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Is bass the most important frequency band?

One thing I’ve noticed when upgrading my audio system is that when I have really good bass, I’m happy. If the bass is top notch, I can overlook less-than-stellar treble or so-so midrange. The opposite does not seem to be true. Sure, I can get tremendous enjoyment out of a high-fidelity playback of a flute or other instrument that doesn’t have much bass impact, but when I switch to a track that has some slam, if my sub/woofers don’t perform, I’m left wanting, and I am inclined to change the track. When my subwoofer game is top notch, there is something extremely pleasing about tight, powerful, and accurate bass response that easily puts a smile on my face and lifts my mood in a matter of seconds. Maybe it all boils down to the fact that bass frequencies are heard AND felt and the inclusion of another sense (touch/feeling) gives bass a competitive edge over midrange and treble. I am not talking about loud bass (although that can be really fun and has its place), but the type of bass that gives you a sense of a kick drum’s size or allows for the double bass to reach out and vibrate the room and your body. I propose to you that bass and sub-bass should be optimized first and foremost, followed by treble and midrange in order to maximize enjoyment. Thoughts?
mkgus
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wspohn's avatar
wspohn
615 posts
 
While I agree that low bass is hard to arrange, and it can muck up your sound if less than well integrated, I disagree that it is absolutely necessary for good sound.

In fact I think that a system that rolls off early may be preferable to one that has plenty if muddy bass.

One of my systems uses electrostats that are 2 dB down at 45 Hz and they are wonderful for non-bass heavy music.  Better tan they would be with supplemented bass badly implemented.
lemonhaze
432 posts
 
OP, all frequencies are important as that is what constitutes music and your proposition that bass should be optimised is solid. Achieving optimal bass is the quest and is what stymies the vast majority of enthusiasts mainly because of a lack of understanding and also because they have never been in the presence of quality bass reproduction.

Good bass needs to be flat and decay by a certain amount within a given time frame known as T60 and this time is obtainable from freely available sources and depends on the volume of your listening room. This is easy and inexpensive to perform. Once you see the plots of your room you can introduce corrective measures which consist of bass traps and adding subs as in a DBA. Doing one or the other will make very big improvements, doing both is truly optimum. It's WOW.

As has been mentioned mid frequencies are very important as this is where most of the music lies but then so are high frequencies which provide brilliance and spatial clues and now to bring them all together to get...music.

Let me also point out that good bass improves the mids and tops and adding a supertweeter improves everything.
cd318
2,636 posts
 
Agreed, the so called presence (4-6kHz) and brilliance (6-8kHz) bands are the most important.
However, it’s the bass band that usually gives systems the most problems.

It’s also the bass band where most of the measurable distortion is to be found - and that goes for both loudspeakers and headphones.

Since sound is usually generated by the mechanical movement of a cone or diaphram, and bass requires more movement, structural and resonance issues tend to increase exponentially as you go lower in frequency in a similar way as when you go louder on volume.

The decision to not even bother to go down that low (flat sub 50hZ) is one that many designers decide to take in view of mounting technical and construction problems - heat, resonance, and deviation from a piston like cone movement etc.

Many audiophiles seem quite happy to accept this compromise, preferring to look for improvements elsewhere. On the other hand, quite a few are not.

Surely it’s no coincidence that as you go up in loudspeaker ranges offered by most manufacturers, dynamic range and bandwidth increases, not decreases.

https://www.teachmeaudio.com/mixing/techniques/audio-spectrum#presence
pinthrift
210 posts
 
Hey mkgus,

In my focused experience and association with many music lovers over 75 years, bass seems to be the initial "magnet"...pun somewhat intended.  Over time, and increased genres, the high frequencies seem to be next, especially if things are fatiguing.  Then, the all important mid-range, the true host of all things important, completing the cycle.  For me, as my main system evolved in my younger years, finding an extended, coherent top end was a target to various speaker designs.  As a hopeless "conehead" the RAAL tweeters were a revelation, my "retired" Salk monitors.  The addition of a pair of well matched quality subwoofers serves to increase the purity of ALL the frequencies, a wonderful, often overlooked discovery!  My nearby best audio buddy and I are reaching out target, full range sound at the same time.  It is very exciting when there is nothing to critique and you can simply enjoy the artists and performances to the max.  And, don't forget...a Laser Ruler, essential to that goal.  More Peace, Pinthrift    
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