by Maxxwire » Sat Nov 12, 2005 1:06 pm
How can we eliminate the negative effects of Resonance on our Audio and Video equipment so that it can peform exactly the way that it was designed to?
The first natural reaction would be to call Resonance the enemy and try to totally eliminate it, but can that ever be totally achieved here on Earth?
According to Mike Vans Evers who in the following article explains that in order to get our equipment to be free from the nagative effects of Resonance and sound neutral again we must spread the Resonance out evenly over the entire spectrum-
THE GORY DETAILS
"Or How Can There Be Too Much Detail?"
by: Mike Vans Evers
How can there be too much "detail?" The answer is easy: When the recording, mastering, or playback equipment puts in more detail than the sound-of-the-musicians-playing had in the first place.
That was a very brief answer. To see where the answer came from, we''ll have to do some exploring. In my previous work The Art & Science of Audio System Tuning," I developed two axioms and a corollary which formed the basis for the rest of the paper.
AXIOM #1: Because of the tunneling effect and piezoelectric and triboelectric properties, wire is microphonic. As a result, energy from a mechanical resonance affects the flow of electrical energy through a conductor in such a way as to audibly emphasize the notes and overtones that coincide with the frequency of that resonance. If we change the way a conductor (wire or PC traces) vibrates and/or resonates, we change the way it sounds. Thus, in a sense, wire can be thought of as a "mechanical" tone control.
AXIOM #2: The "Resonance Response" of an audio system is always a major factor in its musicality.
The most musically neutral systems will have their resonances spread out evenly with no clumps or gaps in their distribution...just as the best listening rooms have an even distribution of standing waves.
An even distribution of resonances establishes a level playing field for all of music's notes and overtones, allows the proper harmonic balance of the music to be preserved, and maximizes listening enjoyment.
Corollary No.1: No products are universal; just because a signal-path component or an "accessory" sounds good in one place, it does NOT mean it will sound good everywhere.
These axioms are a lens that we can use in finding the answer to not just this particular question, but also to many of the other perplexing questions in audio today.
Audio equipment is supposed to be designed to have as little contribution from the electronics as possible.
This goal has, for the most part, actually been met. Disputes arise when the acoustic properties of electronics are mistakenly thought to result from variations in electric and electronic circuit topologies. At the level of today''s electronic design, sonic differences are just as often the result of mechanical resonances as they are from circuit variations. (Axiom #1 in action.)
A second lens which will increase our resolving power is the concept of teamwork. In the many arenas of life, it usually takes teamwork to win.
When fighting for sonic "truth," this is especially true. Many players have to work together in the proper balance if the goal is to be met. In this case, the team goal is sonic "truth," or neutrality.
The players in the sonic "truth" team include: Midrange Purity, Natural Warmth, Bass Extension & Weight, 3-Dimensionality, and Details & Nuances. If the balance shifts from the team goal to the glorification of any one team member, sonic "truth" is lost. (Axiom #2 in action.)
There is a common desire to hear all the "detail" that resides in an audio recording. It''s a fair and understandable goal.
We struggle and fight to acquire the proper equipment and recordings that will take us ever closer to the holy grail of "being there," and detail & nuance is a starting player in this conflict. However, there are a few details about "detail" that aren''t commonly known or understood.
The first follows from an understanding of the acoustic nature of electronics. Yes, electronics are supposed to be neutral and not contribute to the sound of a system...too bad this is completely and unequivocally incorrect.
Why? Because wire is a mechanical tone control; if you change how it vibrates by coupling a new resonance to it, you change how it sounds. In previous writings I have used this as my main working premise. Some will reject it because currently it is without measurements to back it up. However, this premise has shown itself to be an accurate predictor of effects, and because of this it is scientific...a lack of measurements does not mean it does not exist, it does mean we don''t know everything about how to measure it.
By merely changing the thickness or material of any part of a product, its sound has to change; several well regarded equipment manufacturers have confided that prototypes do not sound like the production version--even if they use the same electronic parts and circuit. But!! Not everyone will be able to hear the difference. Not everyone who plays golf makes par, and fewer still make birdies. Listening is every bit as much of a skill as is playing golf, and there are excellent as well as poor golfers and listeners.
The second detail is a consequence of the first the sound from a recording is a composite of:
1) the electrical and acoustic sound of the artist''s music, and
2) the electrical and acoustic sound of the recording equipment.
Luckily, the electrical sound of most modern recording (and playback) systems are quite neutral. This leaves the acoustic contribution of the equipment, which is a result of the sum total of its mechanical resonances. What an acoustic instrument is made from and how it is made determines its sound; as a result of my hands-on research, I believe it''s much the same in the case of electronics.
Regular light is a chaotic mix of photons heading in many different directions. It takes a concerted effort to make them line up in a straight line like those in a laser beam. The mechanical resonances in an audio system are as chaotic as the photons in regular light; it takes effort to make them line up into an even distribution so that the effects from these resonances are equal for every note in the music that we wish to enjoy.
When the distribution is not even, we have sound that is not neutral. But, this lack of neutrality can still be enjoyable, depending on the amount and direction of the shift from neutrality and the listening tastes or philosophy of the listener. An over emphasis of one sonic area is all too often realized by well meaning manufacturers, dealers, and consumers because the acoustic nature of audio equipment is poorly recognized.
Midrange enthusiasts will prefer a system that has either more mechanical resonances in the midrange, or a smoother distribution of midrange resonances than it has to have (for them) in the bass or treble regions, and so on. In the same way, those who prize detail above all else will often have a system whose sound is unnaturally detailed because they aren''t aware of this particular audio pitfall. In the fight to get "all the detail off the recording," they build, recommend, or buy equipment that may be flat electrically, but has an unequal distribution of mechanical resonances, i.e. too many in the "detail" region of the audio spectrum (upper midrange to treble.) They have fallen into the trap of believing that audio equipment is neutral because they believe that it is what the measurements mean.
The sonic details inherent in a recording can be only be correctly portrayed when there is a balance to the spread of the mechanical resonances in an audio listening system: they must be distributed equally. The fight is not for the common goal of more and more detail, for that way ultimately creates imbalance and defeats the concept of neutrality. The fight for neutrality is only won when balance is achieved between all the starting players: detail & nuances, midrange purity, natural warmth, bass extension & weight, and
3-dimensionality.
It is very easy to achieve more "detail" in playback than the source had in the beginning. Just use detailed electronics, high-definition speakers, analytic wire accessories, brass or ceramic cone feet and glass/metal equipment stands in an under-damped room. (It''ll run you out of the room in 5 minutes or less with all that "detail.") In the end it comes down to what you are fighting for, sonic "truth" or your preferred version. Either way is perfectly correct from an individualistic standpoint...the sticky part comes in knowing which is which.
Mike Vans Evers
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~Maxx~

