RP56 Too Bright For CDs (1 Viewer)

[ScottyB]

Does anybody have an opinion that music CDs sound too bright when using this player with optical cable. My old cd player sounds better at higher volumes just using rca cables which is the way I like listening to most of my music. At low to mid volume my panasonic sounds better. I tried to buy a warm receiver by getting Denon 3802 to go along with my Klipsch speakers. Maybe the problem is that I sit too close to the speakers. My room is 12X21 and I sit about 9 ft away.
Looking back I wish I would have looked more into a player with digital coax. The word on the street is it is warmer. If anybody has any suggestions to improve my sound I would greatly appreciate it. Especially since more more and more DVD-audio releases are coming out with a Dolby 5.1 recording on them as well.

 

[John Royster]

Try it without using your 3802 dacs by using two RCA cables for left and right speakers. This way you're using the RP56 to produce an analog signal. You'll want to press the "analog" button on the 3802 remote. Press mode button to go back to digital input and compare.

I wasn't too fond of my 3802 DACs and prefer to use my CD player's internal ones.

hope this helps, I haven't used my rp56 as a cd player so can't comment on that.

-edit- although I have listened to the dolby 5.1 tracks on DVD-a discs. Didn't sound bright under those circumstances. Then again it is a different digital signal altogether and a different "mode" from PCM on the 3802 DACs.

 

[BobH]

I use my RP56 as my standard CD player. I have tried using the Panny DACs to analog inputs in my pre/pro but prefer the digital out to the pre/pro DACs.

DVD-A discs using the DD5.1 tracks sound very good so far and better than DTS. Trying more soon. It seems the recording engineer has more effect than the format.

 

[Selden Ball]

Scotty,
Unfortunately, the differences between optical and coax digital are very subtle. As Bob points out, the recording engineer has much more of an effect on the quality of the audio.

Also, Klipsh and other horn speakers have a very distinctive sound. You might want to consider auditioning different, more traditional, speaker brands.

In general, I don't think 9 ft is too close, but your room acoustics will also have a big effect on the quality of what you hear. If you have a lot of hard, flat surfaces, they'll tend to accentuate high frequencies compared to a room with more absorbant or irregular surfaces. You might want to consider putting heavy drapes (absorbers) or bookshelving (diffusers) at the first reflection points -- the places on your walls where a mirror would let you see images of your speakers from your listening position. A heavy rug covering the equivalent places on the floor would be a good idea, too.

I hope this helps a little.

 

[ScottyB]

So basically when you run rca cable out of the DVD player you are creating an analog signal that will sound exactly like when I use my old CD player that just uses RCAs? Also are you saying that I can leave both RCA and optical outputs plugged in and can switch back in forth with my receiver?

John, Can you give me a brief explanation of what DAC is?

Seldon, I agree that the recording makes a big difference. Some CDs are not as "bright" or what I would say as "harsch" as others. I am talking about in the 100db and higher range. I have noticed that newer releases tend to be more bright than the olders. I remember when Cds first came out the big thing was to get as many D's as possible i.e. "DDD" most were "AAD". Do you know what most CDs are recored at today?

Room Acoustics: I have "Berber" carpet,textured wall paper on the top half of the walls with exterior wall board on the bottom, 8ft ceilings with 12"x12" tiles. They are soft and slightly textured. Also, I have a large window behind my setup covered with blinds. I could definately use some drapes.

Thanks Scott

 

[John Royster]

YES - you can select PCM (cd format sound) or auto with the mode button on the remote. Or you can press analog (this will NOT use the 3802 DACs)

DAC - A digital to analog converter. Takes a digital audio stream and produces an analog waveform that can be amplified and sent to speakers. Any digital connection into your receiver (coax, toslink) will use the receiver's DACs such as DD5.1, DTS, PCM.

Hope this helps. Any sonic differences between toslink and coaxial connections is subject to much debate. You may also want to put your receiver in DIRECT mode and bypass as much as you can.

-edit-

 

[Selden Ball]

Scott,

CD formats still vary a lot. I think they don't make as big a deal anymore about the processing methods of the various stages of production because the overall reproduction quality tends to be much better now than it was when CDs were first introduced. Analog noise levels usually are much lower than they used to be, for example. Even so, most pop music is so highly processed that they have to do it digitally. The many tracks that have to be mixed would introduce too much noise if the processing was all done using analog technology.

Your description of your room does sound like it'd tend to be bright. Some people have found that floor-standing folding screens with paper panels, like those with Chinese or Japanese artwork on them, can help a lot. Of course, there are also "acoustic room treatments" that use panels specifically designed for absorption and diffusion of various frequencies.

You also have to be careful not to turn up the volume so high that the receiver starts to "clip". That might be one source of the harshness you hear. Klipsh speakers are quite efficient, so they don't need as much power to produce high SPLs, but I'd still want to check to be sure. Clipping introduces a lot of energy at inaudibly high frequencies that can damage tweeters.

 

[Brian P]

How old is this stuff? Did you give them a good break-in period? Which Klipsch? I have the avr-3300 the rp56 and Klipsch reference speakers and also a B&K 7250 amp. I found the amps in the Denon to be a bit bright myself, but yet they served their purpose for a time and I was happy...

 

[Brian P]

Also you could bump the treble down a hair...

 

[ScottyB]

Brian, My Klipsch mains are about 12 years old. They are the old KG4s. I have been real happy with them. The center and rears are the ss series and they are about3 months old. I have tried messing with the treble. I am just not a big fan of that because I feel I may be degrading some of the clean sound. Now I could be wrong here though.
Man, the more research I have done I wish I would have bought a DVD-audio capable player. They are quite affordable now.

 

[ScottyB]

Selden, Just curious. What is it about my room that leans toward the bright side?