Which frequency band is the most important to get right?

[Dom]

I'm gonna say treble, its what seem's to drive the music along.

 

[Tinman1952]

So my question is this. Which frequency band do you prefer, treble, mid range or bass?

I'm gonna say treble, its what seem's to drive the music along.

That's a bit like saying 'which instruments do you want to hear in your music?' 🙄

 

[Gray]

All frequencies are necessary to make the music worthwhile Dom.
But uncompromised HF are essential for me.
No matter how good speakers may be at all other frequencies.....any 'rolled off' treble is a dealbreaker.

 

[Dom]

That's a bit like saying 'which instruments do you want to hear in your music?' 🙄

Your wrong Tin.

Some people love bass, and only buy speakers or headphones with those traits.

Its nothing like instruments at all, bud.

 

[Tinman1952]

Your wrong Tin.

Some people love bass, and only buy speakers or headphones with those traits.

Its nothing like instruments at all, bud.

Fair enough Dom. I like bass too....but musically it's just the foundation for the rest of the music. I like to hear it all....😁

 

[My2Cents]

300 - 600... it's where the 'mud' is, but hopefully this was taken care of by good mixing and mastering.
Regarding pop/rock, I always thought that the bass and kick drove the music? (that's what my drummer and bass player tell me).
Bear in mind that 'treble' is typically considered to be from 4 - 20k
The tweeter in most 2 way speakers is only reproducing sound above about 2.5kHz (all the treble) which is mostly attack, crispness, sibilance (vocals) and harmonics. None of which really drives the music at all, unless you count the attack of the snare and the kick, which is around 4K.
After age 50 most people cannot even hear details at average volume levels any higher than 11K... by age 70 that drops to around 9.5K, but there's plenty of old rockers who have no problem 'driving' the music, despite their loss of treble hearing (and when you add tinnitus to the mix, the treble gets even more washed out).

 

[Dom]

I'll restructure the question to make it more relevant

 

[daytona600]

20hz & 20khz and all the ones between

 

[Dom]

Interesting answers folks, and your right to think that all the frequencies are equally important - But we know speakers, DAC's and amplifiers have to make trade off's for musicality.

For example my Sennheiser headphones have a spike somewhere in the higher frequency's and the bass has been dialed down somewhat, for a lean sound and that's what I love about them.

 

[My2Cents]

BTW.. can you all please type with Caps Lock ON... I forgot to pick up some hearing aid batteries from the store.

 

[Witterings]

All frequencies are necessary to make the music worthwhile Dom.
But uncompromised HF are essential for me.
No matter how good speakers may be at all other frequencies.....any 'rolled off' treble is a dealbreaker.

I tried many speakers that were awful with any brighter recordings, levels varying between unlistenable to and fatigue after 1/2 hour due to the treble on fairly flat recordings.

So many modern speaker manufacturers are known to follow the V Curve with elevated bass / treble .... does that mean anything that doesn't follow that is considered as "rolled off" and you personal prefernce is teh slightly elevated HF's?

 

[Gray]

I tried many speakers that were awful with any brighter recordings, levels varying between unlistenable to and fatigue after 1/2 hour due to the treble on fairly flat recordings.

So many modern speaker manufacturers are known to follow the V Curve with elevated bass / treble .... does that mean anything that doesn't follow that is considered as "rolled off" and you personal prefernce is teh slightly elevated HF's?

Rolled off treble means a reduced level, something that sounds noticeably unnatural.
I don't want anything elevated though (a reason I've never used any available loudness function on amps).

No 'V' curved speakers (or headphones) for me.
Neither do I want 'forgiving', just neutral, so that my best recordings are not compromised (as they, necessarily would be)- for the sake of making any others more listenable 👍.

 

[Friesiansam]

Hadn't bothered with this thread before but, just been thinking 😱

Surely the most important part of the sound spectrum to get right, should be the part to which our ears are most sensitive, i.e. the range that covers the human voice, or at least you would think so. Yet most people find over harsh treble the most irritating aspect when wrong.

 

[Revolutions]

It’s always the mids. Well, unless you’re listening to dance music or metal. For everything else, even a subtle mid boost can go a long, long way.

 

[twinkletoes]

Personally if a speaker doesnt sound "right"/near as damit to the human voice then it's pretty much a no go for me. So that could be from low mid bass all the way to the treble region. Thats all very important and is where all the excitement mostly happens.

And that flat sound that everybody pines for just sounds drab to me, I want a excitement hence my speaker choice.

 

[plastic penguin]

Depends on your room acoustics. Get it right and every frequency should sparkle.

 

[Revolutions]

Depends on your room acoustics. Get it right and every frequency should sparkle.

What's the frequency, pengiun?

 

[GSV Ethics Gradient]

BTW.. can you all please type with Caps Lock ON... I forgot to pick up some hearing aid batteries from the store.

The man in TV ad (Maxell - break the sound barrier) was Pete Murphy of Bauhaus fame.

 

[Al ears]

Unfortunately the answer is all of them.....

 

[Revolutions]

Unfortunately the answer is all of them.....

Reminds me of the sound engineer at a long-gone venue in Kentish Town. Remember asking for more guitar in the monitor & she shouts back “no can do- everything is already on full!”

of all the gigs that should’ve destroyed my hearing, that place was louder than loud.

 

[plastic penguin]

What's the frequency, pengiun?

(Rapid eye movement)