Rock and Metal Listening Fatigue
- Thread starter Columbo
- Start date
Columbo
pfm Member
Do you not find that neutrality and revealing nature of your ATCs makes it hard to tolerate poor recordings for long listening sessions?
Columbo
pfm Member
Mike Reed
pfm Member
Funny, that; I've gone the other way. When I did start to latch on to more complex rock/pop it was more in line with the Moodies, whereas the other spaced-out contemporaries preferred Hendrix (terrible s.q. though). However, my radio listening is all classical so I haven't forsaken it, despite 400 or so classical albums. Somehow, classical on CDs don't quite do it for me.
A lot of systems struggle to play compressed or poor recordings. The recording typically gets the blame but I don't agree with that.
If where you live is littered with potholes and you buy a car with massive wheels and rubber band tyres, who's fault is it when yours wheels get cracked? The point of a music system is to let you enjoy the recorded music that you like. If it can't do that it's not very good. If it can only play perfect recordings it's not very good. No matter how nice it sounds on those wonderful recordings.
If where you live is littered with potholes and you buy a car with massive wheels and rubber band tyres, who's fault is it when yours wheels get cracked? The point of a music system is to let you enjoy the recorded music that you like. If it can't do that it's not very good. If it can only play perfect recordings it's not very good. No matter how nice it sounds on those wonderful recordings.
darrenyeats
pfm Member
Inspired by this thread I'm now listening to Lateralus, first time in a while, ha.
Columbo
pfm Member
Nice. Incidentally, the mixing and SQ on Tool's last release is perhaps some of my favourite of any album in my collection.
Brown Bottle
UTB
It depends what you mean by Rock/Metal. Sabbath and Zeppelin are not that hard really. Korn or Slipknot would be far more fatiguing to me, on any system!
Cheers BB
Cheers BB
My ATCs are absolutely fantastic with rock and metal,in actual fact that’s what I auditioned them with,and why I bought them.
I’m not a fan of making controversial statements,but if your speakers don’t play rock and metal well it’s because they’re SHITE. END OF
bigfish786
pfm Member
Predominantly listen to Metal, I’ve not had any problems using Mission, Focal and Triangle floorstanders for this. I think it helps having multi driver speakers 
Maybe some are poor recordings due to the "compression war" thing?My ATCs are absolutely fantastic with rock and metal,in actual fact that’s what I auditioned them with,and why I bought them.
I’m not a fan of making controversial statements,but if your speakers don’t play rock and metal well it’s because they’re SHITE. END OF
Pressure23
Member
My current mission is to get a system that will play a Tidal stream of LED Zep IV and sound good. There’s not a lot of low end on the recording, I think because it was mixed for fm radio, and the remasters haven’t changed it much - compare and contrast with the BBC sessions stream which has a much better balance. I heard my current speakers do well with IV at a dealer but my current amp isn’t quite up to it. Sadly I don’t have the vinyl any more, which may be more to my taste.
gez
pfm Member
If those make it on to the recording medium then the studio needs to be closed and/or the engineer fired, as they haven't done their job properly.
gez
pfm Member
Sloprot just sound bad full stop. Same is true of Korn.
I can honestly say I've never understood the appeal (or plaudits) either of those band have, and I listen to music that is easily as "heavy" so it's not because I'm an easy listening fan.
In the late 90s I owned a system that although many steps up on my college system that while good on vocal and acoustic just didn't make rock, pop and metal enjoyable. I ended up listening to a small collection of gentler music that wasn't what I really enjoyed. So I sold it all and started again.
The secret for me was two things. Big vintage paper driver speakers and going to vinyl. Now I can listen to anything with pleasure including the gentler stuff too. However the speakers made the biggest difference.
The secret for me was two things. Big vintage paper driver speakers and going to vinyl. Now I can listen to anything with pleasure including the gentler stuff too. However the speakers made the biggest difference.
Tony L
Administrator
Just a turgid sounding record IMO. Never liked it. Never felt it sounded any good, and I’ve had first press UK vinyl and the LOLprice Classic Records pressings pass though. On CD I’ve had the sought-after ‘target’ and the dreadful Plant remasters. The first two albums are just so much more dynamic and alive sounding (I kept hold of a Classic Records of LZI as I quite like that one). I’d really not try and bias a system towards LZIV.
PS If it was going to sound any good it probably would here as I bet it was recorded and mastered on something very similar to my system! I haven’t got the drugs though. Most rock of that era really makes sense here, but that is one I’ve never connected with.
paulfromcamden
Baffled
I think the appropriate use of compression is very genre specific. With Sabbath-y doom metal you want some dynamic range, I want the vocals or the drums to breath a bit. With death metal and grindcore I want a loud, nasty, aggressive wall of sound that's going to take my head off. It's not jazz.
Tony L
Administrator
I’ve just stuck some Meshuggah on via Tidal. Bewilderingly complex math-metal stuff as expected (I’ve linked to YouTube videos analysing their rhythmic content before now). It sounds fine via giant Tannoys; cavernous, powerful, but it definitely lacks dynamics to my taste. It is likely designed to be listened to far louder than I’d want to listen.
PS Over a certain level humans can’t hear dynamics properly, hence so many ’heavy’ albums sounding like crap as they were just mixed too loud in the studio. I knew a sound engineer who’d leave the control room if a band wanted a loud playback as he knew it notched his ears so he couldn’t hear dynamics properly for a fair while afterwards and made mistakes with the mix. Most engineers/producers aren’t that bright!
PS Over a certain level humans can’t hear dynamics properly, hence so many ’heavy’ albums sounding like crap as they were just mixed too loud in the studio. I knew a sound engineer who’d leave the control room if a band wanted a loud playback as he knew it notched his ears so he couldn’t hear dynamics properly for a fair while afterwards and made mistakes with the mix. Most engineers/producers aren’t that bright!