smooth vocals

[edam]

:doh: hi, many of my cds with female vocals have a slight distortion on the very high frequencys. i would like to smooth this distortion away if poss. the cdp is a cyrus cd6se, amp 6xp, wireworld oasis 6 interconecter. I have tried differant interconetors without any real high frequency change.

The sound (music), apart from the vocal problem is great to my ears.

-Would a high quality DAC improve or smooth the high frequency?

-Would a valve preamp help without degading the over all cd6se sound? If so, I would be pleased if you could recomend one.

-Replace cd6se for a valve cdp?

Thank you.

 

[CnoEvil]

Hi Edam, and welcome to the forum.

What speakers do you have and what is your budget?.......IMO. Carefully chosen componants can make a big difference.

 

[edam]

hi cno evil , speakers are pmc db1i's they are great! budget- depedent on soultion?

 

[CnoEvil]

I agree about the speakers; but without any idea of your budget, I don't know what price range to recommend.

Are you prepared to sell on the Cyrus stuff?

 

[edam]

are you surgesting the high frequecy problem is un fixable with the cyrus

 

[Anonymous]

My advice,would be to eliminate any speaker positioning problems that might be effecting the sound quality( cheapest). That done try just using generic interconnects ( yes the black and red ones) and multiple strand speaker cable. If this doesn't make a difference then maybe audition some different amp cd combos or as you suggested a valve preamp. Audio Note, Little dot III might be worth a look for a valve Pre amp Or try and listen to a Class A amp.

 

[CnoEvil]

Please bear in mind that this is my personal view, and is not set in stone......but yes, I think the problem is the Cyrus (not my favorite brand)......if you want to retain the Cyrus, you are probably looking at a change of speakers (Spendor, Sonus Faber or possibly Proac).

For CDPs look to Pathos; Rega and Unison Research.

For amps look to Lavardin; Sugden; Audio Analogue and Electrocompaniet; Icon Audio and Unison Research.

 

[edam]

cnoevil and limey, thank you for your replies, i might well look into getting a valve bassed cdp, ta

 

[plastic penguin]

:doh: hi, many of my cds with female vocals have a slight distortion on the very high frequencys. i would like to smooth this distortion away if poss. the cdp is a cyrus cd6se, amp 6xp, wireworld oasis 6 interconecter. I have tried differant interconetors without any real high frequency change.

The sound (music), apart from the vocal problem is great to my ears.

-Would a high quality DAC improve or smooth the high frequency?

-Would a valve preamp help without degading the over all cd6se sound? If so, I would be pleased if you could recomend one.

-Replace cd6se for a valve cdp?

Thank you.

When you say a slight distortion are you talking about sibilance?

 

[CnoEvil]

cnoevil and limey, thank you for your replies, i might well look into getting a valve bassed cdp, ta

It's also worth trying a Class A / Valve amp with the Cyrus CDP, as this may have a greater effect.

 

[eternaloptimist]

I suspect its your speakers...

I am obviously biased towards Cyrus (see sig!) but have not had the described problem with B&W and now Audiovector speakers. Treble is beautiful with female vocal, classical piano, oboe concertos etc.

I suggest trialing different speakers if possible.

Good luck!

 

[edam]

hi plastic penguin, yes, maybe sibilance is the right word.....

 

[plastic penguin]

I would suggest it's not the speakers: heard the DB1is on Naim, Arcam and Leema systems, and generally speaking, distortion is mainly audible with analytical (or clinical) sounding set-ups. That falls into the territory of Cyrus. Although when I've heard Cyrus gear, recently, I didn't detect any sibilance or distortion.

Given my (fairly limited) experience with Cyrus, they do major on vocals. That is one quality I like about Cyrus, but would be interesting to know what cables th OP is using. Although cables don't make a significant difference IMHO, they can tweak the tonal qualities.

 

[eternaloptimist]

Thinking about this further.... I wonder about the 6XP amp. I haven't had (or heard) any of the 6 serious integrated amps.

The CD6SE is a remarkable CDP and in my system certainly does not mash vocals.

I am told that, with the amps, the fun with Cyrus starts with the 8 series. I found the 8vs2 great, but moving to the Pre- Power combo upped the ante.

Are you able to trial another integrated amp?

 

[Kevin Stephens]

I solved this very problem (eg Joni Mitchell - California) by upgrading my interconnects to Chord Chorus 2. May be a totaly different situation to yours but could be worth tring a home demo

 

[plastic penguin]

Thinking about this further.... I wonder about the 6XP amp. I haven't had (or heard) any of the 6 serious integrated amps.

The CD6SE is a remarkable CDP and in my system certainly does not mash vocals.

I am told that, with the amps, the fun with Cyrus starts with the 8 series. I found the 8vs2 great, but moving to the Pre- Power combo upped the ante.

Are you able to trial another integrated amp?

From personal experience of sibilance, a simple change of cables may do the trick: I would be looking at Chord interconnects and maybe SilverScreen speaker cables, as this will probably tame the Cyruses exuberance - or take the edge off the slightly clinically 'inclined' set-up.

 

[chebby]

Before spending anything, take the offending CDs to a local dealer and listen to them on some different setups of roughly equivalent cost/type. This will hopefully tell you whether the problem is intrinsic to your system (or some part of it) or the recordings themselves.

 

[CnoEvil]

This hobby is so subjective, that you will get strongly opposing opinions, with people robustly defending their choices.

Take all on board, and try different combinations until you hit on the right one.

The most musical cables I've heard are made by Cardas (and yes I know I'm deluded ).

 

[edam]

hi chebby, i have already taken the cds to my local dealer played them in audiolab 8200 and cyrus cd8se. the sibilance was still there. I have bought new copys of the cds (kd lang -49th parallel and joni mitchells - ladie of the canyon), still the same problem, to my ears. plenty of my other cds show sibilance as well- may try cord interconctors. thanks again

 

[plastic penguin]

hi chebby, i have already taken the cds to my local dealer played them in audiolab 8200 and cyrus cd8se. the sibilance was still there. I have bought new copys of the cds (kd lang -49th parallel and joni mitchells - ladie of the canyon), still the same problem, to my ears. plenty of my other cds show sibilance as well- may try cord interconctors. thanks again

Given that you've checked the cds, then cables are the obvious way forward. If new cables don't work then I suggest that the Cyrus isn't the sound for you.

 

[garyw77]

Hi

As you can see from my sig i am currently running Cyrus through the PMC DB1i's.

I too had this problem originally when i was running with the Arcam rDac and my previous cables.

Since moving to the M2Tech Young Dac (A huge step up in performance) and upgrading my cables to the Audioquest DBS variants (both interconnects and speaker cables) the problem was solved.

As PP suggested, i would first try to improve the cabling and finally if needed maybe look at a good quality DAC.

Just information based on actual experience of your problem with the same kind of kit....

 

[chebby]

hi chebby, i have already taken the cds to my local dealer played them in audiolab 8200 and cyrus cd8se. the sibilance was still there.

So it seems it's the recordings that are to blame for the sibilance.

 

[edam]

thanks plastic penguin, will try some more interconnects, edam

 

[chebby]

Given that you've checked the cds, then cables are the obvious way forward.

I don't get that.

If the sibilance is apparent on different CD players then how are the cables an 'obvious' fix?

Assuming a 'good cable' means a more revealing cable, then you will just get the same sibilance with even more clarity and definition.

 

[plastic penguin]

Given that you've checked the cds, then cables are the obvious way forward.

I don't get that.

If the sibilance is apparent on different CD players then how are the cables an 'obvious' fix?

Assuming a 'good cable' means a more revealing cable, then you will just get the same sibilance with even more clarity and definition.

No, wasn't what I meant. I'm not saying that a change of cable will be better - more of the case that a lesser cable may eradicate the sibilance. However, the OP seems reluctant to divulge their full kit, so I'm just assuming that cables maybe a way forward, as opposed to spending fortunes on new (or different) CDPs and amps.