FM Radio has better bass

[Shashi Kumar]

Hi fellas,

How come when the source is the FM radio of the a/v receiver the bass seems to be better than say a sony DVD player?

Any answers

Shashi

 

[avaserfi]

What do you mean by better bass? Also, have you calibrated your woofer?

One thing that might make you think the bass with FM is better is loudness. Often times louder is perceived as better and depending on the type of music you listen to the bass in the songs could be turned up much louder than is normal for a movie hence you perceive it as better when in reality it isn't.

 

[fmw]

I think what you mean is boosted not better. That's the way the FM station chooses to broadcast its content. If you have tone controls or an equalizer you can boost bass from any source.

 

[no. 5]

I think what you mean is boosted not better. That's the way the FM station chooses to broadcast its content.

Yeah, flipping between radio stations on a fairly good system will treat your ears to any number of bizarre EQ curves.

 

[Shashi Kumar]

I wonder if any of you guys are going to come back on this. As FMV has corrected me rightly, I do mean boosted by better.Thanks.

Some of the audio cd's that I have bought have hardly any bass. You hear the same song on FM, and it goes boom boom, and then you wonder - boy! all that hard earned cash gone for nothing.

And avaserfi, if you mean adjusting the sub-woofer controls by calibrating the woofer, then yes I have done it. I dont have much to do anyway-two knobs, one for low pass filter and another for sub volume.

Yes! I did try all sorts of connections (speaker level, line level) and speaker positioning, and reading all about bass management. The bass was still missing from those cd's.

Shashi
Receiver Marantz SR5600 Speakers Deftech Procinema 80 with mains replaced by a pair of Wharfedale 9.6 DVD Player Sony DVP-NS51P

 

[AdrianMills]

I wonder if any of you guys are going to come back on this. As FMV has corrected me rightly, I do mean boosted by better.Thanks.

Some of the audio cd's that I have bought have hardly any bass. You hear the same song on FM, and it goes boom boom, and then you wonder - boy! all that hard earned cash gone for nothing.

And avaserfi, if you mean adjusting the sub-woofer controls by calibrating the woofer, then yes I have done it. I dont have much to do anyway-two knobs, one for low pass filter and another for sub volume.

Yes! I did try all sorts of connections (speaker level, line level) and speaker positioning, and reading all about bass management. The bass was still missing from those cd's.

Shashi
Receiver Marantz SR5600 Speakers Deftech Procinema 80 with mains replaced by a pair of Wharfedale 9.6 DVD Player Sony DVP-NS51P

Radio (yes, here in Europe too) tends to boost the bass - maybe they do this because radio broadcasts are generally listened to on equipment with very poor bass reproduction and the bass boost at source helps to counteract this. So, in my car, radio sounds fine but if I listen to a similar source at home it's absolutely awful and far too bass heavy.

Maybe you're just used to listening to bass far too hot and what you're hearing from your CDs is what it should be like... Turn up the gain on your sub if you want more “boom, boom” sounds.

 

[Shashi Kumar]

No Adrian. Turn up the gain and the sub moans feebly.

The CD's I buy here in UAE are licensed copies made by local producers with permission to distribute in the middle east only. Probably, the recording set up here are not that good, and they are happy if the cd makes some noise when played. I will have to get a cd (or tape even) of the same song, from the original Indian producer to check and compare.

till then this soul will roam in search of .......

 

[AdrianMills]

No Adrian. Turn up the gain and the sub moans feebly.

The CD's I buy here in UAE are licensed copies made by local producers with permission to distribute in the middle east only. Probably, the recording set up here are not that good, and they are happy if the cd makes some noise when played. I will have to get a cd (or tape even) of the same song, from the original Indian producer to check and compare.

till then this soul will roam in search of .......

But do they copy or remaster? If they copy, package and resell the end result should be the same as anywhere else but if they take the original recording and remaster it, well, that's a different thing entirely...

 

[Shashi Kumar]

It is rather difficult to answer this question, as the answer can be given only by an insider of the industry. The covers dont say anything. Generally, when they remaster, they tend to print it conspicously on the cover, as it is considered a plus point, and used as a marketing slogan.

Secondly, it would be far more easier for them to get the rights to make copies, and what would they acieve by remastering-unless it is to enhance, in which case they would definitely harp about it wherever they can.

So let us reasonably conclude that it is copied. Boy! does that mean I was looking for bass that was never there.

I dont understand. Something is wrong somwhere. I will have to dig, and will come back after that. Thanks pal.

 

[Gimpy Ric]

Try buying a rap cd from Amazon.com I don't listen to rap, but it's very popular with the younger crowd with systems in their car. Especially anything with spinners (wheels with spinning hub caps built on).

 

[agarwalro]

Some of the audio cd's that I have bought have hardly any bass. You hear the same song on FM, and it goes boom boom, and then you wonder - boy! all that hard earned cash gone for nothing.

Just because a CD does not sound as boomy as you like, it does not mean the CD (or any other media) or your electronics are flawed. It's a personal preference thing. IMHO, artificially bass boosted configurations are good only in some situation, like a dance club or a "crunk ride" . Personally, when I am settling down for some critical listening, I go for accurate sound.

Think of it like this, there are two walls near each other. I say wall A is tilting and someone says wall B is tilting. Without a reference that is guaranteed vertical, say a plumb line or spirit level, how can you tell who is right?

What you need to do is calibrate your system, achieving as close to a flat frequency response as possible with level matched speakers. Now play your source. The quality of the recording on the audio source will make itself apparant.

Audioholics setup calibration articles

 

[dem beats]

Try buying a rap cd from Amazon.com I don't listen to rap, but it's very popular with the younger crowd with systems in their car. Especially anything with spinners (wheels with spinning hub caps built on).

ROFLMAO! WOO WOO!

I love it the definition of spinners is the best.

 

[Dolby CP-200]

Without thinking too much I’d say it’s the compression audio compression that seams to make it sound smooth no big deal anyone of us can buy extras for the home cinema set-up and experiment.