I have two solid prosumer systems at home with many different size speakers trying to cover the spectrum but the more i dig into the hobby the more i feel like I actually have no idea what im doing. I really notice a huge difference when i play through my computer using an audio enhancing equalizer (boom 3D). Definitely night and day difference from just raw dogging the receiver and speakers but im sure itll never actually qualify as hifi. I notice some places around the room sound incredible but moving around the sound changes and im very aware of the physics that make this happen. How else would true hifi feel different? I can play pretty loud music with no destination and my woofers handle the bass well feeling the notes not just a rumble like some other systems ive heard. Anything i try to play without the equalizer becomes super flat and i lose alot of the mids and highs is there gear that could replace this i could add to my receiver.

  • SubbySound@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I mainly agree except on two points.

    1. Nearly any record with electric/amplified instruments will need some degree of compression, because the sound will be way too jarring between beats and sustain otherwise. This reproduces live music of this kind well, where compression is also used. 50 dB or more dynamic range is still totally possible with compression.
    2. Digital sources can be great. The issue isn’t PCM itself, it’s that way too much music mastered for PCM/Redbook is overly compressed in the loudness war.
    • jaygrok@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      Yup, everything has “compression” because it’s impossible to have infinite bandwidth! But the range matters, like you mentioned, if I get 50dB of dynamic range, it’s a pretty good system!

      One good way to tell a hifi system apart is by turning up the volume. On a radio, in your car, etc., you just feel the amplitude going up, whereas on a true hifi system, higher volume means more detail, more layers.