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I have a decent hi-fi audio system at home, and there is a clearly audible difference between playing from my high-end CD player, and playing FLAC from the audi

I have a decent hi-fi audio system at home, and there is a clearly audible difference between playing from my high-end CD player, and playing FLAC from the audio out of my Macbook. The difference is not one of loudness but of 'energy'. A snare hit played from the high-end cd player sounds like someone actually hitting a snare; you can feel there's actual energy in the hit, while the macbook out sounds flat, even at higher loudness. I'm not sure what is the exact cause but I've always guessed that it comes from the qualities of the built-in amps in the DACs.

deltron3030 8y ago
It can be the case that the output of your Macbook isn't really flat, or that you have some kind of software processing enabled. You could test a $20 class compliant Behringer UCA202 USB interface against it, which is flat, and try to disable processing or use a software which just passes the signal to the interface. It can also be your room. If you're not exactly located in the same listening position the listening experience can change a lot, even with the same setup. Your room is basically an equalizer and should be regarded as a part of your audio system. That's how some Hifi sellers can trick you into more expensive setups, they just change the speaker positions or your location to optimized defaults. It's crazy how they can trick people. A harder hitting snare can be caused by changes to the upper mids and lower highs, by anything that is located between you and the speakers, and then the later reflections of the room which also add up.
fuzzfactor 8y ago
Consider audio benchmarking. For Widows there is Rightmark, maybe you could run the Macbook's output against a decent Windows DAW. audio.rightmark.org
bayindirh 8y ago
Another possibility is that your CD player might not be flat. Marantz, Yamaha and other manufacturers add their slight sound signatures to their higher and models. I never benchmarked my Yamaha CD-S300 to other devices, but its flyers and web site never says it's completely flat on the analog outputs. The reviews of the player notes that it has the distinct Yamaha signature too. Also "Monitor" and "Flat" devices as their name implies sounds pretty flat and dull. All-in-all you should consider taking response graphs of your devices rightmark.
Nordo 8y ago
> The difference is not one of loudness but of 'energy' Aren't those the same? Put more joules into the speaker wire and more joules of sound pressure waves will come out of the speaker cone, which just means the sound will be louder (until you reach the mechanical limits of the speaker, of course, but no DAC in the world could possibly change those).
- cerebellum42 8y ago
  >Aren't those the same? Not really. If you take some of the transients out of recorded drums they will sound lifeless, without "energy", but not necessarily quieter.
yayana 8y ago
That sounds like amp presets to drop bass, which would make perfect sense on an Amp expected to be used on laptop speakers. I think the general problem is mid-range speakers and reasonable settings is all it really takes to have quality sound, but people want to be above average and therefore look for ways to discriminate between better sound and worse sound differences they can't "yet" hear. From there you get into placebo and random correlations.
deleted 8y ago
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deltron3030 8y ago

It can be the case that the output of your Macbook isn't really flat, or that you have some kind of software processing enabled. You could test a $20 class compliant Behringer UCA202 USB interface against it, which is flat, and try to disable processing or use a software which just passes the signal to the interface. It can also be your room. If you're not exactly located in the same listening position the listening experience can change a lot, even with the same setup. Your room is basically an equalizer and should be regarded as a part of your audio system. That's how some Hifi sellers can trick you into more expensive setups, they just change the speaker positions or your location to optimized defaults. It's crazy how they can trick people. A harder hitting snare can be caused by changes to the upper mids and lower highs, by anything that is located between you and the speakers, and then the later reflections of the room which also add up.

fuzzfactor 8y ago

Consider audio benchmarking. For Widows there is Rightmark, maybe you could run the Macbook's output against a decent Windows DAW. audio.rightmark.org

bayindirh 8y ago

Another possibility is that your CD player might not be flat. Marantz, Yamaha and other manufacturers add their slight sound signatures to their higher and models. I never benchmarked my Yamaha CD-S300 to other devices, but its flyers and web site never says it's completely flat on the analog outputs. The reviews of the player notes that it has the distinct Yamaha signature too. Also "Monitor" and "Flat" devices as their name implies sounds pretty flat and dull. All-in-all you should consider taking response graphs of your devices rightmark.

Nordo 8y ago

> The difference is not one of loudness but of 'energy' Aren't those the same? Put more joules into the speaker wire and more joules of sound pressure waves will come out of the speaker cone, which just means the sound will be louder (until you reach the mechanical limits of the speaker, of course, but no DAC in the world could possibly change those).

cerebellum42 8y ago
>Aren't those the same? Not really. If you take some of the transients out of recorded drums they will sound lifeless, without "energy", but not necessarily quieter.

yayana 8y ago

That sounds like amp presets to drop bass, which would make perfect sense on an Amp expected to be used on laptop speakers. I think the general problem is mid-range speakers and reasonable settings is all it really takes to have quality sound, but people want to be above average and therefore look for ways to discriminate between better sound and worse sound differences they can't "yet" hear. From there you get into placebo and random correlations.

deleted 8y ago

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