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Listening Exercise: Not ANYTHING about Cables!


Mallette

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Bait and switch. You said this experiment related to wire in a way that would be revealed later. Good grief.

Dean, I said exactly that. But I've received PMs as well as some posts here that suggest crap like your beef above here was running people away.

Cables, schmables. While I will have something to say about cables in the final wrap, it had NOTHING to do with posting this little exercise. There is no "bait and switch" or any motive other than some good Forum fun involved.

Either participate or try to refrain from bellyaching, please sir.

Dave

Edited by Mallette
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The first recording just sounds like the microphone was placed close to the instrument - a "studio" type recording. The instrument sounds very much like my daughter's Casio. Unlike many electronic type pianos, the keys are weighted and they actually strike with a hammer - the sound comes out of loudspeakers which are integrated into the unit. I picked up on this electronic or amplified sound (real or imagined). The sound is crisp and tight, with little or no ambient information.

The second recording sounds like an omnidirectional microphone was used , hanging above a real piano. Though not as well recorded, it sounded "live', with a lot of spacial cues imparted from the venue. Though somewhat muffled, the performance was superior to the first.

Two different musicians, two different instruments, two different venues, and two different recording methods. I think.

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OK, so let's listen more and talk less. I've put up two recordings of the Chopin "Waltz in C# Minor" on my blog site. You can listen directly or download as you wish. Listen, and comment. Should be fun... Blog link is in my signature line. Dave
Some issues with cables will be made once we've had a sufficient number of comments and the new ones die off. However, the main point here is to listen to something in common, in as much as that is possible, and compare thoughts.

Well, Dean, a rather left-handed apology but appreciated none the less. Original thread starter above. My response DIRECTLY TO YOUR QUERY was made well down the page. I suppose the original thread title COULD be construed as this being mainly about cables and if so, my mistake. I was, in fact, trying to divert attention to something a bit lighter and more fun than that thread. So, I changed the title today in realizing from your posts it was an error. Of course cables are involved. Nobody can make a recording without them. However, cables have nothing to do with the reason for doing this. Thanks for posting your thoughts!

Gimme a break. I don't think you can find places where I set people up or troll. Not my style. Just want to listen and discuss for fun.

Dave

Edited by Mallette
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Considering that another thread has been locked (lounge), I doubt any meaningful discussion can be had here.

And good reason for it.

There is absolutely no reason for this thread to be locked IF ALL STAY ON TOPIC AND QUIT TROLLING AND SNIPING.

"Meaningful discussion" here simply means posting one's thoughts on the two files. That's all. It's my thread, and my wishes should be respected. Once all have done that, let a thousand flowers bloom and a hundred schools of thought contend and if the Sheriff shuts it down, so be it.

Dave

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I started by asking why you named the thread as you had, I was just trying to figure out how the recordings were related to the thread title - a very reasonable request.

I'm human, I get frustrated just like anyone else. I don't think it's wrong to voice frustration or anger when you feel like you're being taken for a ride.

Considering the original title of the thread, I thought it was interesting that most went for their headphones. I'm still trying to figure out what they were thinking. It was obvious from the beginning that this had absolutely nothing to do with wire.

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  • Moderators
Those of us entrusted with that have the ability to see the Moderator Control Panel where reports are made by members, and such and delete those that are clearly spam.

OIC.

I assumed one of the moderators or spam patrollers locked the other thread for some reason. Too bad, there was a lot of interesting issues coming up. Oh well. Just FYI, I can't see anything after age 30.

I locked it. One of my pet peeves is to have someone open up the exact same topic I just locked, only to have it degrade into the same behavior and reasons I locked the original one in the first place.

I did give it a chance and didn't lock it right away. I should know better by now. :)

And yes, Dave is able to get rid of spam for me, along with a couple other members here. I find them quite invaluable!

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Are you simply looking for benign pleasantries, Dave?

Yes. No reason to fear a lock if you are capable of staying out of this until it is complete. You've already made your opinion known. Just wait and see what others have to say. What's so hard about that?

Dave

Edited by Mallette
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Getting back on topic:

During the listen, the first thing I noticed in the second recording (and mentioned in my first post) was, what could be best described as, spurious bass.

So I ran the recording through SAPS.

post-40059-0-08800000-1392052614_thumb.j

First note fundamental at 418 Hz. Looks normal.

post-40059-0-62880000-1392052705_thumb.j

...But I heard this going on in the lower registers.

post-40059-0-21840000-1392052942_thumb.j

...not to mention this, in addition to the ever present rumble of the HVAC.

To the best of my knowledge, the piano can't slur like that. :huh2:

Edited by Quiet_Hollow
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Fascinating...did you download that after I replaced the normalized one with the original?

Still don't know what I was thinking when I normalized these files, as I don't hold with ANY processing of any kind. However, I've no idea really just what sort of artifacts, if any, normalization might add.

Dave

PS - I might add that THIS is the kind of discussion worth having. However, I'd still like to see more folks simply see what their ears suggest.

Edited by Mallette
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OK had a chance to listen, Thanks I first listened and realized I had the volume to low, no where close to where a real piano would play. I turned it up to a decent volume about like a live piano and had the same opinion on both recordings as when it was lower. This was kind of a surprise, I was thinking I could have been possibly missing something but about all I was missing was a slight bit of detail you get when you can better hear everything on the recording.

To me the first recording had a slight hiss or something right before the piano started, just for a second. The piano sounded slightly left of center and very close and personal, you could hear every sound of the piano parts working to create the sound as if you were standing leaning over part way down the right side. I liked this recording it had much more detail than the second and sounds like how you would expect a piano to sound if you were standing right there.

The second recording sound like it was from the back of the room close to the center, not nearly as personal with the piano and much more of the sounds of the room. This recording sounded fuller and had more bass with much less piano detail but closer to the center rear of the room. And at times sounded like the echo or room sounds got to be a little to much and were overwhelming the sound of the piano at certain times. You hear way more of the room and sound bouncing off of everything, kind of like a 2 ch surround feeling.

This was on our main speakers, and my 56 year old abused ears, easily the weakest link but it's all I have to work with, thanks for the recording.

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