[Dublo7]

Today I got myself my first set of cans - the AD900's. I absolutely love them, and I think they sound great (and they're very comfortable).
Now, here's where the problem comes in. I've noticed how horrible a lot of my favourite music sounds. Albums like Porcupine Tree's Deadwing, The Mars Volta's albums, and a few Nine Inch Nails tracks (I was surprised with this one), sound pretty awful. A lot of the tracks are loaded with distortion and crackling.
For example, try listening to Open Car by Porcupine Tree without cringing at the distortion and crackle that will invade your ear canal.

However, it's not all bad, I guess; My Pink Floyd, Tool and Opeth albums sound great.

So while I love this hobby, it's almost a bittersweet affair in that it's revealed how poorly some of this music is mastered.

Has anyone else here experienced this unpleasant awakening?

 

[vcoheda]

half my collection i can't listen to b/c the sound quality is poor. kind of sad. but the CDs that are recorded well sound amazing - so it's a trade off.

 

[chef8489]

There are quite a few albums I can not listen to with my iem's. I would say most of my classical music is that way. I get too much backgroud noise from the recordings.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dublo7 /img/forum/go_quote.gif ...A lot of the tracks are loaded with distortion and crackling.

Are you sure your amp isn't clipping? If your amp is struggling to keep up, you'll get similar sounds when it clips.

 

[uraflit]

you sure theres not something wrong with your gear?

im listening to PT's deadwing album now and it sounds fine to me.

 

[Dublo7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif Are you sure your amp isn't clipping? If your amp is struggling to keep up, you'll get similar sounds when it clips.

I'm not so sure about that. I've plugged the headphones into my laptop's headphone jack and I can still hear the distortion at the same parts, it's just not as prominent as it is with an amp.

It is pretty weird though, as I've been listening for a few hours now, and it's definitely only these few CD's that have this problem. The vast majority of the music I've tried sounds fantastic.

 

[apatN]

Oh my.. The loudness war.
I can only imagine the amount of dead horses in this thread.

 

[Duggeh]

If you need equipment more sophisticated than a portable tape player and the stock earbuds to discern that the Mars Volta sound absolutely awful that's worrying.

 

[Dublo7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by apatN /img/forum/go_quote.gif Oh my.. The loudness war. I can only imagine the amount of dead horses in this thread.

Why I oughta *shakes fist*

 

[milkweg]

How come we can hear the distortions but the sound engineer who made the recording can't?
I guess it's a case of sounds good enough on a boom box so it sounds good enough for every one.

 

[scytheavatar]

I am listening to the whole of Deadwing at the moment, on the AD2000 which is more revealing than the AD900, and I am struggling to hear any hiss. There are bands with questionable recording quality and might not sound better in a higher end gear, and Porcupine Tree is certainly not one of them. Neither is The Mars Volta nor NIN. So can you please get a higher bitrate for your recording?

 

[MoreCowbell]

Deadwing is my favorite Porcupine Tree album and I think it sounds fine. I use the recording to reference equipment. I might have some albums that sound better but I'm very familiar with Deadwing and to my ears it sounds great. My primary cans (for now) are the A900s. I also have NIN and can't really find any glaring flaws in the sound quality with them either. It's said the AT cans are fine without amplification but that doesn't mean they won't sound better with quality amps and a better source. Give it a shot.

 

[milkweg]

Maybe he is listening to poor quality MP3s and not the original CD?

 

[jilgiljongiljing]

Deadwing, that too Open car has so much hiss and distortion its unlistenable? No way! Its definitely hotter than the older PT albums, but its still one of the better recorded albums.

I am not sure whats going on here. And I certainly hope you arent talking about Downward spiral when you talk abt NIN, its one of those albums in which even the noise and overblown distortion sounds clean!

 

[uraflit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jilgiljongiljing /img/forum/go_quote.gif Deadwing, that too Open car has so much hiss and distortion its unlistenable? No way! Its definitely hotter than the older PT albums, but its still one of the better recorded albums. I am not sure whats going on here. And I certainly hope you arent talking about Downward spiral when you talk abt NIN, its one of those albums in which even the noise and overblown distortion sounds clean!

lol. amen brudda