The Absurdity of it All

perkri,

"@glupson.  
He’s 8. What do you think he said?"

I had no thoughts. I was just curious exactly because he is 8.

‘Sibilance is a useful one. Nina Simone has a certain way of presenting sssss's. And for whatever reason, when recorded this part of her singing can get quite shrill when played back. I listen for how much clarity there is in those parts.

When listening to mids, I listen for transparency and how "bright" "crisp" they are. Also, they can be placed slightly higher or lower in the register.” - perkri

Thanks very much for this perkri - yes I also find differences in bass and highs the easiest to distinguish - it’s the mids that aren’t easy and take time. Besides Nina Simone for sibilance, are there specific sections of specific tracks or songs that are your go-to’s whenever you are listening for differences after a change of cable or tweak? The parts that most clearly show difference in sound quality? Thanks again!

In friendship - kevin

@glupson.  
A poet, he is not as of yet :)

I think we can all agree that dogs have superior hearing.    I have 3 dogs and five systems.  The dogs have free range in the house.  When I put on music they are free to come and go.   My observations are that all three dogs come and lay down and listen to my TAD CR-1s and YG Acoustic carmels   Two dogs come and listen to my Audio physics tempos and my sonus faber  cremona Ms.  Only one dog comes and listens to my Vienna acoustic Mozarts.   And if I switch the direction of my cables, the dogs just go outside..... 

@kevn    

I have a couple of tracks I listen to for mids.

Leonard Cohen - A Thousand Kisses Deep

He has a deep voice normally, but it's particularly deep on this track. The upper register of his voice is what I listen to. I listen for how open it is.

Sade - Pearls 

She has a wide range in her singing on this track. Starts dark and rich and goes to some lovely highs. I listen for how clearly the middle part of that comes through

Rockers HiFi - Going Under

Like most electronic music, it has some extremes. Singer again has a dark register. I listen for how well the upper range of his voice comes through.

Bill Charlap - Stardust

Shirley Horns voice has a ton of air in this recording. I listen for how well it "floats" above the instruments.

And, of course, anything Ben Webster :)