[Paradigm]

I have aquestion, with such a beautful CD that moby made, why does his bass distort soo bad. Obviously he intended this to be, is there any way I can counter effect this on my phones????

 

[Neruda]

how are you listening to the CD and on what equipment?

 

[dhwilkin]

If the effects are intended, than my guess is you can't get rid of them, but maybe you can minimize them. Not sure how, though, sorry.

 

[Neruda]

I'm thinking it might be his equipment distorting...

 

[dhwilkin]

That's another possibility, especially if the volume is really cranked.

 

[Paradigm]

You got me, My Minidisc is cranked all the way up with mega bass on full. But i will soon be getting a good pair of phones to take care of that.

On my high-fi system at home, you should see how it handles mobys bass-----pure nirvana

 

[dhwilkin]

Well, new headphones will help, but I'm thinking it might be your minidisc's built-in amp not being able to handle full volume and mega-bass at the same time that's causing most of the distortion. Then again, if your new headphones happen to play louder at a lower volume than your old headphones, maybe it won't be a problem...

 

[pearle]

I have a Arcam DiVA CD72, OBH-11, HD580s, dh labs bl-1 interconnects....certain parts of Moby's songs distort for me as well. I think its intentional.

I seem to have a general problem with hiss....almost all of my cds generate a certain level of hiss. It isn't my interconnects, it isn't my sources. I thought it might be my amp but without playing anything on my source, the amp is deadly quiet on full volume. I hope it's not my headphones....


- pearle

 

[zoboomofo]

Pearle, I hope you're still liking that new cd player of yours. I'd love to get my hands on a Diva cd72. If you don't mind me asking, does it gel with the obh-11? Some folks complain that it (the amp) sounds dry, and harsh - especially at higher volumes. I sure hope the Arcam remedies this (unless the cables do).

 

[thomas]

yeah, on that cd, some of the tracks are recorded/mastered perfectly, others have loots of pops/clicks/clipping/distortion... i've never heard recording quality vary so much in 1 cd...

 

[pearle]

When I first bought the Arcam/interconnects/red clou I found the set up to be very harsh/shrill/bright...I could only listen to music for short periods of time without getting a headache

I'm sure this is due to the fact I bought both a new source and new cables. It seems to be getting better and I'm pretty much playing my cd player 24/7. It's still a little hard on the ears and I'm wondering if warmer cables (i have the dh labs bl-1s) might help out.

I rather like the Creek. No complaints here...tho when I first bought it a year ago, it almost made my ears bleed.

Question: Is the Creek itself considered a bright/harsh amp? Or do most people think it tends towards the warm side...Since I haven't had any problems with my amp since the first week or two, I don't think the fault lies with the OBH-11 itself.

I'll keep trying to burn in the Arcam/cables to see if the situation improves.

 

[jude]

Quote:

Originally posted by pearle Question: Is the Creek itself considered a bright/harsh amp? Or do most people think it tends towards the warm side...

The Creek to me was unquestionably on the warmer side, especially for solid state. I've owned both models of the Creek.

 

[zoboomofo]

Thanks for the info pearle. I agree with jude that the Creek is warm - at low volumes, but as someone pointed out it is painful at higher volumes with pop music percussion. Once upon a time, I had an obh-11SE, but didn't keep it long because it was uncomfortably dry at any volume. Since I was told by the salesman that this unit was identical to the regular obh-11 (on the inside), I attributed the unpleasant sound to the obh-2. I have since learned that this is not the case with the obh-11 electronics. Glowing reviews from the likes of mcbiff now make me want to get another obh-2. (I'm hoping for less distortion and more detail.) First I'll try some new cables though. What a sick habit this is! <sigh>

Another thing about the Creek sound. It depends on the disc you listen to i guess. When I first auditioned the thing with Sennheiser 580s, I tried a Cardigans cd and a Stevie Ray Vaughan(sic) cd. The first disc sounded reaaaally warm - especially since the mid bass is fat on that recording. The SRV disc was the total opposite. Everything on that disc seemed to hurt my ears with the highs. Luckily, the Creek's "mood swings" aren't so great with my Grados. Overall, I think it sounds comfortable at a low enough volume.

Oh, sorry, this is a music thread isn't it? Yeah, Moby. I like the sound of his Play cd - pops and crackles and all.

 

[coolvij]

I think he was going for a vinyl-on-a-cheap-setup-like-at-your-grandma's type sound on some of those songs. And i, too, like it, pops, clicks, distortion, and all.

 

[reynman]

I agree with coolvij. Other artists do the vinyl-esque sounds. From my CD collage - Portishead, Mazzy Star, Massive Attack are some artists that come to mind. You should give a listen to Mobys's Greatest Hits and B-sides discs. Great stuff when he was "underground".

Regards - reynman