Why isn’t more detail always better?

Lots of Good responses so far!

@lalitk

 

@whart

 

+1

 

As a music lover I am not looking for “ forensic” listening or a microscope to examine the fine details and loose track of the music.

Another thought about highlighted details, they can commandeer your focus of attention. Instead of being emotionally involved or allowing the music to evoke feelings (through immersion) they can grab your attention and put you into the analytical mode of examine the detail. They need to be there to get the gestalt and complexity of the musical experience but if too obvious they can destroy the emotional connection

Translation: Your room is not cut out for handling detail. ( Clueless it began, clueless it ended).

“In my experience more perceived natural detail is achieved by lowered noise floor, tonal refinement and reduction of grunge in the overall presentation (purity of sound)”
+1 @frogman @sns

I completely agree with your perspective. Lowering the noise floor and refining tonal qualities allow the music to flow effortlessly. A good understanding of these fundamentals begs the next question…Is my system and room acoustics capable of conveying these fundamentals? If yes, then to what degree.

Bringing up the room is a good point. I probably would not even be having this discussion before I started using DSP and room correction. I find It’s a whole new ballgame in regards to detail once your room acoustics have been accounted for.

It helps to understand the effect different frequencies have on the listening experience. There are charts out there that can be used for reference. I have one hanging on the wall in my main listening room.

You are initially at the mercy of your room in regards to how those listening experience determining frequencies pan out. DSP is the tool that best enables one to address that fact.

I’ve applied dsp to get a handle on how things sound in multiple rooms at home. Now I am at a much better place to be nitpicking the details (no pun intended).