Zoom H6
"Gary Eickmeier" writes:
George Graves wrote:
snips
audition some Wilson WAMMs. We both thought they were pretty harsh and
forward sounding.
Indeed. Not only harsh, but weird higher mid resonances, making for a very plastic-y
sound, somewhat akin to typical headphones. I've never understood how various
wilsons (a) commanded the price they typically did and (b) had any kind of
following. Just shows that many so-called audiophiles really aren't clued into sonic
purity, but rather something else -- some kind of arty cabinet design, high-gloss
lacquer, or boasting rights as to how much money they spent. Sound is secondary.
This dealer liked to darken the room to listen, which was
very annoying to me. I like to SEE my imaging, where the individual
instrumental images are in relation to the speaker boxes.
Yikes! Yikes! Yikes!
Human vision, which commands a great deal of brain energy and processing (some 25%
IIRC), can often override/skew/compensate other sensory input. Worse, because you're
not at a live performance but instead listening in a room, you're often primed for
visual imagination.
Is there imaging ambiguity due to room problems? If it's not terrible but simply
mediocre (like many rooms), take a peek. Imagine a spot where you think something
should be -- a "best fit" based on what you imagine you "see" -- then let the visual
cortex "lock it in." The bottom-line truth being told by your ears has just been
overriden.
By far the most pure, most representative brain audio processing you're going to get
is to occasionally disable that big wetware signal processing hog, vision, and let
the aural processing take center stage.
(I prefer eye-closing to room light removal. Eye-closing signals the visual centers
that I intentionally initiated this momentary visual rest, and that visual
processing need not scramble to find input.)
When mixing, I'll be sure to take a few check listens with the "eyes off." I'll even
do this at concerts when simply listening as an audience member. There can be a more
complete connection to the sonic experience, on many levels, without distractions.
That's for classical/pure acoustic music. Pop/rock is a different story, where other
things need to supplement the sometimes thin nature of the work. So we have 130 dB
levels, lots of flashing and colored light, gyrations on stage, etc. (Not my
interest, but hey, to each his own.)
YMMV.
Frank
Mobile Audio
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