From: Fmiser <fm...@gm...> - 2009-08-29 17:32:46
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> Wesley Chow wrote: > > On Aug 29, 2009, at 5:23 AM, robs wrote: > > > --- On Sat, 29/8/09, Fmiser <fm...@gm...> wrote: > >> It is highly subjective - so "better" is tricky to > >> achieve... > > > > Wow - great reply, much better than my quick attempt :) > > > > Yes, thank you so much for the explanation, Philip! Going to > digest it a bit and come back with questions. Your welcome. > I find it interesting that when I play these recordings on my > stereo system, it sounds great and the clapping doesn't bother > me. But when I play it with headphones from my iPod, I find > myself constantly adjusting the volume. Is this typical? I find it's not uncommon. Some of it has to do with the difference between "sound in your ears" and "sound in the room". Also, headphones and earbuds usually have _very_ good transient response (ability to reproduces quick signal spikes) compared to speakers. This is partly because of the mass of the driver its self, but also because of the damping effect of the air. When the driver is on your ear, it only has to energizing a 3 cm (1 in) column of air in a tube (ear canal) vs. the speaker having to energize at least 2 m (6 ft) of free air. > I'd read somewhere that modern recordings are now extremely > compressed because audio engineers assume people are listening > with headphones. Much of current pop music is very compressed. Partly for iPod listening - but also so it sound loud compared to the song played before and after it. Radio play is still a big factor in the economics of pop music. And humans almost always choose the perceptively louder song as sounding "better". Oh, another tip. You can use the sox command "play" rather than "sox" and hear the result immediately rather than processing a whole file and then playing it. play test.wav compand .2,.4 6:-90,-90,-80,-40,-10,0 -10 -30 .2 -- Philip |