Thanks,
Looking at the threads comments, I realize it is hard for most modern people to think 'CD redbook only', thus the strong recommendation for separate DAC. My record producer friend had to burn discs to bring his music, his whole world is streaming, and high rez. He burnt and tossed all his CDs years ago.
correction: he likes Peter Gabriel's 'Sledgehammer', not Steamroller, that is James Taylor.
I listened quite a bit yesterday to music I am quite familiar, and Sledgehammer, after we had boosted the tweeters the night before. I realized, keeping the tweeters down a bit was not just limiting highs, it is a form of compression. It suppresses the volume, thus the proper time of decay of the overtones of the upper mids, as well as fundamental highs.
It is remarkable how easy it was for him to hear it and so fortunate we were able to correct my mistake with the L-Pads. Like anything else, a small improvement gets applied to everything, thus a huge improvement.
My mistake was I confused what the meter was hearing to what I 'would' hear. I simply assumed my ability to hear highs is naturally age reduced at 73. Thus, IF I heard 16k, it must be too high for others. Surprisingly I could hear 16k, but I didn't realize, the meter was hearing it in relation to everything else, like someone with young ears, i.e. not too strong, thus I set the highs 'not strong enough'. I heard 16K, but at what SPL?
Previously my audio consultant friend would bring his pro meter and I would adjust the original L-Pads as he directed. Replacing the L-Pads and buying/using a SPL meter on my own has be a learning and re-learning experience.