Schu Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 (edited) I have a serious question about trying to track down distortion ON SOME RECORDINGS during playback in my system. I have uploaded a video and you might need to turn up the volume to hear it, but some times I get an extremely raspy crackling out of the upper end of my Mid Range and mainly thru my tweeter (CT-125). To me it sounds quite a bit like I have a tweeter going bad... except it's not progressively getting worse, it only happens on SOME RECORDINGS, and it's repeatable meaning it does it nearly exactly the same every single time in the same consistent manner on those very same recordings... Digital recordings. I can play more demanding music on my speakers and get nothing, no distortion, then I can play certain pieces and it's barely listenable... so I do not think it is a bad driver/drivers. https://youtu.be/pbmGoMywAf0 Disregard any hiss or other sounds because that is the camera system making those noises... and the musical distortion is much much worse in person, it barely is audible on the camera. FYI... that recording was made at normal listening levels, and the distortion is NOT lessened the lower I go with Volume control... it still remains. playback is: Oppo 93 to Wyred DAC2SE via COAX to Pioneer SC85 via COAX pre outs to Bel Canto to Klipsch Cornwall Edited May 18, 2015 by Schu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Steven1963 Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Sure sounds like a bad driver to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 (edited) to me also... EXCEPT, it only happens on certain songs. mainly from a few artists whos recordings seem overly "gained". here is the exact same song/disc played thru the same system AT A HIGHER VOLUME LEVEL but using a different playback layout: https://youtu.be/ozFiavbbVMg playback is: Oppo 93 to to Pioneer SC85 via HDMI pre outs to Bel Canto to Klipsch Cornwall The only difference between the two is the introduction of COAX interconnects and the Wyred DAC. Edited May 18, 2015 by Schu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Steven1963 Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Do you have another system available to test out your theory of a hot recording? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Unhook those speakers and hook the RC-64 up to it and see if you hear the same noise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 (edited) Unhook those speakers and hook the RC-64 up to it and see if you hear the same noise. good idea... For some reason, I am thinking the Wyred might be the culprit here... unless there is an issue with the Blue Jean interconnects introducing distortion on SOME recordings... and that is highly unlikely. Edited May 18, 2015 by Schu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Smith Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 does it happen to coincide with you crapping in forum threads? maybe some sort of electromagnetic karma field? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 (edited) I had that exact problem with an Oppo DV-981H player to Outlaw Audio 970 pre/pro (which as it turns out was a very unreliable piece of gear with DVI connections instead of HDMI) and when using the RCA analog out-in audio connections. It disappeared when I switched to HDMI and a Onkyo PR-SC886 with HDMI 1.3a connections--which I am still using (...spectacular performance, I'd say). I'd look at the Oppo analog outputs or the inputs to your preamp. That's where I'd bet the problem is. The CD that consistently did this was Dave Grusin Now Playing CD of solo piano. It drove me nuts until I found the solution. Edited May 18, 2015 by Chris A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 I had that exact problem with an Oppo DV-981H... I'd look at the Oppo analog outputs or the inputs to your preamp. That's where I'd bet the problem is. Interesting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 (edited) OK, that's some pretty serious distortion! (1st recording) And just like you said its easier to hear than on the 2nd recording which has little to no distortion. I can get some distortion like that with Youtube recordings in 240p. Have you tried some frequency sweeps? Edited May 18, 2015 by wvu80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 (edited) Not as yet... that is probably next. what has be baffled is that it is NOT all the time, only certain recordings... of course those recordings might be damaging my Tweeters every time I play them. Edited May 18, 2015 by Schu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 (edited) what has be baffled is that it is NOT all the time, only certain recordings... of course those recordings might be damaging my Tweeters every time I play them. If you can get in to pull some wires, maybe try disconnecting the tweets and run your song again (it really showcases that distortion). That may help you isolate what you are hearing. I was also having some awful distortion which I thought was a bad woofer, but it turned out to be the dust cap has slightly separated, and it just POUNDED, buzzed and knocked at certain volumes and frequencies. I'm hoping a little glue will solve all my distortion problems. Maybe with the tweet turned off you can hear if the distortion is coming from somewhere else. Edited May 18, 2015 by wvu80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 what has be baffled is that it is NOT all the time, only certain recordings Exactly the same symptoms as I described.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babadono Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 I maybe way off base here but I would ask BEC (or Dean) if its OK to run your speakers with the tweeter disconnected. Unless of course you have a dummy load hooked up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Some recordings are just bad. I have experienced it and tried several different pressings from different countries and it was always the same. On one I bought the remastered recording which solved the problem yet also seemed to compromise the rest. RE: Yes---Fragile. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Not as yet... that is probably next. what has be baffled is that it is NOT all the time, only certain recordings... of course those recordings might be damaging my Tweeters every time I play them. It wont damage them if the distortion is in the recording. The tweeters are merely faithfully reproducing the recording. What gets damaged is your psyche. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris A Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 I've found the problem to be distortion in the analog amplifiers at line level from DAC output --> downstream-- all analog. The recordings aren't actually bad, it's that some tracks actually wind up saturating the op amp output in these analog circuits, which aren't quite fit for purpose. YMMV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OO1 Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Not as yet... that is probably next. what has be baffled is that it is NOT all the time, only certain recordings... of course those recordings might be damaging my Tweeters every time I play them. It wont damage them if the distortion is in the recording. The tweeters are merely faithfully reproducing the recording. What gets damaged is your psyche. crappy recording - I have a serious question about trying to track down distortion ON SOME RECORDINGS during playback in my system. I have uploaded a video and you might need to turn up the volume to hear it, but some times I get an extremely raspy crackling out of the upper end of my Mid Range and mainly thru my tweeter (CT-125). To me it sounds quite a bit like I have a tweeter going bad... except it's not progressively getting worse, it only happens on SOME RECORDINGS, and it's repeatable meaning it does it nearly exactly the same every single time in the same consistent manner on those very same recordings... Digital recordings. I can play more demanding music on my speakers and get nothing, no distortion, then I can play certain pieces and it's barely listenable... so I do not think it is a bad driver/drivers. https://youtu.be/pbmGoMywAf0 Disregard any hiss or other sounds because that is the camera system making those noises... and the musical distortion is much much worse in person, it barely is audible on the camera. FYI... that recording was made at normal listening levels, and the distortion is NOT lessened the lower I go with Volume control... it still remains. playback is: Oppo 93 to Wyred DAC2SE via COAX to Pioneer SC85 via COAX pre outs to Bel Canto to Klipsch Cornwall who made the recording - Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldtimer Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 (edited) I've found the problem to be distortion in the analog amplifiers at line level from DAC output --> downstream-- all analog. The recordings aren't actually bad, it's that some tracks actually wind up saturating the op amp output in these analog circuits, which aren't quite fit for purpose. YMMV. Turntable to preamp to amp. That's my mileage. On some recordings it never varies. If a so called digital source originally came from these recordings, I would suspect the recording. another case in point is Brain Salad Surgery. It is wildly popular in its genre. But it is flawed technically in the recording. Edited May 18, 2015 by oldtimer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schu Posted May 18, 2015 Author Share Posted May 18, 2015 (edited) https://youtu.be/pbmGoMywAf0 who made the recording - on this, it's Radiohead. ALL their digital recordings seem compressed and overly saturated... like loudness wars on steroids. but I have heard this crackling on other recordings, again always the same recordings. The Vinyl releases they do are wonderful... the LP's are mastered and released in 45rpm's and that is taking extra care for sound quality. Edited May 18, 2015 by Schu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.