What is "warm" sound?

I think i agree with this. I would describe my system as "clear and precise". On some recordings i would describe it as "bright" Overall i like what i hear but just sometimes a little warmth would not go amiss. I have thought that overall however that "warmth" is a form of distortion and my older vinyl certainly has a warmer sound than new recordings

 

Warm sound is the opposite of cold hard sound

 

This is pure subjectively and my opinion only. I was founding a lot of recordings overly bright and harsh on my ears when listing to MP3s via my iPhone. I noticed a EQ setting on the iPhone called Treble Reducer so I switched it on to see what it sounded like. It has made the music sound warmer and less harsh and bright. I now found I can listen for longer without feeling the music is drilling a hole in my head. I judging by other comments on here I think I must prefer a stronger mid range that the highs. Probably explains why I prefer listening to vinyl.

 

Whenever I hear real live music it has never been warm.

When building a home hifi system there is no doubt an accurate clean sound can excite & be realistic but listening beyond half an hour? I dont mind admitting I have found it fatiging so these days I prefer a slightly warm sound. Playing with various interconnects have provided interesting results.

 

Being a musician myself (mostly electric guitar), "warmth" is a really sought-after notion!
That's why many guitar players prefer using tubes amps, that are allegedly warmer than solid state ones.
But it also can be a matter of acoustic tone, with for instance Martin guitars supposed to sound warmer than Taylors, that are suppose to produce more crispy and bright tones (well, that can be discussed, because I'm obviously being caricatural on purpose!)

 

"
What is "warm" sound?"

Inaccurate playback of program material caused by one or more components in the playback system.

 

I disagree with the idea that "warm" is more realistic. I think that the opposite is true. Have you ever heard a clarinet or violin or snare or any other instrument in real life? They are not very "warm", in fact, they are quite harsh or "cold". The warmness that people describe is distortion, which many people find pleasing to the ear. Problem is that it is not very real...

 

Yup.

I grew up with a brother playing cornet and trumpet, and he had fairly expensive ones and was a very good player, but they still always sounded bright and he also had an expensive drum kit in the basement with Zildjian cymbals, my friend was a good violin player, I play guitar, I don't expect any of those instruments (as well as many others) to sound warm on any recordings, if they do something is not natural.

 

THIS

 

That's a good reason why you should never make a recording in your basement or a similar room.

A good recording will record instruments like that in a studio or hall that has some warmth and good room sound to help the instruments sound better. If you're doing a studio recording with close mics and isolation then the room or hall warmth needs to be added artificially through the use of the recording gear used and added effects processing. Recordings need some warmth of that sort or those instruments will sound brash and nasty. And who wants to listen to brash and nasty music?

 

No recording "room"is going to tame a trumpet let alone a snare or ride cymbal. Listen to some real recorded trumpet music.

 

Play a snare or trumpet in a concert hall as part of an orchestra and those instruments will be tamed.

 

I do

 

I've listened to bagpipe music. And liked it.

 

Brothel, well let me tell you......no I'd better not.

 

I like them too, but boy they can get intense live.

 

There is plenty of natural warmth present in real live music and that is what I want to hear from my system. No more, no less.

I have to admit though that trumpet isn't an instrument that I have gravitated to, well, at all.

 

For me "warm" means rich in tonal colors. The absence of "warmth" means thin brittle harsh and a lack of a full sonic picture.

 

I think a warm presentation, to those who value it, means a more dense harmonic character as opposed to a thinner more etched sound. Not to throw off on the more precise, "accurate" sound some may prefer. To each his own, and this is meant sincerely. Personally I think of warm as being more revealing in that you can listen into the music more deeply. But just as people like different genres of music, we will gravitate to different presentations.
To make a small case in point: upon the advice of a few tube threads, a switch was made in the driver tube for my mono blocks, in the interest of adding some "air" and a bit more defined presentation. What I lost was the warm but accurate tone of piano and sax, which are to me instruments that when present with rich harmonics and sustained decay add so much charm to music. Went back to the previous driver tubes and recaptured the musical nature of the system. You might say that I happen to think warmer is better and you might be right. But really the Goldilocks paradigm is in play here, and it's probably the same of most of us. Just a matter of taste.

 

According to the "User's Guide on the Rewards of 8 Track Player Maintenance and Service", the dirty 8 Track head is not described as warm.

 

Drinking a hot tea, listening to my fav music

 

Warm sound is what you hear in Texas in July.