Sweet treble? Whats that?

wilro15

New member
Jan 19, 2012
74
1
0
Visit site
I've got my head around most of the words used to describe hi-fi such as warm, bright, PRaT, etc.

What I have never understood is "sweet treble" - does that mean it is bright? Detailed? Fatiguing?

Whats your understanding of the phrase "sweet treble"?
 

matthewpiano

Well-known member
What it means to me is that the treble sound isn't thin, harsh and/or metallic but neither is it shut-in or too rolled-off as the frequency rises. Essentially it is important for higher string sounds in orchestral music, where you want to get a strong impression of the real timbre of the violin - enough detail to really enjoy the full extent of the playing but no strangulation of the tonal body of the instrument. Of course, it is also important for other high register instruments and voices as well, but upper strings are a real tell-tale of how good the treble performance of a system is.
 

drummerman

New member
Jan 18, 2008
540
3
0
Visit site
I think the term 'sweet' itself will preclude adjectives such as 'fatiguing'.

To me 'sweet' means in proportion with the rest of the frequency range, pleasant to listen to. For for some it (may) lack the last word of 'excitement' and 'air'. -

Ways to achieve this are manyfold as are reasons why this may not be the case.
 

CnoEvil

New member
Aug 21, 2009
556
13
0
Visit site
matthewpiano said:
What it means to me is that the treble sound isn't thin, harsh and/or metallic but neither is it shut-in or too rolled-off as the frequency rises. Essentially it is important for higher string sounds in orchestral music, where you want to get a strong impression of the real timbre of the violin - enough detail to really enjoy the full extent of the playing but no strangulation of the tonal body of the instrument. Of course, it is also important for other high register instruments and voices as well, but upper strings are a real tell-tale of how good the treble performance of a system is.

This would also be my reading of "sweet"...ie. The opposite of harsh, which can be caused by distortion, sibilance etc, creating a hard edge to the treble, which is particularly audible on Cymbals/Violins/Snare Drums/Sopranos and even piano (notoriously difficult to get right).

If you are too aware of the treble, then it isn't "right".
 

Jota180

Well-known member
May 14, 2010
27
3
18,545
Visit site
There is no industry wide reference for subjective terms. We can all have our own idea but since everyone is different one persons subjective description may be irrelevant to someone else.

Someone may describe a cup of coffee with one spoon of sugar in it as sweet. I wouldn't. Even if it had two I still wouldn't since I need three in mine for it to taste sweet. But 20 odd years ago I'd have said 4 sugars in a coffee wasn't sweet since I used to take 6.
 

rainsoothe

Well-known member
drummerman said:
I think the term 'sweet' itself will preclude adjectives such as 'fatiguing'.

To me 'sweet' means in proportion with the rest of the frequency range, pleasant to listen to. For for some it (may) lack the last word of 'excitement' and 'air'. -

Ways to achieve this are manyfold as are reasons why this may not be the case.

same for me
 

SteveR750

Well-known member

Lack of intermodulation distortion. So a cymbal sounds like a piece of tempered and crafted metal being hit wqith a varying amount of force and part of stick, rather than a grainy indistinct fuzz.
 

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts