The midrange in music, how important?

[charles 1973]

I'm sure most of the music is in the midrange band, but that doesn't make the Bass and Treble any less important. Poor Bass or Highs from a speaker, no matter how good it's midrange is just doesn't cut it.

I believe a Ballanced System is Best. The Bass and Treble should be there in their Full Glory, but only when it is suposed to be. Is it just me, or is what some people consider a warm Midrange, really just a lack of Blotted Bass, and Bright High's. I Run a Seperate HT and Stereo System in my rec room, and to the casual observer, my HT system has better bass than my 4x more expensive Stereo System.

That HT system always sound's blotted, and this masks a bunch of music I hear quite clearly in my Stereo System. When I played side B of Fleetwood Mac's Self Tittled LP through the Stereo System, I listened specificaly to the Bass, and it turned out to be Wonderfull. I Don't want an Unnaturally Warm Midrange to Comprimise that, just like I don't want it to compromise Symbols, and the higher Notes of Other Instruments. It must all be correct.

With respect to TT's, the Nagoaka cartidge on my vintage Pioneer "Rondo 2000" (don't laugh) TT likes a much higher capacitance than I'm running, or is standard with most Phono Stages to get a very close to flat Freq Rsp. I haven't tried it yet.

 

[tubewade]

It is interesting that we all perceive things so differently.

 

[JohnVF]

Here's what I said about the comparison clips he recently posted:

It's interesting...I'm really more into a "full" sound and something that is midrange prominent. And I picked the same clips you did from those TT samples. I thought they were more full and the midrange was better.

 

[starcycle]

Midrange is only not important if you don't care about guitars, vocals, piano/keyboards, saxophones/trumpets/horns, most drum sounds, or most musical content in general. Other than that, you're fine!

 

[BillyB]

Midrange is everything to me, and the primary reason I run all tubes all the time.

My PV 5 and MV 52 produce Mids to die for.

 

[haffy111]

i doent care about teh "mids" 'cuz emienem sound phat with my Dre Beats and Ipod. for reals it beats trhe vinyls IMHO

 

[arcorob]

amen

I've recently talked with Arcorob about this, regarding the sonic differences in his comparison between a Technics SL-1200 MK2 and an Audio-Technica AT-LP120-USB. Quoting myself:



Here's what I said about the comparison clips he recently posted:



And here's what I told him in a PM:



I think all of the above summarizes what I think about this topic.

I agree 100%. Lacking mids (to me) robs the fullness and complete range of music..i had mentioned this while tube rolling. Some tubes push the mids back..i finally found ones that balanced across the spectrum...

 

[Bob in WI]

I wonder if changes in musical tastes, can be an influence on the current systems we end up owning/using? I think thats kind of self evident. I also think that this thread about mid range would not apply to rappers or fans of dance music. While I find my modest system enjoyable for classical, acoustic & voice dominated music, it really doesn't sound that good at all when I bring out the old vinyl rockers. Especially the stuff that was overproduced & needlessly overinstrumented. Some of that may be due to my room tho. I think I'm getting nasty reflections when the volume gets turned up.

 

[Pandovski]

The midrange is where human speech and hearing is focused and most detailed. Its who we are as a species, a product of evolution, and the music we create is product of our capabilities.

Truth is music has no midrange, our hearing does. The Sun doesn't evolve around the Earth, its vice versa.

 

[Br1ck]

Absolutely I believe your system can lead you in certain musical directions. I'm using two different setups right now. One is a Grado Gold cart into my DIY Marantz 7 clone into a little 3 watt single ended amp I bought from Kegger into some AR 4a speakers. This system just begs to spin jazz.

My other setup is a Sony MC cart into a Music Reference head amp into a Fisher 500C into Econowaves, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are cranking. I think the rectification of the amp and the detail from the cart into a far more accurate speaker begs for rock.

Likewise, small classical trios and quartets like the smaller system whereas full symphonies demand the horsepower. When I rotated amps out of just one setup, it influenced what I listened to.

As always, there is a grey area, and a really good system should handle anything and be pleasing.

 

[Gang-Twanger]

Absolutely I believe your system can lead you in certain musical directions. I'm using two different setups right now. One is a Grado Gold cart into my DIY Marantz 7 clone into a little 3 watt single ended amp I bought from Kegger into some AR 4a speakers. This system just begs to spin jazz.

My other setup is a Sony MC cart into a Music Reference head amp into a Fisher 500C into Econowaves, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are cranking. I think the rectification of the amp and the detail from the cart into a far more accurate speaker begs for rock.

Likewise, small classical trios and quartets like the smaller system whereas full symphonies demand the horsepower. When I rotated amps out of just one setup, it influenced what I listened to.

Yeah, I have to agree with this. I certainly find myself playing more jazz and more '50's and early '60's music now that I have a system that can do it justice. Most people have to make some sort of trade-off with their hi-fi system, and if I have to trade off a particular style/era of music, then let it be the kind of music I listen to least, which, in my case, is post-millennium hard rock/metal. For now, I'll take that trade-off. Besides, I've always got the headphones for that stuff anyway, so I'll survive.

 

[datafone]

An interesting chart, kind of relevant.

Meh...I give up, no pics that I attach of late... show up Got it

Got it, a bit small, but shows where things are in the FR.

 

[Eric Lloyd]

My understanding is much like that of Pandovski. The ear is evolved to be sensitive to our natural instrument- the voice. To most people that is always the most pleasing instrument to listen to because it not only speaks to us emotionally but also sits comfortably right in the middle of our hearing range (more or less). Personally I use an EQ and have always dropped the extreme highs a bit (to combat ear fatigue and harshness) and boosted the mids slightly. It does seem to me to give the music more 'presence', a quality of being more in the room with me. And as a bassist I found out years ago that scooping the mids is great for soloing but doesn't work well in a mix. Love the midrange.:thmbsp:

 

[SoundOfSound]

 

[Gang-Twanger]

Got it, a bit small, but shows where things are in the FR.

My W90's have a chart like that on the back (the upper part of the chart you posted... the one that lists the instruments).

 

[datafone]

Cool!

 

[ssmith3046]

Forgot that this thread is in the Turntables section. I think Dual tables in general are known for having proper timbre, as are Thorens tables. I was originally gonna' buy a Thorens, but I was outbid by a guy who ended up getting the thing for $20 more than I could spend. Bastard. It was a sweet table too. Had an SME 3009 Improved on it. A real turnkey street-machine. That was the moment when I started looking for a 1019 and found a nice one for $150, and I love the thing. I'm becoming quite-fond of idlers in general (and tube-era gear in general), and the 1019 was one of the last really-good ones, along with the 1219 that replaced it. If I could choose a Thorens model now, it would be one of their idlers (although I would probably avoid a TD124 due to the skyrocketed prices these days. But idlers in general have a fullness to them in the midrange. Not an overemphasized midrange, just proper, rich, musical, lifelike mids (like the sort of thing you'd hear in a big pair of early '60's Bozak speakers), and that's what I'm looking for in a turntable (Or maybe I'm just looking for whatever table will make the "Smash Hits" LP I'm playing right now sound it's best ).

I love my 1019 too but I also think that my 701 and 1229Q Duals are great turntables too. I use Shure V-15 III DU cartridges on the 701 and 1229Q turntables and a V-15 II on the 1019. I also use the Jico SAS stylus on all three Shures and find that detail those styli bring out in the music is just amazing. I like to roll tubes in my Fisher 500C and find that my 1957 RCA black plates are nice tubes for mids. To my ears better than my Telefunken smooth plates or Mullards. The Bugle Boys are a good tube for mids too.

 

[KentTeffeteller]

The older I get, the higher the value I place on the midrange being reproduced accurately and correctly. For me, and this is true for many years, the midrange must be reproduced in an accurate manner. I can live without the lowest octave of bass or the highest octave of treble extension. But everything else must be there for me. Otherwise, musical reproduction is not to be had.

 

[EddyFranner]

MG-IIA's as my mids!

I just set up a pair of Maggies MG-IIa's for use as midrange speakers in my main system. Call me a audio sinner, yes I hung them on the back wall to enhance my main front speakers and their accompanying subs, I set the volume on the Maggies dedicated amp just right and then I bring up the main systems master volume. Works for me.

 

[tubewade]

The older I get, the higher the value I place on the midrange being reproduced accurately and correctly. For me, and this is true for many years, the midrange must be reproduced in an accurate manner. I can live without the lowest octave of bass or the highest octave of treble extension. But everything else must be there for me. Otherwise, musical reproduction is not to be had.

+1 :thmbsp: I agree with all of this.