[Kevin.T]

Hello everyone,

First of all, I don't consider myself an audiophile. I don't have much of a trained ear, I am just looking for a nice, pleasant and spacious sound.

Now, I just bought a new setup recently because I thought I could get something a little more decent than the JVC MX GA-77 system I currently had.

So I went for this:

Source : Sony CDP-CE375
Amp: Harmon/Kardon AVR 146
Headphones: AKG k141 Studio
(This cost me about 600-700$ in total)

Now, when I play electronic or pop music, it sounds fine. But when I play rock music or any music that has a lot of high frequencies, there seems to be some kind of distortion. It sounds like static almost. It's very irritating and distracting, and it kind of ruins the immersion of listening to headphones.

These 2 CDs, for example, are almost unlistenable because of this:
System Of A Down - Toxicity
Tool - 10,000 Days (especially the song Vicarious)

Also, I noticed right away that the bass response is also kind of weak on ANY kind of music, especially the punchy bass (you can hear the bass pedal if listen closely, but it's really faint in the global sound).

So who's the biggest culprit in my setup? Is it really the source like I think? I doubt it's the amp or the headphones, but I may be wrong. Also, it could be that some CDs just aren't mastered very well and will have a distorted sound on any setup I play them on? (I have a hard time believing that, but I could be wrong again).

Thanks for the help,
Kevin

 

[MONVMENTVM]

10,000 Days has lots of clipping and really does sound awful.

Apart from this, these symptoms sound like weak amplification and from what I know k141 aren't known for massive bass presentation.

 

[Herandu]

Based on the symptoms you describe the laser pickup in the CD player needs replacing or its lens needs cleaning.

Welcome to one source of jitter that is frequently overlooked.

 

[progo]

I believe such distortion is from amplification but because you mention two heavily compressed albums, it might be it. But OTOH most techno is also very compressed.

Buy some $2 classical cds to test if they give static.

 

[Herandu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by progo /img/forum/go_quote.gif I believe such distortion is from amplification

It's the CD pick up. Stop guessing.

 

[nick_charles]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Herandu /img/forum/go_quote.gif Based on the symptoms you describe the laser pickup in the CD player needs replacing or its lens needs cleaning. Welcome to one source of jitter that is frequently overlooked.

Why would that only affect one genre of music ?

 

[Herandu]

It is not the genre, but the level of HF content in the music. When a CD pick up starts playing up it starts to have problems in the treble region. If you put a scope on it to observe the laser pick up eye pattern you'll see it jumping left and right, instead of displaying a lovely bunch of clean sine waves super imposed over each other.

 

[jsplice]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MONVMENTVM /img/forum/go_quote.gif 10,000 Days has lots of clipping and really does sound awful. Apart from this, these symptoms sound like weak amplification and from what I know k141 aren't known for massive bass presentation.

I agree with this. It's one of those CDs that I hope will eventually sound OK. I give it a listen after each upgrade I make to my system with those hopes, but am always let down. It is just a poorly made album. Laterlus is the same way. I even received the Lateralus "audiophile" LP as a birthday gift, and it's no better than the CD. To me there is nothing more frustrating in this hobby than realizing that some of your favorite music is going to sound like junk on any system in the world.

 

[Kevin.T]

Yeah, just yesterday for example I was listening to Amerie (R&B/Pop) and I could find the same distortion in some of the strident percussions. I tried it on my PC and there was much less distortion (the CD is probably not perfectly mastered neither).

Also, I bought a demo unit (only one they had left). They told me it was never plugged in, which is believable considering the unit had the seal sticker on the LED display and looked brand spanking new. But if it really was inactive on a shelf for a long period of time, I can see how the lens could need cleaning.

Anyways, I called at my local Hi-fi store yesterday and the guy told me I could benefit by switching from analog RCA cable to optical wire. So I'll buy one after work, and if it doesn't help, I'll bring the CD player in for lens cleaning.

Thanks for the help guys, and keep it coming!



PS. I tried 10,000 Days on every source in my house and yeah, it sounded bad all the time. Guess I'll have to live with that.