The Audio 101 Thread

Discussion in 'General Audio Discussion' started by sphinxvc, Nov 12, 2016.

  1. Dino

    Dino Friend

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    Someone will come along with a better answer. In the meantime, @sphinxvc don't do that!

    If a stereo amplifier is bridgeable to mono, it would be in the amplifier's instructions. Otherwise, it would be safe to assume that the amp does not have the capability.

    That is my understanding, anyway.
     
  2. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    As Dino mentioned, generally not the best idea unless the amp says it's ok, but here's how you hack it:
    - only doable if your amp uses common ground on the negative speaker terminals
    - requires a balanced source with symmetrical output, and preferably has that symmetry across ground (do shenanigans with a DI box and resistor splice if you're feeling like sorta vaguely protecting yourself here)
    - split the hot pin to one side and the cold to the other (I'm assuming rca inputs, reference the signals each to ground)
    - so basically you're feeding each amp channel the reflected signal of the other and smashing the outputs together
    - repeat the two previous steps for the other channel and another amp
     
  3. FallingObjects

    FallingObjects Pay It Forward

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    And as @schiit or any other (reasonably) sane manufacturer would tell you at this point, "This will definitely void your warranty"
     
  4. beemerphile

    beemerphile Friend

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    I have never bridged a power amplifier that I did not think the sound quality was adversely affected as a result. I would be more inclined to ask why you would do it than how.
     
  5. murray

    murray Friend

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    If you're not sure - only do it if there is: (1) a "bridged mono" switch on the back, and (2) official instructions.
    An amplifier that has been designed to be bridgeable will do the required phase split and inversion itself.
    Bridging may have additional limitations on driving low impedance (less than 8 ohms) loudspeakers.
    Anything else requires technical knowledge of bridging and the amplifier itself, and is experimentation.
    If you get it wrong there is a real risk of catastrophic damage occurring.
     
  6. sphinxvc

    sphinxvc Gear Master (retired)

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    LOL. Don't worry guys, I'm not about to blow up my F3. :) I was just wondering how people were running First Watt F3s as monoblocks, since it doesn't explicitly say they're monoable.

    I guess maybe those are DIY versions.
     
  7. sphinxvc

    sphinxvc Gear Master (retired)

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    Found this online, sent an email to a dealer to confirm.

    o_Oo_Oo_Oo_Oo_O

    [​IMG]
     
  8. BenjaminBore

    BenjaminBore Friend

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    Can anyone recommend a track that illustrates microdynamics well? I understand the concept but it's the only audio trait I haven't grasped yet in a practice.
     
  9. lm4der

    lm4der A very good sport - Friend

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    A good reference track, because everyone up here is familiar with it, is the version of "Hotel California" from the live Eagles album "Hell Freezes Over". Listen to the sounds of the guitar notes decay during the intro. The decay of the thumping drum. The ambience of the crowd sounds. These add real depth and realism when rendered with all their subtlety.

    Others can probably provide better details.
     
  10. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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    Piano and cello. Lots of minute instantneous volume changes. It's all relative. Need to compare gear that can do this and gear that can't. Also, system is only as good as its weakest link.
     
  11. Kunlun

    Kunlun cat-alyzes cat-aclysmic cat-erwauling - Friend

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    Good answer, I was going to mention the percussive quality of a violin or cello played pizzicato (plucked).

    Also, the percussive quality of a banjo's strings plucked.

    In Indian Classical Music, try the santur (hammered dulcimer) as played by ShivKumar Sharma (the very well recorded CD of his performance of Rag Rageshri with Zakir Hussain on Zakir's Moment Records is a good example). The strings can be directly hammered or glided over, giving different timbral and microdynamic effects.


    For a plucked instrument, the sarod in the stylistic tradition of Buddhadev Das Gupta explores the percussive qualities of the instrument and there're a lot of microdynamic effects (his performances recorded by India Archive Music are good examples).
     
  12. BenjaminBore

    BenjaminBore Friend

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    Yup, okay, got it. Thank you. I'd considered this subtle reverb and trailing off of sounds just as resolution or part of microdetail. I'm going to have to reconsider my interpretations there. This also seems to be a big part of realism, but has no bearing on tactility/tangibility.

    The guitar strumming highlighted rapid changes where while the strings are still gently reverberating and becoming quieter from one strum, up comes the next one. Creating a beautiful cycle of interweaving harmonics.

    I hadn't realised how poorly it was generally reproduced. Messing with different chains at it's worst it almost sounds like he's strumming on a Banjo with a rubber pick. Ching, ching ching, ching ching ching ching ching. At it's best it's like a mesmerising and delicate performance on a Pedal Harp. The range of volume of that sound being very small and the component parts clumped together for the former, and the range of volume being much wider with the component parts more distinct with room to breather for the latter.

    It's tracks like this that really show off what the HD800 can do. My genre choices as I've moved up have been too narrow to appreciate these things.
     
    Last edited: Apr 6, 2017
  13. Kunlun

    Kunlun cat-alyzes cat-aclysmic cat-erwauling - Friend

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    [​IMG]

    @sphinxvc
    I feel like this is the origin story of a superhero.

    Mild-mannered sphinxvc was bridging stereo amps at home when a vortex opened into The Sound Force and he was sucked in, only to emerge as Ampman, kinda like the Flash but with lower THD and more spandex.


    We'll have to make a note for new members:

    "Don't be evil or Ampman will appear out of an input jack with his Monoblock of Justice."

    We'll ask Boops to design your costume, it'll be rad.
     
  14. Jackork

    Jackork Acquaintance

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    How big should be Dynamic Range of a track?

    When I check my playlists on foobar with Dynamic Range Meter I'm not sure when to expect finely mastered album. Most of rock/metal music tends to have lower Dynamic Range and most of classical tends to have higher (at least my albums) so it makes it harder to properly judge.
     
  15. purr1n

    purr1n Desire for betterer is endless.

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  16. Audiophile

    Audiophile New

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    A newbie question. What is the difference between headstage and soundstage? What is more important while playing games or watching movies?
     
  17. Melvillian

    Melvillian Friend

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    I'm going to take a crack at this one. Since headphones don't really present a sound stage outside of your head like speakers do, the term head stage is used to describe the headphone equivalent of sound stage.

    At least that's what makes sense to me.
     
    Last edited: Aug 8, 2017
  18. Audiophile

    Audiophile New

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    Yeah i thought so, but most audiophiles still use the word soundstage in describing the stage of headphones.
     
  19. Dino

    Dino Friend

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    I think they are using soundstage (incorrectly imo) instead of headstage. Kind of like a lot of people using euphoric instead of euphonic.
     
  20. james444

    james444 Mad IEM modding wizard level 99

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    Personally, I'm not sure whether a distinction between soundstage and headstage makes much sense. There are several factors, like recording technique, mixing, playback DSP, playback environment, etc... that may contribute to our spatial perception of audio. And the type of transducer used for reproduction, be it speakers, headphones or IEMs, is only one of them.

    To name two examples, binaural recordings can create a perfect illusion of out-of-head soundstage with IEMs or headphones, whereas they don't quite sound "spatially correct" with speakers. And clever playback DSP like the Smyth Realiser can mimic speaker-like soundstage pretty well with headphones. Just food for thought... :)
     

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