and a small desk make a decent sound from the start.

This happened recently near me at a De La Soul show. 3 mics and Serrato, how difficult can it be?!!!

surely this is an area where music is supposed to be presented at it's best?

[lerone]

Originally Posted by SafeandSound

I often listen to AM radio in the car and actually love the distortion that
my in car stereo produces even at low volumes (like a compressor with a power supply incapable of supplying enough juice.) It's about 4 watts per channel !

Once I heard a system in a restaurant in India playing back music and
it seemed the batteries they run it off were compressing the bass and peaks
in a beautifully distorted and musical way as it failed to supply power well enough.

(OH yeah I am a real fun guy to be on holidays with....)

There is probably a new compressor topology there "starved circuit"
or "PSU slump slam" or "Mu'i Droopy PSU "..... LOL

"Yeah I am just going to run it through the Droopotron SAG4000 just to round the edges off"

saying that, at my mums house, shes got a shitty small radio in the kitchen and i secretly love the tone control. its sounds shockingngly smooth for what it is.

[Phil Cibley]

Originally Posted by First Aid

Something on another thread made me wonder...
most people i've worked with including myself have pretty shitty systems/ listening enviroments at home or in the car despite doing a day job using some of the highest spec audio kit out there!

WHY?

i reckon its probably something to do with needing a real world reference and a break from the detail for those few hours off!

anyone else noticed/suffer from this and got any explanations?

Most of the time after concentrating intensely all day on the sound of things,
I really don't want to listen to any music at home. My mid-level system is just
fine. There is a difference between listening to the MUSIC and listening to the
SOUND. For listening to the music, you don't really need the highest rez system
out there.

[William Bowden]

In our kitchen we have a small pair of super cheap Tannoys that won our shoot out at the $200 mark years ago. This was powered by my first ever amp, an old pioneer. I bought it when I was fifteen for a hundred dollars - I'm now 43.

About a year ago one channel died, 'er indoors was not pleased, and when I pulled the hood, I could see the culprit - an old leaky cap, and it's fellow (Rch) looked pretty sick as well. The thing was it was going to be a real bugger to pull apart and just didn't seem worth it. So the kitchen was mono for the next six months, and the nagging...

When the amp finally died, I pulled out an old Astronic tube pair of monoblocs with matching pre that I had restored several years before - a lovely old thing that my ex girlfriend and I had loved dearly, but which had been in storage for some reason or another (probably because it was the 50th item hauled in from the removal truck and I was asked for the umpteenth time that day "What is that old piece of shit?").

So I cleaned all the contacts, plumbed it in, and voila - it worked.

Well the reaction from the wife was, how shall I put it, somewhat ecstatic!

Sadly now she plays more music at home than ever, and can't understand why everyone doesn't have a tube amp... And I've been told to stock up on EF86's in case heaven forbid the amp should die - I'll get no supper (or other err things).

But as they say "Happy wife, happy life", so maybe the home system is something you should look into chaps.

The King

[inlinenl]

Originally Posted by William Bowden

Well the reaction from the wife was, how shall I put it, somewhat ecstatic!

The King

yep, the kitchen table is always great to put on a decent mix ....

[William Bowden]

lol

The King

[UnderTow]

Originally Posted by inlinenl

yep, the kitchen table is always great to put on a decent mix ....

YouTube - Kitchen diaries

Alistair

[macc]

Originally Posted by lerone

Wow, that is the complete opposite to me. I can't actually handle listening to music on crap sound systems anymore, It really irritates me and just winds me up a bit. The tv in our house sound fairly dire, so when the missus watches something i have to put up with it. OCD

Same here.

[OMNIFEX]

Originally Posted by William Bowden

When the amp finally died, I pulled out an old Astronic tube pair of monoblocs with matching pre that I had restored several years before - a lovely old thing that my ex girlfriend and I had loved dearly, but which had been in storage for some reason or another (probably because it was the 50th item hauled in from the removal truck and I was asked for the umpteenth time that day "What is that old piece of shit?").

So I cleaned all the contacts, plumbed it in, and voila - it worked.

Well the reaction from the wife was, how shall I put it, somewhat ecstatic!

Sadly now she plays more music at home than ever, and can't understand why everyone doesn't have a tube amp... And I've been told to stock up on EF86's in case heaven forbid the amp should die - I'll get no supper (or other err things).

But as they say "Happy wife, happy life", so maybe the home system is something you should look into chaps.

The King

I would imagine your wife has grown so accustomed to hearing music through modern-day systems, she has forgotten how good music used to sound when marketing did not play a major role in audio as it does today.

With the amount of Ipods and Mini Systems found in many homes, it is not surprising she would fancy the valve sound.

One just needs to hear valves through quality speakers to understand why many continue to use them.

I tend to compare using my valve pre-amp in and out the chain frequently, to explain why I’ve invested so much on NOS ECC 81, 82 and, 83 on Ebay.

Cheers!

[Peakly]

Originally Posted by William Bowden

So the kitchen was mono for the next six months, and the nagging...

Ha ha! Been there.

YouTube - Kitchen diaries

Amazing!

[skuttbergsveen]

I often burn a reference cd-copy and check it in my car on a average stereo-system. I like it for checking "S"-ess, they are distorting if they are to heavy. On my 802D they´re not distorting, just being loud.

[Silver Sonya]

Most serious engineers have at least a decent set of bookshelf speakers at home. Mine are KEFs. In the bedroom.

In the kitchen, we have one of these and it's fantastic. Big-sounding and warm, easy on the ears. Not too bright. Fantastic for blasting music when you are cooking. Spaghetti gets "Astral Weeks," salad gets "Whipsmart," quiche gets "Saxophone Colossus"...

- c

[OMNIFEX]

My kitchen system consist of this with a 10-band equaliser and, a CD Player on top.

Cheers!