Do you consider yourself an audiophile?

[stuff_it]

What you really want is one of these.

 

[gentlegreen]

I meant about the warm up. Just for the record if you never switch it off, the valves will last far far longer.

Valves are ready for use very quickly - they have built-in "ovens" (I'm misusing a term used in communications equipment where quarttz crystals used to have thermostatic heaters becuase they're borderline mechanical and prone to thermal effects).

Any thermal problems are going to be with the passive components.

Your post reminds me I need to replace the silicon diodes in my amp with a valve - I'm amazed I haven't done damage already ...

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

We perceive the 3D location of sound via several methods:

Relative loudness of a sound in the left and right ears
Phase difference between sounds received in left and right ears
Filtering of sound by the external parts of the ear (crucial for forward/rear differentiation)

You can get latex/silicone ear microphones that accurately reproduce the effects of the ear on sounds, so yes you can record and analyse the effect of location on the sound that reaches the inner ear. However, a regular microphone also has external parts, and a sensor that does not respond to sound in the same way from each direction. So you can very definitely hear a difference in two recordings of the same source with the microphone pointing in different directions. With some calibration, you could even work out which direction the microphone was pointing in, by comparing the recording to the source.

You can get dummy head recorders.

 

[stuff_it]

Turning them on and off wears them out, though.

Valves, not dummy heads.

 

[ViolentPanda]

i'm starting to get my head round this i think.... am i right in thinking that a standard microphone in a fixed position might struggle to tell the difference between the same sound, played from different directions?

What is a "standard" mic?

In a test like this you'd have to select a type of microphone (condenser, electret condenser, dynamic, ribbon, piezo etc), the capsule design, directionality, the mode (mono or stereo), and then bear in mind the quirks of the microphone's design parameters) with reference to any results obtained.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Use headphones....

Yeah this is done with a dummy head recorder.

 

[ViolentPanda]

I meant about the warm up. Just for the record if you never switch it off, the valves will last far far longer.

He leaves it on all the time.

Not practical for older valve guitar amps, though, unless you want to be able to toast bread 24 hours a day!

 

[ViolentPanda]

You can get dummy head recorders.

I remember the Neumann ones that were on the market. They looked like gimp masks.


E2A piccy

 

[stuff_it]

He leaves it on all the time.

Not practical for older valve guitar amps, though, unless you want to be able to toast bread 24 hours a day!

Mmmmm.....toast

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

I remember the Neumann ones that were on the market. They looked like gimp masks.


E2A piccy

I wonder why nobody has recorded a band like that. Or have they?

 

[stuff_it]

I wonder why nobody has recorded a band like that. Or have they?

If it was a decent band it would be ruined as someone would have to move the stick up and down for verisimilitude.

 

[teuchter]

I wonder why nobody has recorded a band like that. Or have they?

why would you want to?

 

[Crispy]

To capture the acoustics and incidental sounds of a gig completely accurately. Close your eyes and it sounds like you're really there, so long as you're wearing headphones of course - those binaural recordings become worthless when played on speakers.

 

[stuff_it]

To capture the acoustics and incidental sounds of a gig completely accurately. Close your eyes and it sounds like you're really there, so long as you're wearing headphones of course - those binaural recordings become worthless when played on speakers.

Or you could always, just...y'know....

 

[Crispy]

Or you could always, just...y'know....

Record from the mixing desk and add ambient sound from an audience-facing mic?
Yes you could

 

[fractionMan]

top thread

 

[stuff_it]

Record from the mixing desk and add ambient sound from an audience-facing mic?
Yes you could

Not just that, but again if the band is any good you won't be able to put your head on a stick anywhere near the best bit of the audience for sound quality, or it would get trashed.

 

[Crispy]

Not just that, but again if the band is any good you won't be able to put your head on a stick anywhere near the best bit of the audience for sound quality, or it would get trashed.

Depends on the gig I suppose

 

[twentythreedom]

gavman, what's this "soundstage" thing you keep mentioning? Not quite sure what it means.

 

[editor]

Record from the mixing desk and add ambient sound from an audience-facing mic?
Yes you could

The sound desk mix isn't going to be much of a balanced one for smaller gigs - if the guitarist has a massive stack, there may be no guitar, for instance, and the vocals are going to be veh loud compared to everything else.

 

[editor]

You will have to make sure you warm the microphone up first, and the recording devices, or they won't be as accurate.

You need to warm up the drum kit too. Or at least the drummer.

 

[editor]

I wonder why nobody has recorded a band like that. Or have they?

Cowboy Junkies recorded a successful album on one, centrally placed mic. It wasn't shaped like a cyborg though.

 

[twentythreedom]

I like the idea of an audiophile weirdo at a gig trying to record through a plastic head on a stick at the front of the stage

 

[chemn]

Perhaps one could use subsonic / supersonic signals to exercise the devices without annoying the neighbours ?

lol! And CD player warming up lol.

 

[chemn]

luckily i don't have neighbours. if i don't pre-warm, i have to find something else to do for a couple of hours instead of listening because the system sounds shit, relatively.
you can have music on in the house while you do other things, but if you try to sit down and listen something's missing for the first couple of hours. the soundstage is nowhere near as big, the whole 'spooky' imaging just isn't there. bass becomes more defined and more extended

Relatively? You mean subjectively.

Also, have you taken spectral measurements of your system with no 'warm up' and after 2 hours of 'warming up' to prove that the bass response is extended?

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Not just that, but again if the band is any good you won't be able to put your head on a stick anywhere near the best bit of the audience for sound quality, or it would get trashed.

Why does it have to be a gig?

I guess you could record all the stereo parts separately (in the same room for ease of sound placement).

 

[chemn]

can a microphone be as sensitive as a human ear... does it measure everything you perceive, as a listener?

Where to begin!??! A microphone will always be far far far far more reliable and accurate than a human ear. No hearing damage. Flatter and larger frequency response. No silly thoughts like 'hmmm my system hasn't warmed up for long enough' running through the mind of a microphone!

 

[chemn]

Course if you have a load of peple in front of a sound system, you'll lose some high freqs as they're absorbed, / scattered. Soundwaves aparently move quicker through warm air. So perhaps that could account for some feeling of so called warmth. A closer perception of the music.

I'd imagine The velocity increase of propergating soundwaves in warm air in an average sized venue is probably negligable though.

The effect of air absorption is greater when the temperature increases though...

 

[chemn]

"2 microphones and a laaaap-top."

As an aside anyone done acoustic mirroring with Sound Forge or similar? Whereby you project white and pink noise in a room. Record at various points and use the recordings to build a reverb matching the spacial characteristics of the room? I've never tried but it looked interesting.

This is convolution reverb and I think I've had a fiddle with it, but not proper stereo reverb. It's the most realistic reverb you can get and it is very interesting!

 

[chemn]

Sorry for the reply with quote spam .... I've been holding back on this thread...