What exactly does smooth out sound & get rid of fatigue mean?

[Hershon2000]

I've read a bunch of reviews on something I just ordered but haven't received yet, a Musical Fidelity X-10 V3 MU-VISTA TUBE BUFFER, mainly because of recommendations I was reading & a discounted price of $320 New with a 30 day return policy & I would appreciate anyone clarifying 2 things I've read about this: 1. It gets rid of CD fatigue & 2. Smooths out/softens the sound of CD.
I play mainly 60/70's remastered rock & blues stuff. I admit after 2 hours or so of listening, that's enough for me because my ears are drained. Is this the fatigue they're talking about & does that then mean if I listen to CD's for 4 hours ithey will sound as refreshing to my ears as they did in the first half hour? WHat about smooth/softening? Isn't that a bad thing as won't it get rids of the punch, efdge & balls of rock & blues music or does this mean something else?

 

[Garbz]

Yes fatigue is when you get tired listening to music. Certain sonic signatures do this especially bright ones from modern recordings and remasters. The other thing that can cause this is lack of dynamic range, again more common in modern recordings. Sufficiently smooth equipment can soften out these problems and I find allow you to listen to music for longer without getting drained.

It has nothing to do with removing punch or anything like that. As a quick fix for fatiguing sound try this with an equaliser, drop everything above 10k by 0.5 - 1dB, and pull 1.5dB out at 3.5k with a reasonably low Q so that 2k and 5k are also affectly slightly. The result will sound deader but the lack of treble and harshness will be less fatiguing.

 

[drarthurwells]

A soft tone edge yields smoothness, but masks resolution and blurs imaging and tone separation. This is forgiving of lesser quality components and cables, however.

A sharp tone edge yields less smoothness, but is highly resolving with sharp imaging and better tone separation. Requires the best of components and cables.

The best CD players and related equipment provide both for sharp tone edges and full, naturally rich, tone body, and excellent timbral nuance resolution.

Some tube amps allow you to change tubes to manipulate tone edge and tone body resolution, to match best with the rest of your system and your musical preferences.

The best sysytems allow for higher resolution and greater detail without any listener fatigue.

Some problem components give you listener fatigue and require a softer tube set up to reduce it or a tube buffer. Changing the tubes in the buffer may let you vary the softness to your tastes.

 

[mrarroyo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hershon2000 I've read a bunch of reviews on something I just ordered but haven't received yet, a Musical Fidelity X-10 V3 MU-VISTA TUBE BUFFER, mainly because of recommendations I was reading & a discounted price of $320 New with a 30 day return policy & I would appreciate anyone clarifying 2 things I've read about this: 1. It gets rid of CD fatigue & 2. Smooths out/softens the sound of CD. I play mainly 60/70's remastered rock & blues stuff. I admit after 2 hours or so of listening, that's enough for me because my ears are drained. Is this the fatigue they're talking about & does that then mean if I listen to CD's for 4 hours ithey will sound as refreshing to my ears as they did in the first half hour? WHat about smooth/softening? Isn't that a bad thing as won't it get rids of the punch, efdge & balls of rock & blues music or does this mean something else?

Some people believe the fatigue is caused because the un-natural presentation of headphones. I mean you do not get some of the left channel sounds into your right ear and vice-versa. Thus many have introduced some sort of cross-feed. The best of these units are very subtle and very hard to detect they are working, however they do make a difference if you listen for extended periods. Good luck.

 

[Blitzula]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hershon2000 WHat about smooth/softening? Isn't that a bad thing as won't it get rids of the punch, efdge & balls of rock & blues music...

Being a big rock and metal fan, I've found that components described as smooth/non-fatiguing often do just what you're concerned about to rock music.

 

[bigshot]

"Smooth" and "fatigue" are subjective descriptions that may or may not apply to your own reaction to the same sound. They're typical of the imprecise sorts of language used by reviewers who don't have the knowledge or vocabulary necessary to describe sound in a way that means something to other listeners.

See ya
Steve

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blitzula Being a big rock and metal fan, I've found that components described as smooth/non-fatiguing often do just what you're concerned about to rock music.

Ditto.