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Late Night Listening

Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

Dan ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

Peanut Head
I rarely stay up this late (2:30 am) but insomnia forced me into it.
I drug out several records and found that I was enjoying them more than I normally do.
I was trying to decide whether it was because of the subdued lighting (no bright daylight) or if the fact the electrical grid may be cleaner during the wee hours. Maybe its because my mind is clearer (not on work) and more focused.
Has anyone else noticed this and what are your thoughts on the subject?
 
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It could be because it's a lot quieter at night usually. The same volume sounds clearer and dearer than daytime hustle & bustle.
 
It's because it is quieter and your brain gears down from all the distractions of the day and is relaxed. I bet it didn't take much volume and almost seemed loud. Certain types of music sound extraordinary after midnight!
 
I'm guessing it was the subdued lighting. This is why I listen is complete darkness on occasion. I've also noticed this when I was into mobile audio hifi. At night when the temperature was cool I'd swear that my music sounded better. Who knows....
 
Music to me always seem to sound better at night. I think it's a combination of more quiet at night, your more relaxed at night and sound seems to carry more in the evening hours then during day time. I also think, for folks living in cities and the burbs that less electric is used late at night like you said, the grid is most likely cleaner.

For me, I can never watch DVD concerts during the day. They just seem better at night. Plus, in my case, if im listening at night, that means the stereo has been on since 7am. Im not one to buy into all that burn in/break in stuff but I do believe the stereo sounds better after its been on a few hours. Maybe it's just the overall atmosphere?
 
The lights are dim, nothing is going to distract you, and all is quiet outside. The less things you are doing at once, the better you'll do at each one. The brain works the same way. :)

I tend to do my best listening late at night and I tend to be the most motivated at night. I woke up at 1:30 this morning, put on some of my favorite cassette tapes and lifted weights for a few hours. Usually I don't even make 30mins. I would have gone longer but I was afraid I'd wake someone up. My tape deck sounds like a chainsaw when it's winding/rewinding.

That might just be me though, I'm naturally a night person. Whenever I get sick with something I end up sleeping during the day and staying up all night. It's hard getting back to a normal schedule after doing that for any length of time. :boring:
 
Lights out, no extra noise, Hearing comes back. Yup nite wheres it at. Being in a alot of outside noise all day. It takes awhile for my hearing to settle down. That first watt sounds so good at nite.
MK
 
It's probably a combination of all of those things you originally listed. I listen a lot at 1am. I always have, since I was a kid. I'm a night owl. The mind is by itself. No distractions, and that means less between you and the music. A lot of gear exists to get rid of physical barriers between the source and speakers...and the night exists to get rid of mental barriers.
 
JohnVF said:
It's probably a combination of all of those things you originally listed. I listen a lot at 1am. I always have, since I was a kid. I'm a night owl. The mind is by itself. No distractions, and that means less between you and the music. A lot of gear exists to get rid of physical barriers between the source and speakers...and the night exists to get rid of mental barriers.
Click to expand...

+++++++++++++1:music:
MK
 
Remember, vampires can't hear much during the daylight hours? lol

When the world sleeps, the ears awaken, the mind floats in the ocean of its own dreams, and all is "right" that is "wrong" in the wold of daylight"!

cnh2
 
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My first tube amp experience began one night at 11 PM, when I got the filter caps replaced on the TRW Bell I had been given, and fired it up. I sat up until 2 PM, amazed...

It still sounds good, and I listen almost daily, but never have recaptured that magic, jaw dropping, moment.

But...my brother in law was over, he is moderately interested in audio. I played him a Blood Sweat and Tears LP. This was likewise his first tube listen, and hadn't listened to an LP in years. His jaw almost dropped. He walked over and looked at the amp and TT very carefully. Later, he wanted another listen and we began to look up the price for modern tube systems.

I love those magic moments.

I do notice on any given day my system sounds great, then other days marginal. Source is some of it, but even playing the same material seems to vary. The variance must be mood, or something physical about our bodies (ear fatigue, etc).
 
This is a great discussion, I have always felt that Late at night I am more able to focus on the music in a subdued lit atmosphere, and certainly there is less noise around, yeah the power grid is more stable with a few more volts maybe...
I think if you other senses are not being distracted, there is an increased ability to "tune in" better.....
The best part is signal to noise!! The dead of the night is great for listening!!
I love it.....

I also have a similar thing early in the morning, as the sun is coming up, everything is quiet, and the gentle golden glow of the morning sun filters into my lounge where mt system is.....I like this time too......I like instrumental music in the morning...
 
Someone mentioned in another thread about this that they thought it was 'built in' that our hearing is naturally more acute during the hours of darkness, so our ancestors didn't get eaten prematurely.

I do most of my listening in the evening, although not too late - wouldn't be popular with the family. Headphones ?... maybe, but not quite the same effect for me anyway.

I know MY system sounds better to me in the evening, I must try the early morning thing though - good idea (even if I have to use headphones) :music:
 
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I'm so interested in the idea that the power grid is cleaner during the wee hours. There may be something to other night time listening factors mentioned in this and other similar threads: mellow time of day, no noise outside, etc. But there are times my system sounds WAY better than usual, and they're always in the middle of the night. The music is more involving, with better depth, detail and balance. Soundstage is deeper, wider and just more coherent overall. It sucks me in and reminds me why I'm so passionate about this hobby.

I've spent years of my life in recording studios, so I'm confident that I can rule out other factors. I know what music sounds like when I'm fatigued, or when my ears are fatigued, etc. For me, this isn't about being focused, relaxed or whatever. There is something wonderful happening with my system during the hours that most people sleep, but it's elusive. I've begun measuring the voltage coming out of my outlets to see whether there's a correlation there. During the magical times, it seems to hover just above 117 volts, and goes a volt or two higher during the day. But I don't think that's it. I happen to have a couple of outlets in my studio hardwired to a variac, decided this morning to experiment with dropping voltage to 117 when it's running higher, but at the moment it's already at 117. It'll be interesting to see, but intuitively I don't think it's a simple matter of voltage (even though running lower voltage via variac can be the key to making a guitar amp sound magical). I really do think it's the cleaner power.

If anyone else with experience can chime in on this, I'd love to dig deeper on this single point. The level of sonic improvement I'm talking about is greater than that afforded by new old stock tubes, or even by some component changes I've made. It's greater than the difference made by changing out interconnects (and I say that as a guy who does hear the differences). If I can isolate the principle at work, I'm hoping I can harness it. For example, I'd much rather spend money on a serious power conditioner as opposed to upgrading my turntable, if it'll give me the 3:30 a.m. magic whenever I want it.

Can anybody help shed additional light here? Who has experience with this? Is the Richard Gray stuff worth looking at? Is there a cheaper solution? My funds are limited, but I've pretty much got myself convinced that whenever I next get a little bag of money to spend on audio it'll probably need to go to cleaning up power. Somebody out there must have already chased this dragon, how did you do it?

thanks in advance and sorry for the semi-rant. :D
 
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I don't think it has anything to do with the power grid. I notice this trend most dramatically on my portable MP3 player and headphones. They just sound really good at night.

If I had to hazard a guess I'd say it's the lighting. It isn't noticeable to us but house light operate at 60hrz(as in they are flashing on and off 60 times a second). While we don't see the light turning on and off I'd think such a thing would still have an effect on the brain.

Would be interesting to see how many other people turn out all the light for late night listening and if anyone notices differences between lights on, or off. Personally I turn everything off, and keep the lighting on my gear to a minimum.
 
I do most all of my serious listening at night and find that in a dark and quiet room the music just seems to come alive and be more detailed. The combo of darkness and the quietness of the night time hours allows us to relax and get into the music as well as be more aware of the musical nuances that sometimes we simply don't hear during daytime listening sessions. I am fortunate to live out from the city and it's normally pretty quiet here even during the daytime but even more so at night and that's when I really appreciate my music the most......................:thmbsp:
 
I've noticed that I have 2-3 more volts showing on my power conditioner late at night or early in the am. I'm thinking this also has something to do with the gear sounding better on the graveyard shift.
 
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Oh yeah, part of it is where your heads at, part of it is the city is quieter, I find it has a lot to do with the mains being quieter. Power (mains) are the other source! And with any kind of decently tweaked out kit, you most certainly hear it. I notice the difference between the city and being away upstate in a more rural spot, it's the same kind of sound, music seems to be more relaxed, coming very effortlessly from a jet black background. Nothing new, audiophiles have talked about it for decades. I find having a full system power regenerative system gives about the same result on demand (and if you're running one and are not sure of the benefit, run it for a week or so and then during a listening session unplug it. There is no mistaking it.). It's all about the noise floor. You have no idea how the noise effects your listening until you eliminate it. People have all kinds of wacky theories about how it is anything but... it really isn't so complicated. Ever notice how consistently high quality late night playing/listening is? It is no coincidence.

Happy (late night) Listening! :beatnik:
 
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