magiccarpetride;668773 Wrote: > I think I'm beginning to understand some people who were complaining > about similar symptoms that Mr Bellow described above. Let me relate my > experience: > > I've set some time aside last night for some more critical listening of > the TT3.0. Turned off all but the essential house appliances, dimmed the > lights, sat down right smack middle in the sweet spot, and focused on > listening to "Guajira" off Santana's 3rd album (this song has been in > the constant rotation in my house ever since I was 15, so I know, by > heart, every little cough, scratch and squeak recorded in there;) > > With TT3.0 mods fully on (including the somewhat controversial tt -k > mod), this song now sounds COMPLETELY different! It's almost like a > brand new, never before heard rendition of this famous song. It is a > small wonder, then, that some people get very confused after > experiencing this cognitive dissonance (i.e. being able to hardly > recognize a song they've been listening to for many moons). > > The 'sound is now much more digital' remark is interesting, because I > think it may be coming from a reference point of someone who hasn't had > a chance to hear how a really good analog setup sounds. What I'm trying > to say is that TT3.0 now offers sound experience that is getting > freakishly close to the sound quality one gets from a multi thousands > of dollars turntable rig (and by multi thousand dollars, I'm implying > five figure setup, which I was fortunate enough to hear at a friend's > house). > > Up until the day we've received TT3.0 from Klaus, it was quite easy to > distinguish that we're listening to a digital source; now, it gets to > be a bit more challenging, as the sound is now approaching the > sweetness one gets when playing good vinyl pressing on Thorens 124 > equipped with a good moving coil cartridge and an excellently > calibrated high end arm (plus a multi-thousand dollars phono preamp). > > Back to Santana and "Guajira": using the full blown TT3.0 mods, listen > to the tone of Santana's guitar on that song -- pure sweetness. You > cannot get that tone quality from TT2.0, period. I've heard that same > sweetness only on a good vinyl pressing of the same album played on > Thorens 124. When I play the same song on my dinky Dual turntable, the > sweetness is nowhere to be heard. So you do need a high end analog gear > if you are to hear what's really embedded inside the grooves. > > Conclusion: the pre-TT3.0 tone of Santana's guitar is a bit scratchy in > comparison (I made the comparison last night, iPad on my knee). With > TT3.0 on, the guitar tone flows like the finest wine, pours over like > thick, amber honey as it drips off the spoon. It's to die for:) > > The 'little radio' remark: I'm using the big Magnepan speakers > (Maggies), in a fairly large room with high ceilings, so I cannot > really relate to this (everything sounds big on my speakers). What is > indeed very noticeable with TT3.0 is that the sound is much, much more > focused, tighter and faster, snappier. This may contribute to the > illusion, when listened to on smaller, single point of radiation > speakers, that everything had shrunk to a minuscule soundstage. > > One thing I've noticed when comparing TT3.0 back-to-back with TT2.0 is > that TT2.0 produces a sound that is more widely dispersed. It is more > fuzzy. Instruments and voices appear to be ever so slightly shifting > focus as the performance carries on, almost as if someone is waving a > soft gauze in front of the listener. No such thing is evident when > switching to TT3.0, as all the instruments and vocals are now firmly > planted in their respective space, and are not budging even a fraction > of a millimetre. > > Nowhere is this more evident than in the bass region. The bass is now > incredibly taut, which may contribute to the superficial impressions > that it is somehow 'emptied'. Which is actually very true, because the > bass is now indeed emptied of any boominess. > > Whether this lack of boominess is a desirable thing or not is left to > the listener's individual taste, but as far as staying faithful to the > recorded material, there is no doubt that tighter, firmer, nimbler, > less messy bass is getting closer to the real McCoy. > > I also do not understand the "too much highs" remark; yes, it is > definitely the case that now with TT3.0 on it gets much easier to hear > subtle nuances in the decay of the cymbals, but since when is that a > bad thing? Also, since the dynamics are now considerably improved, a > violent cymbal crash is gonna hit you where it hurts, but hey, that's > life in the big city! Ever been close to a real drum kit?
Soundcheck is right : is really a pleasure read what you write. I can feel yr passion for music. About yr observations I can say only one thing : the secret is to run TT3.0 with all the options enabled (even vollock and kill the daemons). In the first days , since I use a NAS and don't have an iPod/iPad I was forced to turn the display on and the infrared receiver on.In the next days I tried the full TT3.0 package and the sound became more natural and balanced. Now I have an 8 Gb ipod Touch (is sold for 199 euros) to control the SBT and , at the moment , I'm really happy with TT3.0. In my opinion the sound is born analog : when you listen to live music you perceive the highs (cymbals etc.) and the basses in a natural way without forcing ; my first approach to TT3.0 was not natural (i used the word "digital" to describe a detailed , defined but innatural sound ( I mean NOT real)). Probably this is even caused by my system (mainly a Naim system ) which emphasize the good and the bad. The difficult part in high end systems is to obtain a natural sound from a digital source : usually I recognize the achievement of that goal when the speakers disappear and you're surrounded by the sound (even with a stereo system - which is in my opinion the only way to listen to high end reproduction at the moment) and you can almost "see" the players positions on the stage. Now I'm really near to that goal not only with vinyl but even with my TT3.0 SBT. -- Mr Bellow ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Mr Bellow's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=48562 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=91322 _______________________________________________ audiophiles mailing list audiophiles@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/audiophiles
