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U2's One: bad mastering or Klipsch's weak spot?


MeloManiac

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Today I was listing to U2's One (album: Achtung Baby, 1991) on my Klipsch RP160-M speakers. At 01:55 - 02:00 I noticed a very dissonant distortion/interference, which on the Klipsch speakers sounds like very distracting feedback. I have listened to this song probably a thousand times, but never noticed this before. I was a bit in shock, because here it was, in a very pronounced way. This was on cd. I checked if it was present on qobuz.com (streaming mp3/320Kbs), and sure enough, it was there, equally distracting. Next I checked for it in the living room system, on my Onkyo system. Here, it was present too, much less annoying. It seems that the Klipsch speakers magnify it.

Being new to Klipsch speakers, I wonder what is going on here. Is this an editing error revealed by the Klipsch. Or is it rather a weakness of the Klipsch speakers (or the amp)?

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The Klipsch speakers may well be not magnifying, but playing what is there on the recording versus your other system. Take it the Onkyo system is not Klipsch?

Another thing is U-2 at times bring along a complex to listen to song." Discoteque" an example. Welcome to the forum, BTW...:emotion-21:

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5 minutes ago, billybob said:

The Klipsch speakers may well be not magnifying, but playing what is there on the recording versus your other system. Take it the Onkyo system is not Klipsch?

Another thing is U-2 at times bring along a complex to listen to song." Discoteque" an example. Welcome to the forum, BTW...:emotion-21:

 

Thanks for the welcome!

The Onkyo system is 'vintage'. It is the system I grew up with in the 1980s. Both amp and speakers are Onkyo.

It is quite revealing for me to listen to both systems - the Onkyo and the Denon/Klipsch combination.

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44 minutes ago, LeftEyeShooter said:

 

Thanks for the welcome!

The Onkyo system is 'vintage'. It is the system I grew up with in the 1980s. Both amp and speakers are Onkyo.

It is quite revealing for me to listen to both systems - the Onkyo and the Denon/Klipsch combination.

Will be interested in what conclusions you come to. Some speakers and at times dependent upon size, can resolve the music at hand better than another, of course(imo). Nice to have a comparison to draw on. Lots of discussions here on the mastering/remastering of music on CD. Listening to vinyl on my TT's at times offer me a view between the two, being able to compare

to the CD version.

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Like others have mentioned, Klipsch speakers are very revealing and any issues with mastering etc will show through where a cone and dome may hide it. Achtung Baby actually scores pretty high on the dynamic range chart so it might just be that one part of the song with issues. Maybe the speaker connects at the studio had an issue or some other equipment.

 

http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list?album=achtung+baby

 

That is one fun thing about Klipsch speakers is they bring out little details (good or bad) that make the music that much more real. Little things like the guitar player coughing and giving a sigh in the opening of 'Wish you were here' adds to the emotional impact of the song. There is an old Beatles album where you can hear the AC unit kick on in the background if you have certain speakers but I cant remember which one.

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I catch hot tracks or channels on recordings from time to time.   Most of the time its just one instrument or keyboard.  Most dome tweeter and cone mid speakers just gloss right over it.  Im glad I get the truth with horns every time.

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I have a few CDs that are above 0dbFS on portions of certain tracks. On the radio, or played through my living room jbl 4311 monitors the aren't as objectionable. Through my LaScala or Heresy speakers they are edgy and tiring. I don't blame the speakers. It could partly be the DAC in the signal chain.

 

Bruce

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Yes I have heard distortion in mine that is easily revealed and makes u wonder if it's the tweeter. The thing is that any recorded distortion stands out way more than I've ever heard on other speakers.

Also are the speakers pointed directly at your ears? I've noticed with mine if they are, you can catch some horn artifacts, though rare. Remedy is to toe them out so they are firing directly behind you. I haven't heard any since and the soundstage is much wider.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

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On 12/27/2018 at 6:42 PM, Thaddeus Smith said:

It's all about the source material. You can't fix crap.

Amen to that. Got a music library in from a guy I know and most of the albums were 70 to 80mb. Spent time with Audacity trying to make it sound good but most are just going to get deleted as hopeless.

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2 hours ago, Dave A said:

Amen to that. Got a music library in from a guy I know and most of the albums were 70 to 80mb. Spent time with Audacity trying to make it sound good but most are just going to get deleted as hopeless.

 

I recently bought two vinyl records and they both came with a redeem card so I could download the digital files as well. Which I did, of course. The difference in the download quality was quite spectacular, though I must say I can't really hear a difference. The wav files, of course, are the most desired.

 

Elvis Presley - The Searcher: mp3 files totalling 115Mb.

GoGo Penguin - A Humdrum Star: wav files totalling 1.6Gb

Edited by LeftEyeShooter
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Many of todays recordings and remasters are poorly recorded and the mastering is called upon to really goose the gain.

 

http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list?artist=u2&album=achtung+baby

 

Reference Recordings, Analogue Productions, AIX records and Blue Coast Records to name a few produce quality recordings with excellent mastering but they are the not the norm.

Loud all the time and the loudness wars continue due to the push from the large record labels unfortunately.

Edited by Ossidian
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7 minutes ago, Ossidian said:

Many of todays recordings and remasters are poorly recorded and the mastering is called upon to really goose the gain.

 

http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list?artist=u2&album=achtung+baby

 

Reference Recordings, Analogue Productions, AIX records and Blue Coast Records to name a few produce quality recordings with excellent mastering but they are the not the norm.

Loud all the time and the loudness wars continue due to the push from the large record labels unfortunately.

 

I'm a newbie... How does one interpret this database? The larger the dynamic range, the better? Red is bad, green is good?

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