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What exactly is colored sound?

I guess the definition would be a deviation from what what was originally intended but how do we really know what was originally intended anyway?  I mean solid state mostly sounds like solid state.  I guess that would be a coloration, push pull amps and set have their own colorations.  It seems we try to denote certain definitions to either promote or dis certain sounds I guess.  We could have a supposedly neutral amp but their just is not enough bass so we turn up the subwoofer or the bass, a coloration per se.  I guess one could say that colored sound would be a good thing.  after all, each instrument has its own sound (color).  A mullard, a telefunken, I mean who knows what tubes were in the recording studios at the time of the recording.  Syrupy, sweet, rich, NEUTRAL, forward, backward I mean really...  I guess its all about certain preferences for each person.  even in the studio.  who knows, maybe a recording may be meant to sound syrupy or sweet and then we try to make it as neutral as possible.  Maybe thats a coloration in itself.  I guess what I am asking is why do reviewers use the word colored in reviews anyway?
tzh21y
martykl
3,578 posts
 
I was the Exec Producer of a commercially recorded jazz album (Richard Todd - With A Twist) and I have a recording studio in my home.  As a result, I've spent enough time with this question to weigh in.

I can tell you from experience that many uses of the term are a stretch.  If there's an obvious (and repeated across multiple source materials) FR deviation in (for example) a loudspeaker connected to neutral (preferably SS) electronics, that certainly justifies the tag. However, many people cite subtle timbral deviations which may be attributable to the recording or even the eccentricities of the instrument being recorded.

The phenomenon is real, but overused IMO.
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bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,816 posts
 

With Gordon, you knew exactly what he was looking for in hi-fi equipment, what his criteria was. I took his belief of the lack-of-coloration being the number one priority of a reproduction system as self-evident, also feeling that the reproduction of the timbre of voices and instruments as close to lifelike as possible is where hi-fi begins; if a speaker (in particular, as they are still the most colored component in a system) fails the timbre test, it doesn’t matter what other qualities the speaker possesses. Singing, both solo and in harmony and/or counterpoint, is my favorite element in the performance of music (the key word being "performance"; the music itself---chord sequences, melodies, harmonies, etc.) is more important to me than it’s performance. A great song performed only adequately is preferable to me to an adequate song performed greatly.

But I have to admit, Art Dudley’s argument that lack of "vowel" coloration (as Gordon put it) was only one of many qualities gear has to have, and not necessarily the most important to any given listener (ha ;-), himself included. Gordon believed that not considering timbre the most important element in music reproduction was "wrong". Art argues that the notion of believing accurate timbre should be EVERYONE’S priority is "wrong", that a listener is equally justified in making any other criteria (such as Art’s desire for a component to reproduce a musician’s "touch", and to reproduce the "forward momentum" of a player/band that a recording has captured) his or her number one priority, that making that ability (or any other, such as many audiophiles preoccupation with imaging, a low priority for both Art and myself) one’s number one priority is just as valid as is Gordon’s. Even if I agree with Gordon about timbre, I agree with Art that Gordon's insistence that everyone see it that way is wrong.

georgehifi's avatar
georgehifi
10,312 posts
 
tzh21y
What exactly is coloured sound?
Coloured sound can happen when the sound of preceding equipment is changed by the next piece of equipment, and so on and so on all the way to the speakers.
  
Ivor Tibenbrun inventor of the Linn Sondek turntable, had a famous saying,
"It all starts with the source get that as right (uncoloured) as possible and your 1/3rd of the way there"

Cheers George
inna
7,296 posts
 
Coloured and sterile sound is what we want to avoid. What we don't want to avoid is colorful sound, that's how the instruments sound live. When recording, you can never fully capture it, so if reproduction system adjusts for that - that's good. In other words - what the microphones heard is not good enough, they distorted the sound picture. Only what ear heard is good enough.
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