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Vocal distortion

Hi Simon. After my last post above I did check directly with Hegel and they said they are completely happy with MBPs streaming and use them themselves in demos without need for any other product. I did try it with my Mac mini as well and the result was the same. I suppose I could try it with the MBP unplugged to eliminate the power supply to it but if it is an electrical supply issue the amp might be suffering from it as well.

It's like a faint cracking in the tweeters ...
 
Hi Simon. After my last post above I did check directly with Hegel and they said they are completely happy with MBPs streaming and use them themselves in demos without need for any other product. I did try it with my Mac mini as well and the result was the same. I suppose I could try it with the MBP unplugged to eliminate the power supply to it but if it is an electrical supply issue the amp might be suffering from it as well.

It's like a faint cracking in the tweeters ...

Yes, there's no problem, per se, with using your MBP in to your amps; many people do that. However, a MBP is quite a 'noisy' source (lots going on in a very confined space - not mains noise so much though). Noise on USB outs is quite common. As I suggest, borrow a streamer and compare that in to you amp vs tne MBP.
 
I'm looking at a few options at the moment and if I can borrow one to try or get a home dem, a streamer is certainly one I will consider. Another is plugging amp and mini into a network. I'm not sure if or how this would help and have started another thread on it.
 
I got round to trying a Sonus Port with my set up and it sounded quite a bit worse than either of the macs I used for streaming. I've decided the issue is not with my Macs.
 
Can you check the output settings in the Audio MIDI Setup on the Macs?
Maybe the operating system is performing sample rate conversion when it shouldn't.

If you are reproducing CD rips (16-bit/44.1kHz) then that is what the output bit depth and sample rate should be set to.
 
Hi Simon. After my last post above I did check directly with Hegel and they said they are completely happy with MBPs streaming and use them themselves in demos without need for any other product. I did try it with my Mac mini as well and the result was the same. I suppose I could try it with the MBP unplugged to eliminate the power supply to it but if it is an electrical supply issue the amp might be suffering from it as well.

It's like a faint cracking in the tweeters ...

Macs aren't the best sources in the world, but they're better than the majority of PCs in an 'out of the box' set-up. The M1 models are supposed to quieter still (electrically) in comparison to Intel predecessors.

But I'd agree, I don't think it's your Mac(s) to blame, if nothing else you'd expect it to be more consistent rather than an intermittent issue. Try the MBP on battery as you say and see what happens.

I assume you're using a USB connection? Tried a different cable? If only to eliminate another variable.
 
Check your speaker connections carefully. I had a similar annoying intermittent distortion on one channel. Turned out to be a bad connection on a speaker relay in the amp
 
I doubt that the MBP is the issue - I have found that with age my sensitivity to certain frequencies got worse and with volume I get distortion that I believe is ear induced as opposed to equipment induced. My feeling is that in my case middle ear / eustachian tube blockage is the cause. I haven't really found a solution unfortunately.
 
I doubt that the MBP is the issue - I have found that with age my sensitivity to certain frequencies got worse and with volume I get distortion that I believe is ear induced as opposed to equipment induced. My feeling is that in my case middle ear / eustachian tube blockage is the cause. I haven't really found a solution unfortunately.
Hi, get your ears professionally cleaned (less than 100 quid or so) and get yourself one of these, works wonders.
https://www.earpopper.com/
I must confess, mine didn’t really clear from COVID related blockages until I got another heavy cold some months later, but the above has kept me clear and distortion free!
 
Hi, get your ears professionally cleaned (less than 100 quid or so) and get yourself one of these, works wonders.
https://www.earpopper.com/
I must confess, mine didn’t really clear from COVID related blockages until I got another heavy cold some months later, but the above has kept me clear and distortion free!

Hmm £99 I hope it does work wonders.
 
A good example is "Simple Love" by Alison Krauss where in the chorus it's pretty evident. It could be my ancient ears are going or it could be something else. If any of you listen to that track do you get it as well?

I remember this on my recording. I have just played it and I agree the chorus is bordering on distorting, probably highlighted because the rest of the album is superb. I don't find it that offensive whereas anything by Florence Welch grates intensely.
 
Maybe there's significant flutter echo? Clap your hands loudly in the room - if you hear a prolonged ringing echo afterwards then you have flutter echo. Would be mitigated by hangings, rugs, furniture or specific treatments. It can happen when there are large bare opposite parallel surfaces (e.g. long walls, bare floor, or if you have an opening into a long corridor, that kind of thing).
 
Hi, get your ears professionally cleaned (less than 100 quid or so) and get yourself one of these, works wonders.
https://www.earpopper.com/
I must confess, mine didn’t really clear from COVID related blockages until I got another heavy cold some months later, but the above has kept me clear and distortion free!
Thanks, I do have a similar device, haven't used it in a while will have to try it again, if I recall it did help somewhat.
 
I don't find it that offensive whereas anything by Florence Welch grates intensely.

She has an extraordinary vocal range, but I find 'Lungs' virtually unplayable: I had assumed it was a combination of over-enthusiastic production and subsequent compression. But maybe it's my hearing.
 
She has an extraordinary vocal range, but I find 'Lungs' virtually unplayable: I had assumed it was a combination of over-enthusiastic production and subsequent compression. But maybe it's my hearing.

Yes, whisper to bellow. Not much in-between. Mind you, I retain a wee bit of a soft spot since she's as mad as a box of frogs.
 
Assuming you're using the digital in on the hegel via usb and not an analogue out from the mbp, it'll not be the mbp. Anyone claiming audible differences between streamers and a mbp is in cloud cuckoo land.

It's either your ears, or your mains affecting your amp.

If you have a cold, 99% that it's you.
 
Anything by her is just like someone drilling a hole in my head...

There’s a post or two about how various clinical conditions can cause distortion of high frequencies. I experienced this recently when I had a wax buildup in one ear. So multiple causes. As a designer/manufacturer how do you look after/deal with ageing hearing? This also applies to reviewers of course. They don’t seem to swap horses when they can no longer hear the grasshoppers in the garden any more.
 
There’s a post or two about how various clinical conditions can cause distortion of high frequencies. I experienced this recently when I had a wax buildup in one ear. So multiple causes. As a designer/manufacturer how do you look after/deal with ageing hearing? This also applies to reviewers of course. They don’t seem to swap horses when they can no longer hear the grasshoppers in the garden any more.
It’s a funny thing, isn’t it? I’m very aware my hearing has been on a slow slide for at least a decade, and am perfectly happy to admit there is no point in my spending pots of money on expensive new hifi chasing the finest of fine details any more. But most other old folk here seem to be in denial over this.
 


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