My System sounds better when it rains
- Thread starter Frank Sol
- Start date
ken kantor
Fowl Humor
BillyBatts
ALOHA!
As any pilot can tell you, warm humid air is less dense then cold dry air. It's why hot air balloons float. It's a nightmare trying to take off at high elevation in high humidity and heat. Much less air flow over the wings. Reciprocating engines (piston engines) have much less performance as well in high humidity and heat, especially at altitude.
I have noticed for years that my audio sounds very different in Hawaii and Florida than it does in Seattle. Makes sense based on acoustics and air density
I have noticed for years that my audio sounds very different in Hawaii and Florida than it does in Seattle. Makes sense based on acoustics and air density
My system sounds better when I am eating carne guisada tacos with cheese, bacon, lime juice and pico degallo on them.
I can concur with that. I look forward to spring and fall for the slightly humid but cool air (65% humid and 70 degrees) and not having any Ac or heating blowers or even my pellet stove making noise. Its very quiet, so I can hear more. I can play some recordings I made of the birds and other outside sounds (cicadas, dogs barking, kids playing etc) with the sliding glass doors open and the real outside birds will chime in.
Pio1980
AK Member
Anything that changes effective air density should affect woofer/box tuning and otherwise spectral balance, and IMO does. My system tends to sound 'fuller' overall some days than others.
On Ken's remark re "dithering" via a background noise, this effect might be heard as an improvement or something else, depending. I generally perceive a competitive sound as masking the desired sound to a greater or lesser degree.
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This has been one interesting and informative thread so far. I had heard that humidity, air density and other conditions effected sound quality, but the hows and whys were never explained.
woodj
Super Member
For the simplistic explanation:
The air gas particles of the gasses that compose air (on earth where we live) are always moving, bouncing around and banging into each other.
Warmer air gas particles have more energy than colder molecules and so they bounce around more. They require more room to bounce around, and have more space between them. In warmer air, more water vapor molecules (since there is more room between air gas particles) can get in between the air gas particles.
As air gets colder, the reverse happens and a given space can hold more air gas particles but less water vapor.
In colder air, the gas particles are more densly packed and can transmit sound better.
In warm humid air, water vapor "adds particles to the mix, and so can transmit sound better than warm dry air.
A liittle aside:
Heating of the earth, which in turn heats the atmosphere, is responsible for the motions and movements of the air in the atmosphere. The faster molecules move, the hotter the air. As the molecules heat and move faster, they are moving apart. So air, like most other substances, expands when heated and contracts when cooled. Because there is more space between the molecules, the air is less dense than the surrounding matter and the hot air floats upward.
The air gas particles of the gasses that compose air (on earth where we live) are always moving, bouncing around and banging into each other.
Warmer air gas particles have more energy than colder molecules and so they bounce around more. They require more room to bounce around, and have more space between them. In warmer air, more water vapor molecules (since there is more room between air gas particles) can get in between the air gas particles.
As air gets colder, the reverse happens and a given space can hold more air gas particles but less water vapor.
In colder air, the gas particles are more densly packed and can transmit sound better.
In warm humid air, water vapor "adds particles to the mix, and so can transmit sound better than warm dry air.
A liittle aside:
Heating of the earth, which in turn heats the atmosphere, is responsible for the motions and movements of the air in the atmosphere. The faster molecules move, the hotter the air. As the molecules heat and move faster, they are moving apart. So air, like most other substances, expands when heated and contracts when cooled. Because there is more space between the molecules, the air is less dense than the surrounding matter and the hot air floats upward.