| Struggling with understanding TONALITY in speakers [message #61103] |
Tue, 29 September 2009 19:12  |
Marlboro
Messages: 403
Registered: May 2009
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Illuminati (1st Degree) |
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Every since Rick commented that some point source speakers run circles around Line arrays in "tonality", but hasn't taken time to explain his meaning of that, I've been wondering if I'm the only black sheep who doesn't know how to listen for that.
I've been searching the internet and my books for some kind of understanding that I could listen for.
The following combination of quotes is the best I've found so far, and I'm wondering if this is what people here are defining quality TONALITY as being:
"So what sonic clues should immediately become evident? What attributes do we listen for, and what weaknesses should we be mindful of? Let's start with the midrange, which is where most musical content resides, and where our hearing is by far the most sensitive. (Yes, I know we all love bass, but a speaker must reproduce the midrange smoothly if we are ultimately going to like it.) If a loudspeaker nails the midrange precisely, without harsh-sounding peaks, or dips that make the mids sound muffled and distant, it will tell your ears immediately whether you will accept it as natural and "musical." If not, you'll reject it as tonally false or "colored," and music won't sound realistic. We've all heard speech and we're familiar with the sound and nuances of male and female voices. And we've all grown up hearing pop music, which mostly features vocalists or groups of singers, as well as live choruses, the latter in schools or church, or even the national anthem at sporting events. Therefore, a good place to start is with a good CD of an individual singer or a group.
"A choral recording of men's and women's voices is an excellent test of midrange clarity and detail: Can you separate the four parts of a chorus--the male basses and tenors, and the female altos and sopranos? The sopranos are the highest-pitched female vocals; the altos are lower. You should be able to hear each section of a choir clearly. Speakers with depressed midrange response make all choirs sound somewhat muffled and blurred, wooly or "fuzzy" sounding. Almost any modern CD of Handel's Hallelujah chorus from "The Messiah" will do
"Some classic rock recordings like Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms are very well recorded, with natural-sounding vocals, deep bass, and guitar lines that aren't harsh. Likewise Eric Clapton's Unplugged DVD is an engineering stand-out."
What think ye?
Marlboro
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