Versailles - Silent Knight [Live] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUQi3hV3eM0&fmt=18&t=2m50s
Getting to the point, this is speed-metal, so naturally, I'm testing for speed, I know every note by heart (okay, not EVERY note
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The intensity builds-up more and more after 2:45, so it's really fun to listen to (+I like the song).
Second, it's more about the isolation of the notes than the actual notes themselves, I listen for the edge of the notes, the start and finish, or the *air* inbetween, (the perceived millisecond of silence).
What I mean is that with super-fast passages like this (16ths at 220bpm or something? haven't checked) the notes don't sound isolated anymore, they're presented in smooth texture of 12 notes in a single sound, instead of 12 sounds, because the decay of the first note overlaps the second, and so on.
Here is an example of decay and attack which I drew in paint.
live version (acoustics and instrument-seperation are excellent in this one, yes even on youtube, make sure you use my link with the fmt=18 in it!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUQi3hV3eM0&fmt=18&t=2m50s
3:00 - this is where it starts
3:59 - hell yeah
4:06/4:11 - huh? that doesn't sound like an elec. guitar, it sounds like a damn flute! I hate you, smooth IEM's!
4:23 - the best part, the elec.guitar sonata, sounds like a couple of talented flute players to me though (on these bad IEM's).
Now, for those interested, if you listened to these tracks, please rate your earphones!
1 ~ 11 on speed,
1 ~ 5 on instrument-seperation
+ 1~5 on reverb
(second one is optional, but this is also useful to know, applies only to the
live version recording).
1 is milkshake, 11 is masterpiece, every note is it's own island, you can hear every raindrop in the sky.
1 is mono, 5 is you can hear the exact instrument location, and even the different parts of the drum, and the size of the stadium and the echoes off the walls and some yells and murmurs in the audience! only give 5 if you can hear all of that!)
and list which IEM's/earbuds/headphones you are using! Thanks!
extra rating secion added
Reverb - x / 5
1/5 = bathroom
2/5 = car
3/5 = studio
4/5 = club
5/5 = stadium
6/5 = horizon
Full-size headphones are better than IEM's in this department, but there are still good earbuds and IEM's when it comes to this, especially as technology and research advances, which goes hand-in-hand with the increasing popularity of IEM's these days.
I would give a "normal" IEM without fancy drivers or housing a 3/5, faithful reproduction of a studio recording, but failing to emerge the user in a club atmosphere or live concert type reverb.
Just like a car audio system can have amazing sound quality, so can an IEM with a limited spatial field, so 2/5 does not mean it's a bad IEM.
If I can close my eyes and feel like I am at a club, or a live concert, that is one hell of an IEM, so if you decide to give a 4 or a 5 please do it justifyingly!
Note: There is a difference between
hearing a club atmostphere, and
feeling a club atmosphere.
For example, someone calls you on their mobile phone, you can
hear if they are in the bathroom, a car, a studio or at a club, but you don't feel like you are
there with them.
_
Note 2: a good way for testing a club atmosphere with side-by-side comparisons of earphones is using the audio player foobar, installing the impulse convolver,
and then selecting the impulse file "club b.wav" and adjusting the mix (25% or so is ok), you can download club-b.wav
here