SH Spotlight Test the midrange purity of your system and/or your computer speakers using Bing Crosby!

Funny. I hear it most strongly on the word "by", where the reverb becomes really noticeable for a second. Don't so much notice it on other parts of the phrase. (This is from the CD, on my Chord Mojo through to my old AKG K240 Studios.)

 

The word “by” probably has the most VOLUME/“bloom”, but I don’t hear it clearly as reverb until word “feeling”, I think because “feeling” is at the end of the phrase and I hear the reverb trail off for a brief moment...

 

Ordered this compilation after reading this thread. Great collection! Too bad there aren't any credits in the booklet. I'd like to know who's playing the trumpet on (You Know It All) Smarty.

Added information and scanned images to the Discogs entry: Bing Crosby - Bing Crosby Sings Again





If you look at the booklet images, I guess that those are the recording dates mentioned. What's the catalog number provided for each song?

The price is a bit up since the original post. I spent $10 on a VG+/NM copy.

 

This set is wonderful-especially at midnight. Started with You Are Too Beautiful. Closed my eyes in the darkened room and heard the “bloom”/reverb sound. Wonderful. I’ll bet you had fun putting this one together. And thanks for the heads up. I’ll keep this disc handy as I play with future equipment upgrades/changes.

 

As the Decca label says, the Cowhand song is from the Crosby movie "Rhythm On the Range." Anyone who watches the movie (used and perhaps some new DVD & VHS copies are out there) is treated to a much longer version of the song, performed by Bing and other ranch characters around a campfire -- including a trumpet solo by a very young and skinny Louis Prima!

 

I got lucky today and found this Bing Crosby Sings Again disc at a thrift store for $2. Even still had the vintage, smooth-sided jewel case. (Picked up several mint-condition mid-80s RCAs made-in-Japan as well - Rick Springfield, Bruce Hornsby, etc. - $2 each.)

Anyway, it's a bit late now to play this disc on my systems to listen for the 0:27 midrange test, but I'm looking forward to trying it out tomorrow!

Craig.

 

I gave it a good listen, and while the echo effect is more audible when I turn it up louder, it's still as not dramatic an effect as I was expecting. So far I've only listened to this on one of my two systems, but it's the one that is actually more tonally pleasing to my ears, so I'm not expecting any better result on my other system.

So my conclusion is that I have some clear potential for future upgrade benefits. This is something I can aim for in future years.

I wish I could afford to get the locally-available used McIntosh MC 2205 to insert into that same system. I'd start by relegating my Denon AVR-3801 to pre-amp duties, by enlisting the MC 2205 as the amplifier driving the Elac Debut B6 speakers. I also suspect that my Monster cable speakers wires are contributing to the lack of midrange magic in my preferred system (I have a pair of Grover speaker wires but they're too short for this system, so I have them in my other system). I bet spending around $2k on McIntosh MC 2205 and better speaker wires would get this system closer to midrange magic. ... And if not, I'd probably think about replacing those Elac speakers next. Or retiring my Denon receiver and getting a dedicated pre-amp. Because our hobby never ends.

Thank you, Steve, for sharing this easy demo disc example with us, as a way to quickly see how our system(s) performs in the midrange band.

Craig.

 

I was comparing studio monitors the other day and I forgot about this! I'll cue it up next time.

 

Time to replace your speakers?

I guess my old Logitechs work better than I realized - still there and a bit at :59 too. Speakers of choice when playing music, while posting on this forum.

 

The Bing Test keeps getting me to want better headphones. My headphones do it. But want to find some that do it better. I do use the Bing Test when auditioning headphones.

The Bing Test is a bit of a brain tease on headphones. Repeat the test too many times in a row and the brain stops hearing it as well as it did at the start.

 

Switched out my two Mullard long plate mc1/Amperex bugles 12ax7/ ecc-83 for my Telefunken 1960-61 diamonds at that time and I immediately heard a difference in clarity but not magic. Then about 48 hours later the Telefunkens for whatever reason have magically expressed themselves and have been sealed to my preamp section and never left. When a recording cd/vinyl is great it sounds great, when the recording is crap its crap. Happy and thankful and still learning patience, John M.

 

I hear a bit of distortion on "fooled BY a feeling". The "by" has some barely noticeable reverb as well. Is that it?

 

I heard no difference over my internal computer speakers. When I played the sound through my floor speakers, I did notice the difference although it wasn't overwhelming and I doubt I would've noticed had I not been listening for it. Makes me wish I had the CD. This was fun and a very useful exercise. Thanks!

 

Couldn't hear it at all on my computer speakers (Harman Kardon Soundsticks). Heard it only very slightly with my AKG K 240 Studios. I'll have to try it on my hi-fi systems and report back.

 

Listening with E-MU0404 Audio Interface; analog output to Graham Slee Novo Headphone Amp; using Sennheiser HD600s.

His vocal starts off reasonably dry, then from "fooled by a feeling..." , it sounds like reverb was introduced. The vocal sounds a bit fuller and you can hear the echo. Its quite obvious if you're listening for it.

Edit: from that point his voice also occupies more space in the soundstage, sounds closer rather than more remote.

 

Couldn't hear it on my basement system either (Rotel A12, PSB Alpha P5's). Kinda disappointed, this is a new build and it sounds great in the mids, at least to me.

 

McLover's law of sound reproduction. Get the Midrange right first, the rest should follow. One of the toughest things for any HiFi to reproduce properly is the human voice. I take recordings with me of announcers voices I know well when I audition a system or any components. This aspect of a system I must have right, or it's too colored for me to live with.

 

Well... I used my crappy iPhone (not a CD player) - connected to a Chord Hugo DAC to play the you tube video. I’m sure the file playback quality was a long way away from the nice - I should say extremely nice - Redbook CD (16/44.1) - done by our host.

And yes, I heard it. But I want to alert those who have not been able to hear it that you really need to be at a true critical listening volume or near it to hear the reverb. At low volume levels I got what some others have reported - a louder vocal but no reverb. At the louder volume though the reverb is as obvious as it is on a bad Sinatra 60’s repressing with added reverb...

So my question is if I had a CD player like the old Marantz Steve mentions in some posts from a few years ago and played that track at full Redbook through my Chord Hugo DAC, would the reverb be audible at low volumes? Since low volume is highly subjective, let’s say the volume you would play music at at 2am when your partner is sleeping.

Speakers: Monitor Audio Silver 500
Preamp - BAT 3 ix with stock tubes
Speaker Cable - Wireworld Eclipse
Amp - Solid State mono blocks built by a friend

 

I do not hear it here at work on my Jabra Link 860 hands free headset, which I already had confirmed was an unmitigated reference standard piece of crap.

 

Come on Mr. Hoffman. This is sadistic.

75% of the people who were content with their system, suddenly have this little, almost unnotable itch… that feels like a... little reverb….

Everybody, can you feel that itch? You must concentrate really hard, and after 27 seconds, suddenly, it's there.

If repositioning for 5 hours straight doesn't help, the only remedy is... an upgrade... I mean a scratch!

Don't you want to scratch? You know you want to...