As a general update, In earlier posts I have commented on the treble with the SOtM kit being more prominent than the mR, and maybe a little harsh. I now think this is incorrect. I have not had anywhere near as much time with my system as I would have liked recently, a simple case of work getting in the way of the rest of my life, but this weekend I did have a few hours for a bit of listening.
What I am finding now is that with decently recorded material, the high frequency performance of the sMS-200Ultra + tXUSButlra is excellent, quite superb. I still think treble sounds more prominent than with the mR, and here is the problem. A lot of the music I listen to is by it's very nature the kind of stuff where recording quality is not always the best. Sometimes the HF will sound a bit edgy and harsh in recordings of this type, but I can simply ignore this, it is what it is. With the SOtM kit though, this issue becomes harder to ignore, perhaps creating some kind of psychoacoustic effect where the whole is improved significantly (versus mR), but this causes the bad in the recording itself to spring to the fore. It is a curious thing, but it like the SOtM kit is making the good in recordings better, but anything bad in the HF is made massively more noticeable. Obviously more transparent kit will make the bad in recordings easier to discern, this is logical, but the effect here is much more than that I think. As an analogy, think of going from a basic mass produced car to a luxury model that has all the kit, super smooth ride, nice V12 engine etc. This will be great right? Lets say the luxury car has an annoying buzzing noise coming from under the dash, your mind is taken away from all the good stuff about that car, and you are left thinking "what is that noise, it's driving me mad!" Without sorting the little niggles out, it becomes impossible to enjoy the rest, no matter how good the rest is.
In the case of the SOtM kit, perhaps a classic case of psychoacoustic effects requiring 200 hours for my brain to adjust. Although I do have a few cunning plans to investigate this one further though.
To be continued!
What I am finding now is that with decently recorded material, the high frequency performance of the sMS-200Ultra + tXUSButlra is excellent, quite superb. I still think treble sounds more prominent than with the mR, and here is the problem. A lot of the music I listen to is by it's very nature the kind of stuff where recording quality is not always the best. Sometimes the HF will sound a bit edgy and harsh in recordings of this type, but I can simply ignore this, it is what it is. With the SOtM kit though, this issue becomes harder to ignore, perhaps creating some kind of psychoacoustic effect where the whole is improved significantly (versus mR), but this causes the bad in the recording itself to spring to the fore. It is a curious thing, but it like the SOtM kit is making the good in recordings better, but anything bad in the HF is made massively more noticeable. Obviously more transparent kit will make the bad in recordings easier to discern, this is logical, but the effect here is much more than that I think. As an analogy, think of going from a basic mass produced car to a luxury model that has all the kit, super smooth ride, nice V12 engine etc. This will be great right? Lets say the luxury car has an annoying buzzing noise coming from under the dash, your mind is taken away from all the good stuff about that car, and you are left thinking "what is that noise, it's driving me mad!" Without sorting the little niggles out, it becomes impossible to enjoy the rest, no matter how good the rest is.
In the case of the SOtM kit, perhaps a classic case of psychoacoustic effects requiring 200 hours for my brain to adjust. Although I do have a few cunning plans to investigate this one further though.
To be continued!
1000 Pro - KEF Blade - iFi Zen Stream - Mutec REF10 - MC3+USB - Pro-Ject Signature 12
