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Bass at your ears? (Bass imaging)

This song 'James Blake - Limit to your love' has this weird bass that kicks in at about 1:00 into it. Now I have heard this song on a few speakers and it sounded great but when I heard it on the magico m2 I could literally hear the bass right at my ears as if I was wearing heapdhones. It was such a strange sensation. Is this indicative of the m2s incredible imaging capability or is this something else? This was in an irregularly shaped room with a big hallway to one side and hardly any treatment.
smodtactical
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,515 posts
 
Played it on Spotify. That synthetic bass is sustained and very low frequency. What I hear is the room resonating which makes the bass seem like it is encompassing you. The actual observed imaging effect is surely determined by specific room acoustics and setup.
audiokinesis
2,753 posts
 
My guess is that it’s part of the recording, and is probably deliberate.

If the bass was the only instrument recorded with little or no reverb then it would be the only instrument which would tend to sound "proximate", or close to one’s ears. Sort of like a recording of a whisper turned up really loud.  

Alternately the reverb could have a very short time delay, like what your voice would sound like if you were in a box.

Duke
douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
perhaps the first time you have heard a room pressurized?
douglas_schroeder
3,281 posts
 
perhaps the first time you have heard a room pressurized?

Also, superbly clean bass is qualitatively much different to the ears than even good bass. 

Finally, when using very powerful bass drivers, the centering of the system has a large effect on how the bass is received at the ears. Any one of these things could be the cause of what you experienced. 
b_limo's avatar
b_limo
2,288 posts
 
I’d imagine it was all 3.  But like was previously stated, the Magico’s were pressurizing the room, locking on to it.  Where are the swarm owners?  Interesting to see if they are hearing it...
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