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Huge 16hz note to feed your sub (1 Viewer)

Joined
Sep 18, 2002
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The CD Pomp & Pipes! (Reference Recordings RR-58CD) has some of the loudest, deepest bass you'll hear on any recording, thanks to the combination of the Dallas Wind Symphony and the giant concert organ in their hall. The ending of the Widor piece on track #8 (about 5:50 into the track) is huge. I've taken a snapshot of the sound here:
Pomp & Pipes - Track 8
You can see the HUGE 16hz note on the left side of the chart. My PC+ 16-46 is in a corner about 6 feet behind my listening chair, and the back of the chair shudders when the note plays. I used this segment to test the difference made by tuning the 16-46 to 12hz with a port plug. In the 12hz mode, the 16hz note was about 2db louder.
Ron
 

Geoff L

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Whooaa, wimpy sub need not apply

How long dose the note hold, just a hit with decay or dose it hold for a couple seconds or more....?

That has got to be Extremly Intense, like scary in neat way and totaly a guy thing.

Is that Spectra at work?

Thanx
Geoff
 

Erik_C

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Jun 15, 2000
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I was listening to this CD last night. Definitely has some of the best bass I've ever heard. For even better bass, there's about 5 or 6 seconds near the end of the last track (#9) of the CD, shortly before the big percussive bang, that to me and my Velo FSR-18, seem even more potent than the Widor piece's bass: it's louder, and seems to grab hold of the air and shake it more violently. If you've listened to the track, you know what I'm talking about. Can you do a graph of that?
-Erik
 

Walt N

Second Unit
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Jul 23, 2001
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Wow, that's pretty good! Ron, have you ever plotted any of the deeper passages from the Telarc recording of Saint Saens Symphony #3 (For Organ) or Telarcs' "Organ Blaster" (sounds like a porno title) by Micheal Murray? I don't know how they'll compare with "Pomp And Pipes" but my twin SV's manage to blow my vertical blinds around when I'm getting carried away with this stuff.
 
Joined
Sep 18, 2002
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Erik,

I know the exact spot you are talking about on track 9 (Schwanda the Bagpiper). There are 2 notes there kind of "walking" up the scale. They are about 19hz and 20hz and quite strong. You don't actually hear them, you feel them and think, "What was that?" I actually did save a chart of that section. I don't have it here, but I'll dig it up tonight.

Walt,

I do have the Organ Blaster CD and it does have some deep stuff. I think SVS has a lot of examples from that CD on their site. But none of the Organ Blaster tracks had quite the impact of those couple of moments on the Pomp & Pipes CD. I use that section on track 9 that Erik mentioned to show folks that haven't ever heard sub-20hz bass, what it actually sounds (feels) like.

Ron
 

Walt N

Second Unit
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Jul 23, 2001
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Thanks for the pointer, Ron, I'll check out the SVS site examples. The Pomp & Pipes CD sounds like great demo material. I'll have to order one. Speaking of impact, the cannons on the Telarc version of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture aren't too shabby either. Scares the hell out of the dogs and I every time I play it. :emoji_thumbsup:
 

Lewis Besze

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Ron,where can I buy this CD online or otherwise.
Would you be so kind to list the tracks/composers see if I like the selections besides the bass demo?
Thanks!
 
Joined
Sep 18, 2002
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Erik,
Here is that picture from track #9:

I'm not sure if it's the same spot you were talking about, but it occurs at about 6:15 into the track. The 2 notes (an e flat and an e natural, actually) are quite loud and they appear that way on the chart. Real floor-shakers.
Lewis,
You can get the CD from Amazon. Just search for Pomp & Pipes. They have a track listing there. It's a wind ensemble, i.e., no strings, so there's a lot more brass and woodwinds that the typical orchestra. I grew up playing that stuff, so it's a familiar sound to me. The addition of the organ makes the overall sound huge. The only unfortunate thing for me is that the sound is so dense in spots that the power amps in my poor Pioneer 45TX receiver just don't have the balls to keep it all separate. This is really one for a separate power amp, at least for the front channels.
Ron
 

Greg Bright

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Feb 24, 2000
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Ron,

Love this CD, but I have to ask this: Pomp and Pipes is encoded with HDCD. Were you able to decode it, or did you do your listening and measuring as though it were a "normal" CD?
 
Joined
Sep 18, 2002
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Greg,

I'm not exactly sure how the HDCD process works, but yes, I play it as a regular CD. I play it on my Panasonic RP-82S DVD player, which doesn't have HDCD decoding. I DO play it through my Pioneer VSX-45TX receiver, which is set to use 88.2khz up-sampling for CD playback.

Ron
 

Greg Bright

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Ron,

It's my understanding that it's some sort of compression algorithm that, when decoded, provides a wider dynamic range and lower noise floor. Maybe somebody from Sources can shed some light. In any event I doubt that HDCD has any effect whatsoever on freqency content.

Your comments indicate that you played in a concert band. Most under-rated performing medium in America, IMHO. Great music, great composers, great musicians. Sadly neglected.

Greg
 

Manuel Delaflor

Supporting Actor
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May 25, 2001
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657
Great CD, Great BASS.

I like also very much how my house shakes on the 4th track. Excellent demo material and also good music.
 

Erik_C

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Jun 15, 2000
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186
Ron:
Yep, that second graph is it. Your words were similar to mine the first time I played that track: "Woah, WTF was THAT?!?!"
It's tough not to break out in a huge grin when listening to this CD. Well-recorded organ music over a decent stereo system is hard to beat for sheer bass power and extension. One of my favorite things about really big organ pipes is that it takes a second for all that air to get through the big 32' pipes, so when the low notes hit, they come in a quarter to half beat late. Even before their full power hits, you know it's gonna be good because it's a little late.
-Erik
 
C

Chris*Liberti

What software and equipment do you use to do those waterfall graphs? I have been wanting to check out some stuff that really rocks my system to see what kind of frequency response they have.
 
Joined
Sep 18, 2002
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Chris,
I installed SpectraPlus last weekend. You can download it here (runs for 30-days):
Sound Technology
You can either use it with a RS Sound Meter, or you can feed the audio output of a CD/DVD player directly into the PCs line input.
Ron
 
Joined
Sep 18, 2002
Messages
29
Greg,
Yes, Track #4 was the first one I looked at the other day. It has several places where he plays that group of 3 or 4 notes on the bottom. The longest one is at about 6:10 or so, where there are 5, I believe. This is it:

When you consider that each one of those 5 notes is created by it's own dedicated pipe of about 30 feet in length, 20" in diameter, and weighing about 3000 lbs. each, your tiny little subwoofer isn't doing such a bad job imitating them. Of course, they're filling a room of several hundred thousand cubic feet, but what the heck.
Ron
 

Brian Burgoyne

Second Unit
Joined
Jan 9, 2001
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325
Thanks for the tip Ron. I picked the disc up at Borders for less than Amazon, $16.99 plus tax.
I also have the SVS 16-46PC+ and a Pioneer Elite 45TX.
I listened to tracks 4, 5 and 9 several times and only up to a -9 on my 45TX. The music was quite loud for me and I'm having a hard time describing those notes. I listened with my eyes open, then shut, then open and squinting trying to find the sound. I really couldn't hear anything except the other loud music, but, I felt a "presence" so to speak, in the room, and could feel the wood frame of my couch vibrating all around and through me. Very interesting sensation!:emoji_thumbsup:
I have the rest of the room pretty much rattle proofed with poster putty behind picture frames on the wall, knick knacks that vibrate moved to other rooms, etc. The wood blinds and walls make there own special subtle sounds when very loud and low bass is played. (LOTR, Haunting, AOTC, and now Pomp and Pipes!)
What mode do you listen to this disc in? I used 7 ch stereo, and may fool around with other modes later.
 

Greg Bright

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Another pipe organ CD with absolutely massive low bass is Jean Guillou's organ arrangement of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, recorded in Zurich in 1989, and on the Dorian label, DOR-90117. For years this has been my reference bass CD. It remains so today. I know that pipe organ music isn't readily listened to by those with more contemporary tastes, but it will really test a system. Of course so will a lot of the mega-bass albums designed for vehicular self-expression. And they're a kick to listen to at home as well. Just be sure to wear a kidney belt.

Greg
 

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