What is good music/sound?

[gasolin]

What is good music/sound?

I like pink floyd, u2, dire straits, sting, the beatles, rollings stones.......yello and kraftwerk is also very good.

I like it when i don't think about the sound from the hifi, surround system, if the bass is deep enough or if the tweeter is to bright or to low, a audio system where you want to listen to music and enjoy listening to the music because it sounds just right.

I have such a system, not expensive, not at all as much bass as cerwin vegas,and even if i can play loud with my system, it's not at all as power full as a big heavy amplifier and big speaker from B&W,JBL,Dali,Dynaudio

I have a Denon DRA-F109 (lots of power and denon is one of the best at making small affordable hifi systems), an optical cable from my motherboard to the reciver, Qed Original speaker cable to my Dali zensor 1, great litte speakers, using them on my desktop, so i am listening to them as near field speakers, not fare away from where i am sitting, if i play modern eletronic music theres a god bass and they do play loud, i can really turn the volume up on my reciver without distortion, not even from the bass playing something like In Chain from Depeche Modes Remixes, Vol2:81-11 theres no distortion(have never turned the volume up to max, which is 60, 30-40 usually do the trick).

I now wait impatiently for my IsoAcoustic iso l8r 155 speaker stands, other then that i only think sometimes the upper midrange is a bit to soft or less open, but most of the time the upper midrange is very good, i think it's because of the Qed speaker cable (so an affordable alternative to Qed original would be appreciated, so i know what to buy instead of the Qed i have, if i deside to get som new speaker cable)

What do you think is good music/sound?

 

[DanielTura]

What music is good?easy..the one YOU like.

Only kids judge other ppls taste in music.

 

[BigH]

Not sure what you are asking for?

Do you want well recorded music? Here are a few artists to try: Steely Dan, Pink Floyd, Ry Cooder, Dire Straits, Calexico, Patricia Barber, Peter Gabriel, Lisa Gerrard, Dead Can Dance, Archive, Joe Jackson, Eric Bibb, Shelby Lynne last 3 albiums, Mary Gauthier, Ryan Adams, Ryan Bingham, He Xun-Tain and Michel Godard. That is a pretty generalised list not all there albums maybe great, some are better than others.

As for speaker cables I would look at Van Damme OFC 2.5mm about £5m or Supra 3.4 about £7.20m. The VD many rate as better than cables like Chord Rumor. I would wait until you have your speaker stands and experiment with positioning before changing cables. Also listening to them that close you may not get the same integration as further away.

 

[bluedroog]

It almost sounds like two questions, I’m not really sure.

I think good sound from your Hi-Fi is one that sounds as convincing as possible, it needs to render as much details as possible while still maintain a sense of emotion, it is hard to explain but you know when you hear it. I also find some genres far easier than others to get to the heard of the recording. Electronic music, vocal and acoustic seem to fair better for me.

In terms of music I like some of what you list; Pink Floyd and Kraftwerk I rate, not sure U2 have ever sounded good in any scenario though!

 

[steve_1979]

Have a listen to some Supertramp.

They're a good example of a band that produces nice sounding music that's also been recorded and mastered to a very high standard. If you ever get the chance have a listen to them on a good quality set of headphones because the sound quality of their music is fantastic.

 

[BigH]

Have a listen to some Supertramp.

They're a good example of a band that produces nice sounding music that's also been recorded and mastered to a very high standard. If you ever get the chance have a listen to them on a good quality set of headphones because the sound quality of their music is fantastic.

Yes I forgot about them.

 

[steve_1979]

A lot of classical music is well recorded too. Guiliano Carmignola's version of Vivaldi's Four Seasons is one good example that you can hear on Spotify.

 

[BigH]

And jazz to, even 50 year old jazz blows away many modern recordings.

 

[Hi-FiOutlaw]

Have a listen to some Supertramp.

They're a good example of a band that produces nice sounding music that's also been recorded and mastered to a very high standard. If you ever get the chance have a listen to them on a good quality set of headphones because the sound quality of their music is fantastic.

YES they have, and ALL, but ALL of the albums. And i've all in vinyl!

but for me there are 3 special ones:

- Free as a bird

- Crime or the century

- breakfast in America

ok, there's a fourth album but is the live one, Live in Paris!

In general all the records produced in the UK in the 80's have great sound quality!

 

[BigH]

Have a listen to some Supertramp.

They're a good example of a band that produces nice sounding music that's also been recorded and mastered to a very high standard. If you ever get the chance have a listen to them on a good quality set of headphones because the sound quality of their music is fantastic.

YES they have, and ALL, but ALL of the albums. And i've all in vinyl!

but for me there are 3 special ones:

- Free as a bird

- Crime or the century

- breakfast in America

ok, there's a fourth album but is the live one, Live in Paris!

In general all the records produced in the UK in the 80's have great sound quality!

70s vinyl was much better, in fact I stopped buying vinyl in the 80s because of poor quality, thin, warped, scratched etc.

 

[Hi-FiOutlaw]

Have a listen to some Supertramp.

They're a good example of a band that produces nice sounding music that's also been recorded and mastered to a very high standard. If you ever get the chance have a listen to them on a good quality set of headphones because the sound quality of their music is fantastic.

YES they have, and ALL, but ALL of the albums. And i've all in vinyl!

but for me there are 3 special ones:

- Free as a bird

- Crime or the century

- breakfast in America

ok, there's a fourth album but is the live one, Live in Paris!

In general all the records produced in the UK in the 80's have great sound quality!

70s vinyl was much better, in fact I stopped buying vinyl in the 80s because of poor quality, thin, warped, scratched etc.

Some of the 80's that i have, have great sound QL, Simple Minds, Tears for fears, Supetramp, Dire straits, Alison Moiet, Waterboys, Spandau ballet, Pet shop boys, Duran Duran all great soud QL albums!

 

[Hi-FiOutlaw]

Almoust forgot!

The Alan Parsons Project.

i think one of the band member is a sound engineer...

 

[gasolin]

What is good music,sound could be 2 questions, but it's a general question because music dosn't sound good if your listening to music that you like and that it's vell recorded, but played on a cheap an horrible sounding system, if the system is good you vill know if you have bough music with terrible sound (but could still be good if they musicians perform vell).

Those 2 things have to go up into 1 unit to make us want to listen to music and to enjoy more different music every day

We all like different thinks, some want loud as hell, some like logitech speakers, som like small speaker's , many have a cd play, but today it's more streaming music from you computer, more then ever.

Many people buy lots of new or used hifi products to get this felling that everybody wants, when they are listening to music, that it sound like they are in heaven, i try to optimize my system with the right speaker cable, for the money i want to spend, good speakers stands ....... so i can get 100% out of a cheap but good hifi system, rather then only 50-75% out of a expensive high end system (had such a system about 6-10 years ago) where many would be disapointed by the sound, compared to the price and would be more happy having a reasonable priced system like denon,marantz mini systems like the one i have or marantz m-cr603 with dali,Wharfdale,mission,kef.... speakers, that more easily can be optimzed to perform 100% and for the money sounds fantastic, where a big high end system you could be anoyed if it can't peform better the 35hz at -3 db instead of 25 hz at -3db, the subwoofer in you home cinema system is only 110 db loud or some other small detail, where a small systems like mine or the famous marantz M-cr603 with some of the great small speaker's you don't expect it to produce a lot of bass, that it's loud or even half decent compared to a big high end system, i vill beet you vill enjoy listening to music as much or even more with those tiny hifi systems and not think about db, power,bass,hz, as much as you do with high end system where it's more easy to hear every inperfection in the system/music (limitations) rather them listening to the music and enjoy it, like i do with my small system.

(Don't mind youtube at all like youtube alot, but i prefer uncomprimised music, do you stream music i mp3, ogg or some other compromised format?)

Bought the Qed Original speaker cable beacuse it has gotten good reviews and was affordable, but i think it's not the best for my system because of the upper midrange being sometimes a bit soft, less open,just a bit to laid back,slightly damped(1-2 db to low with the Qed cable?), it's not like i want it to be agressive, intrusive at all, just a bit less discret

 

[BigH]

Bought the Qed Original speaker cable beacuse it has gotten good reviews and was affordable, but i think it's not the best for my system because of the upper midrange being sometimes a bit soft, less open,just a bit to laid back,slightly damped(1-2 db to low with the Qed cable?), it's not like i want it to be agressive, intrusive at all, just a bit less discret

I can agree with some of your comments.

How do you know its your cable that is at fault rather than the amp/speakers?

 

[bluedroog]

Almoust forgot!

The Alan Parsons Project.

i think one of the band member is a sound engineer...

Eye in the Sky sounds amazing.

 

[bluedroog]

Almoust forgot!

The Alan Parsons Project.

i think one of the band member is a sound engineer...

Eye in the Sky sounds amazing.

 

[gasolin]

Almoust forgot!

The Alan Parsons Project.

i think one of the band member is a sound engineer...

Yes alan parson worked on the dark side of the moon

 

[gasolin]

And jazz to, even 50 year old jazz blows away many modern recordings.

Recordings in the old days where better, they didn't have all those electronic stuff we have today, back then they "listen" to the music when they where recording and mixing, and using there knowledge about placement of the speakers,microphones and other basic of acoustics, today if something is wrong with the recording, they use pc's,compressors and other electronic stuff they basically don't need... to adjust the sound with,on some records all sounds, sounds as if they are equally high(loud) which gives alot of fatigue because all sounds are loud all the time.

Some musicians, recording engeneers don't know how good music sounds, in a video i so on youtube a guy talking about a classic record (rock) sitting by the mixer he talked about how they recorded it, then george martin (the beatles) came in and sat at the mixer and also talked about the record and he adjusted the sound a bit and the first guy said wauw it sound good, like he has adjusted it ok so we could hear the music, but the comes an elderly man (might not have perfect hearing), he just used hes ears and experience and made the music sound much better in a matter of a few sec

 

[steve_1979]

Almoust forgot!

The Alan Parsons Project.

i think one of the band member is a sound engineer...

+1

The sound quality of Alan Parsons music is first class (even though their musical style isn't to everyones taste). He's also released a DVD set to help educate people on how to record, mix and master music for the best possible sound quality. Clicky

 

[AL13N]

Good music and good sound are two different elements.

Marriage of the two creates sonic bliss.

 

[iceman16]

Whenever I still feel excited before turning on my system and play my music IMO thats good music and good sound:rockout:

 

[gasolin]

Bought the Qed Original speaker cable beacuse it has gotten good reviews and was affordable, but i think it's not the best for my system because of the upper midrange being sometimes a bit soft, less open,just a bit to laid back,slightly damped(1-2 db to low with the Qed cable?), it's not like i want it to be agressive, intrusive at all, just a bit less discret

I can agree with some of your comments.

How do you know its your cable that is at fault rather than the amp/speakers?

In Denmark where i live we have a shop called hifi klubben (hifi club) where many buy there hifi products like nad, denon, cambridge,dali,B&W Cervin Vegas,ClasseAudio and brands like VDH and Qed. On there page for the Qed Original they wrote (translated 100% with google translate) The sound of the Original is warm and full-bodied, with a round top and a rich bass. It is therefore suitable for systems with a tendency to sound a bit bright and sharp, for example compact systems with small tripod speakers. So i thought i would try them for another set of speaker i had, but returned them and the amplifier before i got the Qed cable, then i got the dali's and the denon reciver and still wanted to try the affordable Qed originals, don't like a bright and sharp top (have also read some one using the Qed cable for a to bright sound system http://www.audioreview.com/cat/cables/speaker-cables/qed/qudos/prd_116576_1584crx.aspx the ccommment from januar 15, the Qed Qudos is surpose to be Original before the where called original) .

Can't say anything negative about the bas in generally other then it's precise and very good with moderne electronic music(4 stars), the top is not round, it has som sparkle as many have described the zensor 1's to have, but still comfortable to listen to, often a tweeter is to bright, can sound more bright if the bass is weak or slim (even if the tweeter level is neutral), with the dalis it's good concidering a bit more bass will suit the often sparkeling tweeter(5 stars) Midrange is also aproved with 5 stars BUT i feel that the upper midrange could be a bit more open or more power full,mabye 1-2 db, NOT a more agressive sound, some rock singers and females like celion dion and whitney houston can at times sound just a bit to soft, but the are loud, clear and can really reach high notes .

I haven't actually found a review of the Qed Original speaker cable where an expert talk about how the sound is, so it's only my personally opinion that i feel i sometimes am missing something in the upper midrange.Considering the cable are warm sounding cables and good for bright and harsh speakers they may be less perfect for my speakers.

I have also seen many talk about Chord's Company carnival sliver screen as an alternative or even an upgrade to the Qed Original, not shure if it will be better

My dalis are not angled towards me, which is what dali recomends, if i do that the tweeter get's more neutral

 

[AL13N]

I have a Denon DRA-F109 (lots of power and denon is one of the best at making small affordable hifi systems), an optical cable from my motherboard to the reciver, Qed Original speaker cable to my Dali zensor 1, great litte speakers, using them on my desktop, so i am listening to them as near field speakers...

I now wait impatiently for my IsoAcoustic iso l8r 155 speaker stands, other then that i only think sometimes the upper midrange is a bit to soft or less open, but most of the time the upper midrange is very good, i think it's because of the Qed speaker cable (so an affordable alternative to Qed original would be appreciated, so i know what to buy instead of the Qed i have, if i deside to get som new speaker cable)

What do you think is good music/sound?

My advice would be patience.

Wait for the IsoAcoustics stands to arrive as they may well solve the upper midrange problem you're experiencing.

Or to put it another way, those stands have a (far) greater chance of affecting the output of your speakers (being positioned as they are) than a change of speaker cable.

While you wait, here's two YouTube vids that might interest you (make sure to use headphones when listening):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aY-cSuKzu_w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvOjMbrJwDY

PS: Is wall-mounting (on extended, adjustable brackets) not an option?
This would remove the need to isolate the speakers from the desktop and give you flexible positioning options (raised to ear height and toed-in).

 

[BigH]

I watched the 1st youtube link, 2nd does not seem to be there anymore, the sound improved but the treble sounded harsher to me, so wait until you get the stands and then play around with positioning, sitting so close toe-ing in may well help. Speakers cables don't make a big difference IMHO. Borrow some from your hifi dealer and see what difference they make.

 

[BigH]

Yes 2nd link does work now.