audiophiles please help

[jasonzhao]

I listen to a lot of classical music. i've always had this problem but didn't know who to ask.

When i listen to piano music, when it gets loud, or the notes are higher, the speaker sounds like they crackle. I don't think it's the speaker, because if I put on the headphones it sounds the same. I don't think it's the connection neither, i'm using a digital in.

But my receiver is on the cheap end... it's a Kenwood and i paid probably $300 or not even $300 for it.

It only happens with classical music... and only piano music when it's loud. any ideas?

Jason

 

[jostenmeat]

Could very well be the source? Which particular piano recordings? Some of my very favorite are rather old, and the recording even slows down or something and goes into a different key, or quite out of tune! If just for a moment or two. And that's on CD.

Instead of the digital input, try the red/white analog outputs from the source. If a decent cdp, it may very well likely have a better DAC/analog section than your Kenwood.

Report back.

 

[jasonzhao]

solo piano music... like chopin... rubinstein's nocturnes... also some others... i don't think it's encoding or the input because i've had the same problem with analog input...

and i'm playing it from itunes, so it's not the cd player... and i don't think it's the encoding either... it happens on more than one track across many albums...

as for speakers... i'm using JBLs, uprights... dont' know the model, but i paid about $400 for the pair...

 

[jostenmeat]

I'm hoping someone else can chime in

because I'm sorry to say I don't know what's going on. Realize that Rubinstein was born a very long time ago, and that the recordings themselves, depending when during his career, can be very, very old. But, you say it's among many recordings, hmmmm.

You know, several years ago, I was listening to quite a bit of classical guitar in my pickup, and just by the nature of the instrument/recordings, it has to be rather cranked just to be somewhat audible with a high noise floor. The stock speakers sounded pretty bad, and I'm pretty sure I did something bad to them, but the funny thing was it only sounded bad with that instrument, which I then avoided putting on. Strange.

 

[highfigh]

I listen to a lot of classical music. i've always had this problem but didn't know who to ask.

When i listen to piano music, when it gets loud, or the notes are higher, the speaker sounds like they crackle. I don't think it's the speaker, because if I put on the headphones it sounds the same. I don't think it's the connection neither, i'm using a digital in.

But my receiver is on the cheap end... it's a Kenwood and i paid probably $300 or not even $300 for it.

It only happens with classical music... and only piano music when it's loud. any ideas?

Jason

Look in the setup menu for the receiver for a way to decrease the level from the source using the digital input. When the level is too high, it tends to sound crackly when a digital input is used. You can verify this by using the analog input and you'll probably notice that it doesn't crackle.

Piano notes can have an extremely fast transient attack and this can cause the dynamic peaks to give some equipment fits, especially the middle and higher notes. There's no such thing as +3dB (or higher) level like on a cassette deck or open reel recorder VU meter. Digital recording goes to 0VU and that's it. If the signal wants to go higher than that level, distortion is the result.