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Audiophile Words Survey


artto

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I have an audiophile friend in Japan who is a contributing editor for Audio Basic (Japan). He is working on an article concerning difference between US audiophile's word

and Japanese's ones to express the sound.

If you would like to be a part of his research & contribute your thoughts to this article, Ill collect all them & forward it to him.

In his words, What is your favorite words to express good sound (real, open.....?) or bad

sound (harsh, bright....) ? I would appreciate it if you would let me know your words as many as possible or your thought about sound (what sound do you like and what sound you do not like ?).

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Let's see...

Words to describe good sound:

Seductively sweet, open, uncolored, exceptionally musical, fast, extremely focused, tight, excellent speed, articulated, neutral, clarity, midrange glow, serene sparkle, transparent, having great slam, revealing, liquidity, nonfatiguing, top-end bite, and detailed...

And words to describe poor sound:

Sounding wan and out of sorts, amorphous, weak, heavy, graininess, slow, laid back, vague, hoarseness, strain, wanting, unresolved, heavyhanded, dark, deminished bass bloom, inferior, nonarticulated, unrevealing, and just plain sucks!

Where do the writers at Stereophile come up with some of these terms?5.gif

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On 7/3/2003 6:50:34 PM jt1stcav wrote:

Let's see...

Words to describe good sound:

Seductively sweet, open, uncolored, exceptionally musical, fast, extremely focused, tight, excellent speed, articulated, neutral, clarity, midrange glow, serene sparkle, transparent, having great slam, revealing, liquidity, nonfatiguing, top-end bite, and detailed...

And words to describe poor sound:

Sounding wan and out of sorts, amorphous, weak, heavy, graininess, slow, laid back, vague, hoarseness, strain, wanting, unresolved, heavyhanded, dark, deminished bass bloom, inferior, nonarticulated, unrevealing, and just plain sucks!

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You just about hit every one that I would have used to describe good sound. I would also add:

detailed and just plain This thing just sounds friggan incredible!

For good bass, I would add:

Tight, Fast, Accurate, Non-boomy.

For poor sound, I would also add:

Boxy, muffled, muddy, colored, compressed, distorted.

For poor bass:

Overdriven, Farty, Boomy, Flabby, One-notey

For the really bad stuff:

Even Bose sounds better than this!

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I think the problem with the article is that tastes run the gammet (sp?). Some like music really soft and flowing (read, cheesecloth in front of the tweeter), while others like things raw, upfront (Klipsch) and really in your face.

I bet it's the same in Japan.

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I guess I'm pretty straightforward about my descriptions. I have specifics for each quality:

Lows

- good: tight, punchy

- bad: boomy, muddy

Highs

- good: crisp, bright, detailed, smooth

- bad: harsh, sharp

Overall imaging/soundstage

- good: detailed, clear, balanced

- bad: blurry

I find myself using "detail" and "clarity" more than any other term to describe a lot of equipment characteristics - either I hear subtleties or I don't.

I'm not a big one for "warm" - to me that's a two-edged sword. Warmth is something that can be artificially enhanced in a system, sacrificing transparency.

Oh well, blah blah blah. Let me step aside and let someone else talk 9.gif

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Crisp and bright are positive when describing the upper registers!! 6.gif

Upper registers must be detailed,natural and defined.Freedom fries should be crisp,and bright is often a sign of overblown upper registers.

Just my two cents(worth a truckload of GOLD)

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On 7/4/2003 9:57:02 AM TheEAR wrote:

Crisp and bright are positive when describing the upper registers!!
6.gif

Upper registers must be detailed,natural and defined.Freedom fries should be crisp,and bright is often a sign of overblown upper registers.

Just my two cents(worth a truckload of GOLD)

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Well, that's what opinions are for. I like bright, detailed high end. I also appreciate smooth, subdued highs, but my preference is more towards a bright, well defined high end. Not at the expense of the mids, mind you, but that's my preference.

Also, understand that there is a difference to me between "bright" and "sharp" - "bright" is well-defined high, where "sharp" is exaggerated, ear-fatiguing high.

Audio words are so much fun...

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On 7/3/2003 8:14:28 PM jt1stcav wrote:

LOL...
9.gif

Steven, what does "bloom" sound like?
3.gif

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I don't know, it was in your posting! I did not notice that, thinking it said "boom". 6.gif10.gif

I would guess "diminished bass bloom" would be that tendency of how some subwoofers, especially the low-quality ones tends to let the sound continue, even though the actual signal has stopped. Whereas, "Boom" is just simply exaggerated bass, introducing more bass than the original material intended.

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