Why Do Some Recordings Sound Great and Others Dead?

Too much compression (dynamic range), overuse of limiters, microphones not set up properly, bad mixing engineer, bad recording engineer.

Or it could be the (most likely) Wolfson DAC chip in your iPod. Many people agree that Wolfson DAC chips are on the sweeter side of neutral, rather than clinical sounding.

[Verse 1]
Sunrise, sunrise
Looks like mornin' in your eyes
But the clock's held 9:15 for hours
Sunrise, sunrise
Couldn't tempt us if it tried
'Cause the afternoon's already come and gone

[Chorus 1]
And I said
Hoo-ooh-ooh-ooh
Hoo-ooh-ooh-ooh
Hoo-ooh-ooh-ooh
To you... 

great song

A couple suggestions:

1) I assume you have 'Audio Level Fixed' set on the Node? Not sure that is settable if you bypass the DAC, but make sure it is set to pass through.

2) Try listening to RP's FLAC lossless stream instead of MQA. MQA adds a lot of complexity, maybe some songs are not being expanded correctly.

3) Looking at the M400 manual, it is pretty lean on explanations, but I see reference to various filters, phase and brightness settings. Not sure these are all relevant, but maybe some adjustment could make a difference.

Revision, I see that phase applies to balanced and brightness is for the display. But maybe the PCM filters are relevant.

@ghdprentice Thx for your comments, as it’s good to know that you have consistent excellent sound quality. My system is basic, but I’m tinkering to see if I can fix a week spot. I just ordered parts to create a fiber optic link to my NODE.

@tomcy6 I noticed that older recordings from around the 60’s often don’t sound that well. I’m surprised at the Norah Jones recording, as it’s more recent and I am familiar with it. I don’t think that it’s the recording - it’s just not coming to me well from Radio Paradise. I just added a thick rug to my room, but it’s mostly glass, so it’s never going to have good acoustics.

@zlone Yes, I’m on ‘Audio Level Fixed.’ I tried the SMSL filters and really don’t hear any difference. I’ll try the FLAC stream.

@mastering92 Thx for singing! Norah sounds good on the iPod. But why would one vocal recording sound good on my system, but not another that I know is a good recording from another source?

I will probably leave out from my Favorites list any recordings that don’t sound good, like Nora’s. I have found many others that sound excellent, so I’ll still have plenty to enjoy.

@tcotruvo

Which Nora Jones song was it? I could check my redbook audio collection...cd rips.

Now I want to listen...and maybe I’ll have an answer to your question.