Having read this thread with some interest this week and having a little free time this morning, I too thought I'd try the Womaz sibilance top 10.... My observations:
Tini Tempah Miami to Ibiza - Yes! Some sibilance in the vocals, also the higher notes from the synth sound harsh. (great drop bass though!) My conclusion, not a particularly well recorded track with respect to anything over about 1khz! (the word scratchy comes to mind)
The Maccabees - Marks to Prove it - Believe it or not, and in stark contrast to your comments, I thought this sounded fine! OK, not the last word in audiophile recordings but if I'd causually come across this track, I wouldn't have noticed anything particularly bad at all.
Oasis - Supersonic - With one, I am far more aligned with your observations. The symbols don't sound particularly natural, I suspect the symbols were poorly recorded and then boosted up in the final mix. It was ok though, the symbols were not so bad as to make the track unlistenable. Having said that, the vocals were, but I think this had more to do with Liam Gallagher than sibilance. Oddly enough, I have two versions of this track, one is the re-mastered version, and respect to the symbol mix, this is the worst of the two!
Birdy - Skinny Love. This one's simple, there is a lot of sibilance and other nasty artefacts in what appears to be a poorly recorded vocal. No excuses for this mr recording studio man! This is essentially a vocal track.
Kasey Chambers - These Pines - Not too bad this one, I thought. (nowhere near as bad a the Skinny Love track.)
Earlier this morning I was listening to some of my own stuff and came across La Femme's "Oh Baby Doll". If your system is a little bright in the sibilance affected frequency range, I bet this one would really annoy you! Perhaps similar to the Birdy track, poorly recorded vocals. It's bad in some respects, but on my system not so bad that it stops me enjoying what is otherwise quite a jolly track. Give it a whirl, I bet it will drive you bonkers!
My conclusion is that either you system is indeed a little bright, or maybe perhaps you are sensitive to this brightness. Maybe a combination of both. The majority of the tracks you have highlighted as problematic, appear to my ears and system to maybe have issues in this area, so this exacerbates the effect.
Another thing is that I have perhaps noticed the odd issue with sibilance in recordings this morning, far more than normal, even before listing to your problematic playlist. Why? Because having read your thread I'm thinking about it. It's that hifi thing, it gets in your head and can send you bonkers! So you have your slightly bright system with your sensitive ears, add a poorly recorded vocal and a touch of insanity and then bingo! Panic! .....
Tini Tempah Miami to Ibiza - Yes! Some sibilance in the vocals, also the higher notes from the synth sound harsh. (great drop bass though!) My conclusion, not a particularly well recorded track with respect to anything over about 1khz! (the word scratchy comes to mind)
The Maccabees - Marks to Prove it - Believe it or not, and in stark contrast to your comments, I thought this sounded fine! OK, not the last word in audiophile recordings but if I'd causually come across this track, I wouldn't have noticed anything particularly bad at all.
Oasis - Supersonic - With one, I am far more aligned with your observations. The symbols don't sound particularly natural, I suspect the symbols were poorly recorded and then boosted up in the final mix. It was ok though, the symbols were not so bad as to make the track unlistenable. Having said that, the vocals were, but I think this had more to do with Liam Gallagher than sibilance. Oddly enough, I have two versions of this track, one is the re-mastered version, and respect to the symbol mix, this is the worst of the two!
Birdy - Skinny Love. This one's simple, there is a lot of sibilance and other nasty artefacts in what appears to be a poorly recorded vocal. No excuses for this mr recording studio man! This is essentially a vocal track.
Kasey Chambers - These Pines - Not too bad this one, I thought. (nowhere near as bad a the Skinny Love track.)
Earlier this morning I was listening to some of my own stuff and came across La Femme's "Oh Baby Doll". If your system is a little bright in the sibilance affected frequency range, I bet this one would really annoy you! Perhaps similar to the Birdy track, poorly recorded vocals. It's bad in some respects, but on my system not so bad that it stops me enjoying what is otherwise quite a jolly track. Give it a whirl, I bet it will drive you bonkers!
My conclusion is that either you system is indeed a little bright, or maybe perhaps you are sensitive to this brightness. Maybe a combination of both. The majority of the tracks you have highlighted as problematic, appear to my ears and system to maybe have issues in this area, so this exacerbates the effect.
Another thing is that I have perhaps noticed the odd issue with sibilance in recordings this morning, far more than normal, even before listing to your problematic playlist. Why? Because having read your thread I'm thinking about it. It's that hifi thing, it gets in your head and can send you bonkers! So you have your slightly bright system with your sensitive ears, add a poorly recorded vocal and a touch of insanity and then bingo! Panic! .....
