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Why Do Some Recordings Sound Great and Others Dead?

I listen to Radio Paradise MQA on my NODE 3, SMSL M400, B and O Beolab 8000’s and Hsu 15in sealed sub.  The acoustics in my room are poor.  I’ve noticed that some recordings sound very realistic. For instance the vocals on a Stabat Mater dolorosa hymn sounded great.  But a Nora Jones recording was terrible.  Her voice was lost in back of some murky instruments.  I’m familiar with this recording listening to it on my iPod, where her voice shines out and the music is good.  I’m wondering why the big differences?

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ghdprentice
7,098 posts
 

I listen to Radio Paradise all the time… through Qobuz for a couple hours a day. My streamer / digital system sound the same as my really great analog end (you can see my system under mt UserID). No, I do not experience any significant difference in sound quality among their play list. All sound quite spectacular. 

tomcy6's avatar
tomcy6
2,597 posts
 

Recordings vary widely in SQ, as I'm sure you know.  Some seem to agree with your system and room while others don't, and some will never sound good.  They're just bad recordings.

You say the acoustics in your room are poor.  Can you do anything to improve the room?  That's probably what you're going to have to do.

zlone
692 posts
 

I listen to RP a lot and the quality is pretty consistent, especially on the Mellow Mix station. Question, how are you controlling volume in your chain? Node, SMSL, Beolabs?

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