Bolero:why can't my system reproduce snare well?
Which recording is it, and how familiar are you with this particular recording? I have multiple copies of various orchestral works, many done with minimal miking. You get a realistic soundstage that way, but you're at the mercy of the venue's acoustics and the engineer's microphone placement when it comes to hearing certain details the way you expect them to be. One, for example, is the Overture to the Nutcracker Suite. In some recordings I can distinctly hear the triangle that accentuates the melody at times, and on other recordings it's so faint I wouldn't know it was there if I didn't specifically listen for it. Do you have other recordings that you know to have well-recorded snare drum? For classical music, one pretty good example would be the crescendo toward the end of Debussy's Nocturne, "Fetes". Here is an extended and detailed Stereophile review of the ML SL3's. Notice the amps the reviewer chose, which include Conrad-Johnson Premiers Eleven and Twelve plus a couple of Krells and a Plinius. Maybe you can gain a little insight from the review about characteristics of the SL3s, setup, placement, and best matching amplification. Toward the end of the review he gave the SL3s high marks for reproduction of orchestral percussion. |
Ditto on the recording quality being suspect. Snares(and drums in general) are difficult to record, regarding the capture of their dynamic potential/impact. The vinyl version of this album was recorded Direct-to-Disc and is now almost impossible to obtain: (http://www.elusivedisc.com/THE-SHEFFIELD-LAB-DRUM-TRACK-DISC-DXD-CD/productinfo/LIMDX005/) The drum tracks, on the ordinary CD, are still better than most recordings. Especially, for seeing if your system will reproduce the impact of a drum set. I haven't heard the DXD iteration. |
To Lowrider and Rodman99999, I was listening to a vinyl recording. I will try several other recordings. These speakers sound good on base, but also seem to be lacking on cymbals as well. I am, as I write this, listening to "something else" by cannonball Adderley (with Miles), and the hi-hats sound faint and muted as well. Thank you all for the insightful comments. |
as I write this, listening to "something else" by cannonball Adderley (with Miles), and the hi-hats sound faint and muted as well. Elegal, great music, but not a good reference to test your system. Back in the day the engineers used a minimal amount of microphones to record a session. There was a mic for the piano, a couple over the drum kit and a room mic; I'm just giving an example of mic techniques back then. Today, each drum and the high-hat would have their own mic plus 2 overhead for the cymbals, each player would have their own mic resulting in a clear, crisp sound; a very different sound. (the trumpet most likely will have a "raspy" sound rather than the more pleasant open sound. That's why you should use a reference CD or as I suggested, a modern studio jazz recording. BTW, I love the open sound from that era. |
