Happy birthday @resolve!! Have a great one!
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Happy Birthday Resolve!
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Happy Birthday Resolve. 
Have a great day.
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Best wishes Andrew @Resolve! Have a great day
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Happy Birthday Resolve.
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Yes yes @Resolve add my birthday wishes too.
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Now I want a martini. Thank you all 
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No martinis for you. You need to preserve “The Voice”. Many happy returns.
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I have a question about a weird audio problem I’m trying to fix.
When I stream the much acclaimed recording of Bailey’s Bach Cello Suites, I often hear some sort of aural artifact, an echo or something, that is distinctly located in space separate from the main sound. On my SR1as, it is distinctly out of my left ear; on my ear buds, its harder to place, but still distinct. I tried switching from iTunes to Amazon but they both have it.
Is it the recording? The streaming? My system? Any help much appreciated.
Can you tell us the track name and exact time in minutes and seconds? E.g., 0:33 to 0:44 or 3:22 to 3:37, etc. We can then check whether it’s the recording or your system.
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Thanks for the help. I really appreciate it. I hear the artifact clearly on track 1 from 0:01 to 0:15 (and beyond). I’ve tried it on two different systems (my PC and my phone), on two different platforms (iTunes and Amazon), and via two different headphones, so I figure it is the recording. But then the recording has gotten lots of positive reviews…
I tested with Amazon HD and Youtube Music → Bifrost 2 → Rebel Amp → Focal Clear. I’m not hearing any artifacts myself (Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007: 1. Prelude). To my ears it’s an excellent example of cello recording that presents a lot of air, depth, and dimension.
You might try a completely different setup – such as something simple plugged into a computer – to see if you still hear it.
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Thanks for trying. I appreciate it.
I don’t know what’s causing my problem, but I had my partner listen for it just to make sure I wasn’t going insane: the artifact is there on our end, despite varying the steaming site/dac/computer/headphones. I can’t imagine what it can be. But I guess I’ll just give up on listening to that album!
Thanks again. Much appreciated.
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I tried it too on Amazon HD → Yggy → Burson Soloist 3XP → RAD-0 and I’m not hearing any artifacts either.
I hadn’t heard Bailey’s performance before, so thanks for the recommendation. I liked it, although it hasn’t toppled my personal favorites for Bach’s cello suites (Weilerstein or Queyras for modern, Wispelwey or Watkin for historical)
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Okay, with varying your setup and having two listeners there’s likely something “different” with the source. What confuses me is that both myself and @PaisleyUnderground heard nothing wrong.
You might consider human perceptual factors, as this recording has a “multi-microphone” character to my ears. Many studio recordings use close mics to minimize room reflections, echoes, and feedback, and this results in clean and tightly time-aligned content. However, this album sounds as if they used a different (distant?) recording method. Perhaps you are hearing secondary or delayed sounds in the left channel? Perhaps they used a combination of close and remote room mics to simulate a live tone?
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Thanks, @PaisleyUnderground and @generic. (And yes, the Qeuyras is amazing! Haven’t heard the Weilerstein. Will listen to.)
I do feel like I am hearing delayed sound/room effects in left channel (it has a buzzy sort of resonance), but that doesn’t explain why you wouldn’t hear it. Strange! Oh well! I’ll move onto the many other recordings like the Weilerstein.
I appreciate the help and thoughts.
OK, I tried again this morning, tried a different setup (Amazon HD → Yggy → Nautilus → Stellia) and think I hear what you’re hearing. A faint, high frequency resonance, like a very slightly delayed echo, on the left channel. I didn’t hear it until I turned the volume up.
I agree with you, it sounds to me like it’s a recording issue, either with mic placement or room effects.
It’s a good thing I don’t own this recording, because now I’ll never unhear it!
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I tried again with the HD 800 S, and think I hear the natural string sounds caused by the end points of a bow stroke. The bowing motion is not symmetrical, and each stroke starts and stops. The left side sounds louder to me. I think many recordings may either edit or filter this out, but it’s emphasized here. I’d still say this was a production choice to magnify bowing nuances rather than an issue per se.
Or, I’m deaf at the critical frequency range in my left ear.
I hear regular breaths too.
I sometimes use the first 10 seconds of Fleet Foxes Drops in the River, plus similar bits throughout the song, to assess how a setup presents bow noises. It makes a scraping sound rather than a clean note, and can be either in the background or very prominent.
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Yes, that’s exactly it! I am not crazy! Thank you for the confirmation (that I’m not crazy), though I’m sorry it is at the cost of you not being able to unhear it. On my IEMs the sound is significantly less bothersome: both a bit harder to hear and closer to the cello. On my SR1as, it sounds quite distinct and its spatially separate.
@generic it may have to do with the bow strokes, but why would that be on the left channel, substantially separated in space from the cello? The sound does resemble the 10 seconds from *Drops," though a bit more buzzy .
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