GoodSoundClub - Romy the Cat's Audio Site

In the Forum: Playback Listening
In the Thread: The dynamic range of our playback

Post Subject: Back to the rootPosted by rowuk on: 6/28/2014

The thread specifically started with the subject of dynamics - not limited to any one type (I do disagree with the principle of macro vs micro dynamics, as understood in audio as live they are never exclusive of one another - it is possible however that in the worst seats of a concert hall, the attacks are buried in the ambient acoustic). A musician generally has a different understanding of microdynamics being part of the flow inside of an individual musical phrase and macrodynamics being the range of loud and soft in the tutti ensemble. In the audiophile world, the terms are thrown about however the person thought that they understood the concept. I have never thought of the "attack" of an instrument as microdynamic - it is exactly the same technical thing as "what is called macrodynamic" here: the amplifier accurately following the signal up and down, fast and slow - unleashing more or considerably more when the music calls for it. This dynamic behaviour is not only specific to volume, but also frequency when we talk about audio. There is no such thing as "fast" bass in the acoustic world. There is perfect integration of the (ever faster) overtones with a live instrument and this integration requires proportional behaviour when the music is to be played back in a dynamic way. Spreading fundementals and overtones over multiple channels requires an additional intelligence to piece the integration back together with some semblance of the original. It is very possible in a live venue that the fundemental of a note is received by the ear later than the overtones, our brain fills in the detail. A good example is a tympani or bass drum - the attack is spectrally followed by the "body/pressure wave". We never "hear" it that way though.

Romy asks in the original post, why a preamp with only 70dB dynamic range can sound better than a "technically" far superior one. The audio world has been through microdynamics, macrodynamics, transient behaviour, TIM, THD, Headroom, slew rate, Carvers out of phase power supplies and many other things to "improve" the dynamic behaviour of the audio chain. There still is no common terminology or understanding of the terminology used in relation to the dynamic behaviour of a preamp for instance. To answer this question, much more detail must be evaluated: is the 70dB due to a high noise floor? High distortion at the top? Slow electronics?

Your comment about composers only thinking macro assumes quite a bit and in my opinion is plain wrong. The percussive behaviour of certain instruments (piano, brass, percussion), use of things like "Pizzicato" (which can also be dynamically played), orchestration with instruments like a Cymbal, chimes, triangle all have a great (micro- in your terms) dynamic effect and are very much part of the "early reflections" part of hearing/interpretation. Baroque and other early music performances are far more intimate and the "articulation" of practically every period instrument requires a great dynamic performance from any piece of audio gear. The vast literature for the various generations of piano alone demonstrate the composers understanding of what you call microdynamics - it is called articulation in our world. There are worlds of solo literature that specifically highlight the extremes for many instruments and present great challenges when recording.

In any case to evaluate dynamics in audio, we first need to define the terminology. Audio must retain its composure even when the musical signal is "extreme" in any sense of the term. We can "compress" or "limit" the peaks during recordings to fit just about any situation later. Unfortunately the limiting is still not intelligent enough to fool trained listeners.

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