Bass vs Treble

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I find that some of my CDs sound better if I switch on the bass boost function. Some don't. There seem to be patterns in which CDs fall in which category. It's a bit more subtle and complex than "genre x sounds good with bass, genre y doesn't." Do you experience this? Which types of discs sound good with more bass, which without? Are there musical properties and functions associated with either category? What is the effect of more bass? What, in turn, might this say about the properties and functions of sounds in different frequency ranges and their relationships to each other? This is not a "taking sides" thread.

― sundar subramanian, Wednesday, 2 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

It is dependant on how the music was mastered. Most (in my opinion) true mastering processes will try to replicate the "natural" acoustics and frequency ranges of the given instruments. This is not to say (duh) that some people master for radio-friendly formats (compressed to living hell, bass and treble ranges taking the severity of the bite on that). So, it really does ultimately depend on what you are listening to. Examples: A good 6 db boost at 80hz on an Autechre album kicks ass. The same boost on a Radiohead album turns the low end into overbearing mud. The Radar Bros. album "The Singing Hatchet" doesn't really need any cut/boosting, it's been mastered rather well. Also, with sound purists such as Albini, his albums pretty much just talk for themselves, as far as equalisation and sound pressure levels. In a lot of ways, ahem, they're perfect.

― Gage-o, Wednesday, 2 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

you should try to avoid stereo equipment that includes tone controls for the most part

― g, Wednesday, 2 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

I think almost all modern (radio-friendly) music is deliberately over-compressed and sounds better with lots of bass and lots of treble and very little in the middle. Older stuff was recorded differently and seems to sound better the other way around. I ascribe this to changing technology in radio broadcasting (AM vs FM), playback (analog vs digital), and car audio systems. Or maybe I don't know what I'm talking about.

― Kris, Wednesday, 2 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

No way, g - I love tone-shaping. I think of it as an FX effect in its own right. It makes many of my albums multi-listening experiences. How many times can you listen to a Pop/Rock/Metal/Jazz/etc. track without feeling bored? Not many. So changing its sound by shaping various frequencies makes it sound different and extends its longevity.

I've got a Black Metal album by Setherial with Spiritualized style drums: floaty and atmospheric. With proper shaping I can make it sound ultra hard and thunderous, as well as very pretty & hi-hatty. Top shag!

― Kodanshi, Wednesday, 2 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

Tuners should include a button to give CDs a faux-crackly sound, like when the grounding wire from the turntable falls out

― felicity, Thursday, 3 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

What a good question!

As a DJ, I've been frustrated with the compression on The Orb's recent "Cydonia" LP, having had to flood the treble on several tracks, while pulling back on bass just to extract enough definition on my home stereo. It's pretty annoying really.

Hasn't the task of mastering got to be to maintain the integrity and depth of the instrumentation, which necessarilly means keeping compression to a minimum?

This issue seems to question the medium the recording is intended for, with radio-friendly albums requiring more compromise than full- bodied 12 inches.

Then that argument's steeped in the whole conflict between radio, DJs, record labels and musicians, and I can't see that can of worms being resolved anytime this century.

You may as well invoke evergreen issues of masculine/feminine sonic textural politics as an issue of 21st century terrorism and see how many people's sensibilities you inflame.

I give up.

― Stephen Stockwell, Thursday, 3 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

i'm not interested in tone shpaing a recording, I just want the best sound from the recording. if i get bored of a Pop/Rock/Metal/Jazz/etc. recording I just go out and get a new one...

― g, Thursday, 3 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago) link

you should try to avoid stereo equipment that includes tone controls for the most part

Poppycock, stuff and nonsense. Tweaking your graphic equalizer is half the fun (but if you tweak too much you'll go blind and your face will freeze like that.)
Long live the Fletcher-Munson Curve!

― Lord Custos, Friday, 4 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Hmm, well since it's come up again, I'll come to g's defense and say that "high-end" equipment does not usually feature tone controls. It's true. However, most people on this forum, in fact most people in general, don't own and aren't interested in the said high-end. My Naim Audio gear doesn't have tone controls, and I assure you I don't miss them.

― Sean, Friday, 4 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Does the loudness button count as a tone control? It always makes everything sound better.

― Kris, Friday, 4 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

I am fond of the iTunes "sound enhancer" option. "On" or "Off". Um, how about "on"?

― Tracer Hand, Friday, 4 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

"Does the loudness button count as a tone control? It always makes everything sound better. "

Loudness button = complement of the Fletcher-Munson curve mentioned above, i.e. boosts frequencies where ear is least sensitive. Nice effect when listening at low levels through speakers which lack frequency extension.

Technically, I suppose I'm in the same camp as Sean and G (no tone controls, but EQ aplenty on the Akai multitracker, if I feel so inclined), though I've no problem with the idea of foax shaping their records to sound the way they want. I just can't be bothered.

― Michael Jones, Friday, 4 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

Fletcher-Munson Curve, for people who do not know, is basically nature's way of making sure we know there is danger around.

― Gage-o, Saturday, 5 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link

nineteen years pass...

I used to always turn up the bass. As a middle aged person though, listening to thinks like ancient jazz, I now prefer turning up the treble. Or its that my wars have become less receptive to higher frequencies so I need to turn it up. I no longer get a auditory hard on from massive bass though which is very peculiar.

― candyman, Tuesday, 20 April 2021 20:13 (three years ago) link

*things like ancient jazz
*not wars, ears

― candyman, Tuesday, 20 April 2021 20:14 (three years ago) link

great revive

― you are like a scampicane, there's calm in your fries (bizarro gazzara), Tuesday, 20 April 2021 20:19 (three years ago) link

Christopher Nolan is in the pocket of Big Woofer.
— Rob Kutner (@ApocalypseHow) April 18, 2021

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 20 April 2021 20:21 (three years ago) link

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