vocals sound nasal/bright

[Moh]

 noticed some bightness in vocals. Almost sounds a bit like a cartoon character singing (if that makes sense) sounds a bit nasal. The vocals don't sound deep. Especially female vocals.

I have EQ setting on yamaha receiver. Is there any frequencies I should boost or reduce on the klipsh RP5000F 

 

I have Eq sliders on yamaha receiver at following frequencies

63Hz

160Hz

400Hz

1 KHz

2.5 KHz

6.3 KHz

16 KHz

 

I also have Dynamic Range setting , Adaptive DRC , and Enhancer setting

 

The odd thing is that I notice this bright/nasal characteristic when listening in stereo. The center channel seems somewhat better in this regard.

[willland]

Describe your room a bit.  How far is listening position from main speakers?  Are your speakers toed in/out?

 

Sometimes a little change here and a little change there makes a huge difference.

 

Bill

[garyrc]

3 hours ago, Moh said:

 noticed some bightness in vocals. Almost sounds a bit like a cartoon character singing (if that makes sense) sounds a bit nasal. The vocals don't sound deep. Especially female vocals.

I have EQ setting on yamaha receiver. Is there any frequencies I should boost or reduce on the klipsh RP5000F 

 

I have Eq sliders on yamaha receiver at following frequencies

63Hz

160Hz

400Hz

1 KHz

2.5 KHz

6.3 KHz

16 KHz

 

I also have Dynamic Range setting , adptive DRC , and Enhancer setting

 

The odd thing is that I notice this bright/nasal characteristic when listening in stereo.*   The center channel seems somewhat better in this regard.

 

Is the center RP5000F also?  If not, what?

 

Try classical or folk (the solo female singers on the soundtrack of Amadeus, or Joan Baez, Judy Collins), or a recording you  know to be good. 

 

Engineers/producers do all kind of nasty things to the female voice in pop.

 

Try the sliders one at a time.  Unfortunately, the sliders are more than 1 octave apart; better EQs have sliders 1/4 octave apart, or even closer. 

 

63Hz

160Hz

400Hz   Near "tuning A" which is 440Hz

1 KHz

2.5 KHz  Possibly harsh

6.3 KHz "Presence"

16 KHz   "Air"

 

 

*Common usage: The term "Two Channel" is used, rather than "Stereo," because "Stereo" could mean 2, 3, 4 (theatrical CinemaScope and the like), 6 (Todd-AO and other 70mm cinema-- "'in 6 track stereo"), 7 (old Cinerama), 8 (D150).  In Home Theater, a rare 2 channel film might be labeled 2, or 2.1, otherwise 5.1, 7.1, etc., etc.

 

 

[Moh]

I have RP500CB as centre channel

Room has a bay window left to the sitting position and open to the right side of sitting position.

overall room is a rectangle 15 X 30 ft

Front speakers are 12 ft from sitting position and about 10 ft from each other.

Speakers are straight not toed in or out.

2.5 KHz (possibly harsh) = does that mean it should be increased or decreased to reduce harshness?

 

 

 

Edited March 30, 2022 by Moh

[ricktate]

Part of it is the Yamaha but speaker position may have an effect. Make sure jumpers are tight on the back. I would try toeing in aim in front of head or behind your head. I bet you used the mic with auto set up that will sound bad in my experience. Try using it to set levels then adjust tone manually. 

[Madman1]

Does the room have any acoustic treatment? One of the best investments you can make. This may not be your current issue, but you’ll never hear your speakers properly without wall treatments. Easy experiment is hanging moving blankets(harbor freight) on the walls and especially over that bay window. 

[Dave MacKay]

I found that Yamaha's YPAO system made it much harder for me to integrate my subwoofers with my La Scalas. I ended up running my Yamaha receiver in "Pure Direct" mode (where all EQ and tone controls are bypassed). Try doing the same and see how it affects the sound.

 

I would recommend that you download REW (Room EQ Wizard, it's free) and get a calibrated mic (e.g., UMIK-1) so that you'll be able to see exactly what your system and room are producing. With that, you'll be able to proceed systematically.

[Marvel]

If this is a new setup, make sure the speakers are wired correctly (polarity...). It's a simple thing to slip up on and will really make a difference.

[Moh]

Yes,  I think the yamaha setup has something to do with this..The "direct mode"  makes a huge difference.  When I don't use direct mode, the tweeks helped. I think the big bay glass window next to the left speaker is also not helping. But in general, they are sounding pretty good..I just am just picky..I want to make them sound the best. Putting softer window covering might be good too.

[Moh]

Darn..One of the speakers was out of phase... Thought I had checked this.

[garyrc]

12 hours ago, Moh said:

 

 

2.5 KHz (possibly harsh) = does that mean it should be increased or decreased to reduce harshness?

 

 

 

 

Decreased.

[CoryGillmore]

7 hours ago, Moh said:

Darn..One of the speakers was out of phase... Thought I had checked this.

Fixing that had to make a dramatic difference!