Same, I really liked the 5.1 mix of WYWH, DSOTM not so much. Starts out great but after and including 'Money' it becomes less dynamic and the drums are compressed which is I find is annoying. I do like the tubular bells at the end of 'Brain Damage' and (what sounds like to me) a faint piano ' A note' ping in the guitar solo section of 'Time'. You can hear both faintly in the stereo mix, especially on the early UK pressings.
And? So? Why is a touch of EQ at home so horrifying? It was standard for decades. The guy EQing the record has no idea the shape of your room, your type of speakers, your type of stylus, your type of cables, your amp....
Unfortunately not. I have no gear to listen to SACD, x.1 surround or DVD-A. Vinyl, CD and Hi-Res files only.
You are on an audiophile forum....keeping that in mind... When you audition equipment, where are the controls set? In bypass or top dead center (TDC). When you review or perform shootouts of pressings, where should they be set? In bypass or TDC. In your home, listening for you...where should they be set? Anywhere you want them to be! Make sense? Keeps everything on a level (as much as possible) playing field
For most people, including myself, our listening room are less than perfect hence a few necessary tweaks and cheats to get this right... Listening position been the #1 factor IMO. Go to the Cardas.com site and get their speaker positionning calculator (free) for initial positioning, then play around, amazing. Get good cables, not the insanely priced ones, just good cable and good plugs ( light rolled copper gold platted bananas, less than $10 each). Will never loose their spring action. I am not a fan of tone controls as my beloved pre-amp/amps/speakers are just what my ears grew up with and get used to for the last 25 years. Less than 1 records out of 50 would make me wish that I have some kind of tone controls. My ears will usually get used to a mix within 5-10 minutes of listening. It is what it is, as much as you try to fix things, it remains what it is...
Ha! I'm halfway kidding. I just find the DSD/SACD combo thingy more analog sounding than any other hi rez format. Just more smoother/fluid, less fatiguing. But that's just my ear...and gear.
For what it's worth, in the house I rarely use tone controls. In the car, I EQ the hell out of what I'm listening to.
I haven't had tone controls since 1994... Even when I did have them (on my Arcam Alpha) I usually left them flat. I think if you have very neutral sounding speakers and a fairly normal-shaped room, you don't need them!
Tone controls are something I needed when I got my first stereo system when I was just a wee lad. It was the only way I could get something to sound right. I think it was a little system my mother got me from Wilco or Sears, can't remember. Today I kind of feel like it's cheating somehow if I use them LOL, and my amp is almost always on direct source. That's the setting regardless of format, be it CD, vinyl, Bluray Audio, HDCD, SACD, and I'm usually happy with what I hear. I don't have the best amp, I know that and hopefully it will be something I'll upgrade in the new year.
Abso-freakin-lutely....unless you are offering up a review!! Then, keep the damn knobs in neutral!!!!!!!!!! Edit: Oh wait, you are talkin' about SACD.....did I not say that? Why respond in that way?
I use that technique but with the inner on its side on a clean table and then just roll it slowly without it touching. The pain is the thinner printed sleeves that glue themselves to an LP with static charge. Theyre the trickiest but i can get most out without any hairlines now.
Listening to "Animals" right now... man, the ending of "Sheep", the part right after "get out of that road if you want to grow old" explodes! Amazing guitar work presented the right way. Kudos, Mr. Grundman.
My old receiver was a digital Denon from the 90s, has a lot of preset controls (which I don't like). It is more designed with Home Theater setup, but it does have a CD/Phono and even Tape input. I now use an old 1970's Pioneer receiver that has a lot of knobs and switches and is built like a tank. Along with my dads old Technics speakers, I'm pretty much all Analogue!! Such a relief when there is no computer involved.
As for tone controls: my receiver is the same since 1994, a very modest (professional at that time) equipment with a seven band equalizer and loudness function. I keep the EQ completely flat and use loudness when listening through headphones. In the car I just need the put that bass way up, there's no other way.
Car is a very hostile environment for sound. No way you can achieve the same level of hifi quality that you have at home.
