Music "Crackles"...?

[timoteo]

I like to listen to music on Sirius Satellite Radio through my DishNetwork.

Ive noticed however that i seem to get quite a bit of what i would call tweeter crackling or a crispy sound.The "S" sound gets a little crackley with some voices. The best way to describe it would be that music sometimes sounds like its being played on an old record player. Ocassionally i hear little tiny popping. Ive even rewound to listen again at some parts & it will happen at the same spot as before (DVR). The music i get this most with is symphony and classical. But i have heard it on some of the other channels as well.

At first i kind of freaked thinking that maybe i had a damaged tweeter but then i noticed that it would also happen to my center if i changed the setting from stereo to music surround. I then put in a few cds and the occasional crackle seemed to go away.

Has anyone else come across this with any satellite provider? Im really hoping that it has nothing to do with any kind of speaker damage.

My speakers are only a few months old but a friend of mine once cranked the volume up to +5db for about 3minutes with The Hulk on BD (wasnt happy bout it!). Ever since ive been paranoid & listening for any kind problems from that.

Thanks for your help!!

 

[NicolasKL]

I have cable, but there are some channels that have terrible sibilance or in general just sound like ***. I think that's just the way it is, problem at the source.

 

[MinusTheBear]

It is probably the source material since changing to another source and recording stopped the crackling.

Now with the friend cranking up your system during Hulk, if you damaged your system during that it would have become very noticable in those passages.

How do some of your favorite recordings that you are very familiar with sound? Anything strange sounding going on there?

 

[timoteo]

With my normal listening material things sound good.

When my buddy cranked it up it never sounded disorted it was just REALLY loud but good sound. I had never heard it that loud before and was getting nervous so i turned it down. He's into the same hobby and was telling me that volume was ok but i dont feel comfortable with it that high. Ive been doing a lot of research on clipping.

So like i said ive just been overly concerned and listening carefully for any sign of damage. Im a bit OCD. So when i had it on a Sirius, and since my B&Ws are pretty revealing, when i hear any little anything thing my heart drops. Guess ive got to learn to relax.

So most likely if damage was done id pretty much know? it would be pretty obvious huh?

 

[MinusTheBear]

With my normal listening material things sound good.

When my buddy cranked it up it never sounded disorted it was just REALLY loud but good sound. I had never heard it that loud before and was getting nervous so i turned it down. He's into the same hobby and was telling me that volume was ok but i dont feel comfortable with it that high. Ive been doing a lot of research on clipping.

So like i said ive just been overly concerned and listening carefully for any sign of damage. Im a bit OCD. So when i had it on a Sirius, and since my B&Ws are pretty revealing, when i hear any little anything thing my heart drops. Guess ive got to learn to relax.

So most likely if damage was done id pretty much know? it would be pretty obvious huh?

If the receiver was clipping you would have heard noticeable distortion through your speakers especially at extreme dynamic passages. Also with quality speakers such as B &W could bring out these flaws in poor recordings which might be what you are hearing.

I would try some familiar recordings that you know are recorded without these "crackling" artifacts and try them at medium to high volumes on your system and hear if it still presists.

 

[timoteo]

i have done that a bit and am planning on doing it more soon. i just have to wait untill my neighbors leave since i live in an apt.

when i did my research on clipping i found that the tweeter is most at risk for damage. that is why my brain now thinks any little flaw in the source is a flaw in the tweeter. will continue to test a little and then i just have to move on and enjoy without worrying.

 

[pzaur]

Chances are real good that you are hearing artifacting from the compression levels Sirius is using to broadcast.

Satellite is clearer in the fact that you either receive the signal or you don't. What they don't tell you is that you are often receiving a signal that has been greatly compressed. The compression starts to mess with the wave form (sound) creating the distortions you are hearing.

There is a noticeable difference between the DJ's sound quality on satellite and the music quality. The DJs always sound to me like they are sitting in a cavern with a strong lisp or hiss.

CD quality is not what they broadcast.

Here's a relatively recent article about satellite radio broadcasting.

-pat

 

[LabRat]

Ditto

I have experienced the same; esp w/ Dish network, non HD. Switched to Direct HD (for other reasons). HD movies are better sound quality, less sibilant ssss's. However, the music channels are like you described, some programs are better than others... As above, it is likely the source... It is a shame b/c there are a lot of music channels... but they sound less than great... I don't think switching to Direct was significant, but switching to HD was; albeit for movies only. Good luck and maybe in the future this will improve for us all...

 

[tom67]

Noise

If you dont hear it with a good DTS source with full range music, dont worry, its the source....probably the sonic equivilent of tiling on cable video...

 

[timoteo]

yeah thanks guys for all the feedback.

i took my htm62 center to a local b&w dealer and he did a side by side comparison with his htm62. mine was fine. even brought some source material and found out it was just imperfections on the disc i was hearing.

im starting to get a very sensitive ear which has its up & downs. I appreciate great sound but notice when something isnt right. ive watched a few movies & listened to a hand full of albums since my last post. all is GREAT with my speakers. just some crappy audio through dish network....oh well!

thanks again!

 

[highfigh]

I have experienced the same; esp w/ Dish network, non HD. Switched to Direct HD (for other reasons). HD movies are better sound quality, less sibilant ssss's. However, the music channels are like you described, some programs are better than others... As above, it is likely the source... It is a shame b/c there are a lot of music channels... but they sound less than great... I don't think switching to Direct was significant, but switching to HD was; albeit for movies only. Good luck and maybe in the future this will improve for us all...

I had Time Warner cable and the sound sucked. I switched to DirecTV and the sound is great, so I would say that your switching providers made the difference. The XM channels sound better than the ones they brought over from Sirius, too. Much fuller, better dynamics and I have both HD and non HD DirecTV receivers- they sound the same on my system- great.

 

[LabRat]

Congrats on your switch from cable. Big difference. But as far as switching from Dish to Direct with regard to music channels - it's really apples to apples from what I can hear, they both sound like MP3's. My Brother-in-Law currently has Dish HD and a very nice system - we both agree that the Sat music channels can't yet compete w/ CD or better sources.

 

[timoteo]

I absolutely agree with labrat. Comparing the 2 sat companies does nothing. We are getting the same signal from them so they are gonna sound identical. However CDs and other sources like dvd music and of course BD music blow mp3s and SAT music out of the water.

If any of you havent yet heard "QUEEN: Rock Montreal & Live Aid" on BD, its well worth your time. Its in DTS-HD 96/24....INCREDIBLE!!!!

Enjoy!

 

[TLS Guy]

I like to listen to music on Sirius Satellite Radio through my DishNetwork.

Ive noticed however that i seem to get quite a bit of what i would call tweeter crackling or a crispy sound.The "S" sound gets a little crackley with some voices. The best way to describe it would be that music sometimes sounds like its being played on an old record player. Ocassionally i hear little tiny popping. Ive even rewound to listen again at some parts & it will happen at the same spot as before (DVR). The music i get this most with is symphony and classical. But i have heard it on some of the other channels as well.

At first i kind of freaked thinking that maybe i had a damaged tweeter but then i noticed that it would also happen to my center if i changed the setting from stereo to music surround. I then put in a few cds and the occasional crackle seemed to go away.

Has anyone else come across this with any satellite provider? Im really hoping that it has nothing to do with any kind of speaker damage.

My speakers are only a few months old but a friend of mine once cranked the volume up to +5db for about 3minutes with The Hulk on BD (wasnt happy bout it!). Ever since ive been paranoid & listening for any kind problems from that.

Thanks for your help!!

Those are classic digital compression artifacts. I get that Sirius radio with Direct TV. It is total garbage and not worth worrying with. If it is classical music you want, then tune to your local public radio station, or listen to the MPR stream on line. Forget that Sirius garbage.