Members baldbloke Posted November 24, 2009 Members Share Posted November 24, 2009 Hi folks, I should probably post this in the Recording Forum, but thought that perhaps, as everyone in this forum is Acoustic minded, then you may have experienced the same issues. My pc audio hardware is very basic. I enjoy listening to the various acoustic guitar sound clips posted here. I do hear differences in the guitars. But I think I should be hearing more differences. At the moment I am just using on board sound from my motherboard. I'm pretty sure a plug in sound card would help. But, then, of course, I'm going to have to upgrade my cheap logitech speakers (good value, but still cheap) and my even cheaper headphones. If I were to spend circa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Krash Posted November 25, 2009 Members Share Posted November 25, 2009 If you're primarily concerned with playback quality, do the speakers first, and update your software. I just switched from a 12 year old desktop to a 5 year old portable, same speakers, same recording setup, same apps (newer versions). Not a huge difference in playback, much moreso in recording quality (still tweaking). If you're using an older version of WMP, that could be causing poor playback - it was horrendous on my old Compaq. Haven't tried the newer versions - I use other software for playback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted November 25, 2009 Members Share Posted November 25, 2009 . . . I enjoy listening to the various acoustic guitar sound clips posted here. I do hear differences in the guitars. But I think I should be hearing more differences. . . . IMHO, acoustic guitarists tend to hear "profound" differences where there aren't any. For the most part, the differences are going to be fairly subtle. A decibel or two here and there, a few milliseconds of sustain, is about all you're really talking about for the most part. Not to say there aren't differences or that they're not important but you may be expecting to hear more than is there. That said, Krash is right on regarding the importance of good speakers. Remember that they're the things that actually produce sound. You could also try listening through headphones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Krash Posted November 25, 2009 Members Share Posted November 25, 2009 Can't find the clips, but a while back when I started fooling with recording, I did a quick take of my Harmony, posted one version with the EQ flat, a second with the EQ set so it sounded good on my audio setup. Comments were that the flat clip sounded ok, and the EQ'd clip was way too trebly. I have very bassy speakers on my computer, and it's very difficult for me to hear a natural sounding tone. The recordings evidently sound much different to others. Computer audio tends to vary very widely in terms of tone and sound quality. I try to EQ my apps so that commercial CD's/MP3's sound good, and use that as a reference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members baldbloke Posted November 25, 2009 Author Members Share Posted November 25, 2009 Thanks Krash. Thanks Deepend. I will try speakers first. Audio drivers are up to date. Audio software is usually VLC but varies from time to time. It's about time I upgraded the audio on this pc anyway. I will try speakers first but, out of sheer curiosity, I will likeley upgrade audio card too. Then, perhaps, I can judge the ability of the Behringer mic. I suspect it is capable of more than I am getting out of it. Recording-wise, I use Audacity. Time for some shopping fun and experimentation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wooglins Posted November 25, 2009 Members Share Posted November 25, 2009 IMHO, acoustic guitarists tend to hear "profound" differences where there aren't any. For the most part, the differences are going to be fairly subtle. A decibel or two here and there, a few milliseconds of sustain, is about all you're really talking about for the most part. Not to say there aren't differences or that they're not important but you may be expecting to hear more than is there. That said, Krash is right on regarding the importance of good speakers. Remember that they're the things that actually produce sound. You could also try listening through headphones. When I upgraded from Tusq to WAHI on my 716ce the sustain increased by about 5 seconds on a solidly strung G chord as well as a similar increase on just an open strum. I tried to be somewhat scientific about the measurements. I averaged five samples pre-swich and post switch. Pre-Change sustain was about 15 seconds and post change was about 20 seconds. As a side note post change over on my 716ce the sustain nearly matched that on my GA4 which was also upgraded from Tusq. I am not certain a 5 second increase in sustain is subtle, that is a difference of 34%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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