speakers Post an audio recording of your sound system

[FateTrap]

The purpose of this topic is not to make a completely exact recording of your speakers. The more exact the better, but it is not a prerequisite that the recording is very precise. Nor is it meant to be a discussion about the usefulness of audio recordings. In my experience, even mediocre microphones can be capable of revealing a fair amount of info about your speakers.

High-quality binaural recordings played back on certain Unix-like systems in bit-perfect mode with realtime audio on neutral ATH-M20x headphones enabled me to know reasonably well how headphones and speakers sound in real life. That quality recordings can share a lot of info is beyond dispute.

I personally use a Trust GXT 259 RUDOX microphone for the recordings below. The only condition for posting in this topic is that you use a microphone in the >$29 USD segment.

[mid-range setup] Infinity Alpha 5 + Sony STR-DB790 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q3F5QSv0js5rMFArFb8FA9PEvxgSiCY_/view?pli=1
[70 EUR newprice all in one budget setup] F&D F550X https://drive.google.com/file/d/1brKRXCyeyWeI3NakpqBd2glhkfiHs267/view

For this recording, I use the analogue output of my ASRock B760M-ITX/D4 WiFi motherboard. I am not using a sound card.
Please share the info of your components and software if you post a recording.

[FateTrap]

Infinity Alpha 5 + Sony STR-DB790
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q3F5QSv0js5rMFArFb8FA9PEvxgSiCY_/view
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UbyNFFYB42RxiBajfgaeSgw13QRN0c95/view

F&D F550X
https://drive.google.com/file/d/15S-ViRt5_8gk3k7r4kmitNXBt3-YvLGS/view
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1febXVd-yJKit54NatLnfPfLRb-GM7AML/view

Kawai stereo headphones
https://drive.google.com/file/d/16NsFea_BD8y1xhTyS34xlDCW6EJ8whaP/view
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WjN_GHRi-1VWCTDY1VEOp1JoBUybttQw/view

These headphones are a good experience for watching movies.

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

Surely all you're getting here is recordings of how good your audio recording device is?

I could play the best audio source in the world into a recording device - but all you'd hear are the limitations of the recording device and also the playback device.

[FateTrap]

On 29/01/2025 at 12:15, Dick Montage said:

Surely all you're getting here is recordings of how good your audio recording device is?

I could play the best audio source in the world into a recording device - but all you'd hear are the limitations of the recording device and also the playback device.

 

Let's say that speakers have different timbres with which they produce the same notes and also have differences in detail of the sound.

If you take the voices of different people with a fairly good micro, you will hear that they have a different voice and you also hear the difference when someone talks unclear or talks very clearly.

 

You not only hear the limitations of the micro but you can form a fairly good picture of how the recorded speaker/headphone will sound in certain areas.

This is when you play the recordings in bitperfect mode with neutral monitor headphones meant for studio recordings.  

In that case it is very logical that the recordings provide a lot of information.

[Nick H. Supervisor]

On 29/01/2025 at 11:45, FateTrap said:

 

Let's say that speakers have different timbres with which they produce the same notes and also have differences in detail of the sound.

If you take the voices of different people with a fairly good micro, you will hear that they have a different voice and you also hear the difference when someone talks unclear or talks very clearly.

 

You not only hear the limitations of the micro but you can form a fairly good picture of how the recorded speaker/headphone will sound in certain areas.

This is when you play the recordings in bitperfect mode with neutral monitor headphones meant for studio recordings.  

In that case it is very logical that the recordings provide a lot of information.

I agree with @Dick Montagehere. Your test has too many variables to be able to form a reasonable conclusion.

For it to be a valid test, every person needs to use the same microphone and the microphone needs to be set at the same distance to each setup each time. The volume should also be set to the same level, as should the equalizer settings. You should also have each test playing the same data file.

Just as a silly example: I could play some classical music on my laptop at 50% volume, stand outside in my garden and record from my phone. That result is going to let you hear the birds outside, but you won't hear a lick of the music playing from my laptop. That's not a fault of my laptop, or even a fault of the microphone on my phone.

I could do the same test with the volume at 150%, all other variables being the same as before. You might hear a hint of the sound playing from my laptop, but I don't think it will provide the insights that you are looking for.

 

Also, you haven't said why you are asking for this. Are you looking to get an idea of microphone quality, sound quality from the speakers, something else?

 

I'm not saying this is a pointless exercise, it sounds like a fun idea. But there needs to be more thought on the setup before I contribute.

[FateTrap]

On 29/01/2025 at 13:11, Nick H. said:

I agree with @Dick Montagehere. Your test has too many variables to be able to form a reasonable conclusion.

I set volume to about the same levels, and I adjust the distance of the mic to the audio source according to the volume. In Audacity you can see on a bar how strong your incoming volume is at each moment in the piece of music. You can then see that they are about similar incoming volume levels with the different audio setups. I see that the volume maximum values are about 94% of this volume bar in Audacity. 

I use the same microphone for all recordings. (Trust GXT 259 RUDOX)

I record all the recordings on the same notebook, an old notebook with Void Linux on it. I record with the app Audacity, 96000 KHz, 24-bit, mono, wav.

 

When I listen to the recordings on the Kawai headphones, the following things strike me:

You can hear on the recordings that the Infinity setup has a larger subwoofer and a fuller overall sound than the much cheaper F&D speakers. You can easily hear that all three test setups produce a different sound.

None of the recordings sound exactly like it sounds in real life, that's logical. But it gives (a lot of) information about the real sound. Based on my recordings I would have a pretty good idea how all the setups will sound in real life.

 

I have the same feeling with almost all other recordings of headphones and speakers made with decent equipment.

When I listen to this type of audio recording I usually have an idea of how the hardware will sound in real life. After listening to audio-technica and Beyerdynamic audio recordings on YouTube I listened to the headphones live as a test because I had bought the audio-technica myself and a family member has the Beyerdynamic headphone. The result of this experiment was that both headphones I had heard recordings of sounded very similar to what I had in mind after listening to the recordings. The Beyerdynamic sounded worse than I thought and the Audio-Technica sounded better than I thought after listening to the recording. But a large part of the most important characteristics are audible in recordings with >30 dollar microphones when you make a 24-bit 96000KHz recording.

This is also the goal of the experiment, to get an idea of the sound of the hardware. It's not an idea that corresponds 100% to reality, but it says 100X more than what can be expressed with sentences in a review for example.

[Nick H. Supervisor]

On 29/01/2025 at 13:20, FateTrap said:

 

This is also the goal of the experiment, to get an idea of the sound of the hardware. It's not an idea that corresponds 100% to reality, but it says 100X more than what can be expressed with sentences in a review for example.

OK, so your test is for microphone quality? Not sound quality from the speakers?

It's still a niche discussion (microphones < $30) but you still don't have all the variables locked down to offer reasonable feedback...

What volume should be set, 94%? How should the equaliser be calibrated?

You can't adjust the distance according to the volume, that distorts the results you're looking for.

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

On 29/01/2025 at 11:45, FateTrap said:

 

Let's say that speakers have different timbres with which they produce the same notes and also have differences in detail of the sound.

If you take the voices of different people with a fairly good micro, you will hear that they have a different voice and you also hear the difference when someone talks unclear or talks very clearly.

 

You not only hear the limitations of the micro but you can form a fairly good picture of how the recorded speaker/headphone will sound in certain areas.

This is when you play the recordings in bitperfect mode with neutral monitor headphones meant for studio recordings.  

In that case it is very logical that the recordings provide a lot of information.

Just no.  Your analogy is massively flawed. 

[FateTrap]

On 29/01/2025 at 15:03, Nick H. said:

What volume should be set, 94%? How should the equaliser be calibrated?

 

You play your music and record it in Audacity. Then you see that your incoming volume is maxed out without distortion. The peaks in volume are in the worst case scenario light yellow (or green) in color, and never red.

 

Quote

You can't adjust the distance according to the volume, that distorts the results you're looking for.

 

I mean I made the recording at a distance from the speaker/headphone that seems to me to be the average distance that most people will use for the product.

With headphones, the speaker is close to your ears, which is where I placed the micro.

With the F&D speakers, these are PC (or TV) speakers and the distance is going to be smaller for most people than with the Infinity speakers which are not usually used as PC speakers.

I used the most common sense distances for the recordings.

 

Quote

Just no.  Your analogy is massively flawed. 

 

That, to be sure, is not the case. 

When I listen to the recordings on headphones on my specific hardware and software, I hear the main differences between the three recorded audio sources very clearly.

However, that does not take away from the fact that there are differences that the micro cannot register.

I can give these differences in addition to the recordings.

The F&D speakers are a higher-quality experience than the Infinity setup in 15% of cases. In 85% of the music I listen to, the Infinity setup is a better experience.

The Kawai headphones and the Infinity setup are closer in terms of experience.

At 128 kbps audio, I feel that the Infinity setup has the advantage because you do not perceive the low audio quality as well.

With Opus 130 kbps -170 kbps audio files, the Kawai headphone experience comes very close to the Infinity setup. In terms of bass, it strongly depends on the specific song which one gives the best experience.

In the most ideal circumstances, 24-bit lossless audio made by audio engineers with a lot of talent and high-quality hardware + software, the Kawai headphones possibly exceed every speaker setup (and many > 200 dollar headphones).

You can often hear how high-quality the hardware (or software) of many sound engineers is with these headphones.

I can hear in music that the voice has been digitally processed in a way that I don't think the band's sound engineers want it heard.

I also frequently hear roughness and imperfections in songs that I would think the sound engineers simply won't have heard.

The headphones render more details than what many people who arrange CD mastering have heard, and this strikes me strongly.

But with Lana Del Rey's original 24-bit lossless songs, it is then again noticeable that the sound engineers used high-quality equipment for mastering the songs and there you hear their talent for this job.

The Kawai headphones are technically capable of beating all stereo speaker setups, but this potential is usually not exploited because not all audio engineers are talented.

And often they do not know which software and audio hardware is best suited to hear all the details.

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

On 30/01/2025 at 11:15, FateTrap said:

That, to be sure, is not the case. 

To be sure, it is.  Your basic premise is flawed, and all the tech commentary beyond that is pointless.

[+DoctorD Subscriber²]

Ahh, the memories of the boom.....back in my DJ days good times.  Now I'm older and have tinnitus from all of it.  If you are young do yourself a favor and watch your exposure to it all because constant high-pitched screeching is not fun.

[binaryzero]

Is this some form of ASMR?

[FateTrap]

On 30/01/2025 at 22:53, DoctorD said:

If you are young do yourself a favor and watch your exposure to it all because constant high-pitched screeching is not fun.

 

According to the tests, I used to have a very good hearing. However, I have often listened to music for more than 15 years and at a high volume. 

The volume was loud, but almost never very/super loud. However, I have not yet noticed that I have less good hearing than my peers.

There are signs that I hear better than some dogs. With a sound that the dog should recognize and respond strongly to, I notice that he sometimes does not respond. 

He should definitely recognize the sound and react strongly, and I heard the sound. Another dog seems to bark for sounds that I don't hear, so maybe our dog has become deaf because of my music.

Last year I went to a festival and I noticed that if I stood 40 meters from the speakers, the volume was much louder than I ever put my volume, and many persons were much closer than 40 meters.

People who often go to festivals (even with earplugs) probably have more chance of hearing problems. The same with people who have a profession where they are subject to high noise levels.

My impression is that it is mostly very loud sounds that will damage auditory nerves. And not the kind of sounds that I hear with my music, but sounds that are > 30 dB louder.

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

On 31/01/2025 at 11:41, FateTrap said:

There are signs that I hear better than some dogs. With a sound that the dog should recognize and respond strongly to, I notice that he sometimes does not respond. 

Amazing!

[FateTrap]

I made three additional recordings.

music sound demo

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TvrdO5lCM_U1YGz-pZOh-C81FPZoEh9_/view
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ksOE4B6G1Bt4iXuS2jMUpO2Yh6w-LnQN/view

gaming sound demo

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1y6Um23PzBs5IPSi_d-0ut6uNyz1014Mc/view

The headphones are very versatile. They are suitable for gaming, music, digital pianos and movies. In terms of audio, the film I watched on these headphones was a more enjoyable experience than a cinema experience.

These particular headphones combined with my particular motherboard (Nahimic audio), OpenBSD sndio and mpv media player is my favourite way to watch movies.

[binaryzero]

What were the dogs reactions when you played those back?