We received another package from the Audio Angel today. A firewire cable specially designed for audio applications. If you remember from the Angels first visit, he wrapped the special white shielding material around the standard issue firewire cable that connected the Mac to the Konnect 24 audio interface. It made a substantial difference in the sound quality and opened my eyes to the fact that data cables also have an affect on the sound.
I first listened to a new song that I recorded last night so it was still fresh in my mind. I was literally shocked by the difference. It was like everything suddenly opened up. Like a veil had been lifted from the speakers and the ceiling on the high-end had been raised out of site. The sound was incredibly realistic and natural. Just replacing the firewire cable made it sound like a new and improved system.
I then listened to the playlist. The tracks sounded much more open but not as strikingly different as the recording I made yesterday. Perhaps, my ears were already acclimated to the improved quality. However, there were some very major differences in the sound. The tracks seemed less compressed, as if the attacks where being effortlessly transmitted through the system and into my ears. Most noticeable on female vocals, it was almost as if the singers stopped pushing their voices, the sound seemed to just smoothly slide out of the speakers and into my ears. So this is how Sarah McLachlan really sounds. Beautiful! It was like her voice was floating effortlessly on the song. More aggressive sounds like drums, percussion, guitars and bass sounded clearer with “uncompressed” attacks. Almost as if someone took a compressor out of the stereo bus.
For comparison, I listened to the playlist with the old firewire cable. Up until 30 minutes ago, this was the ultimate firewire cable, wrapped in the magic white material. No longer so. The clear wide open sound that I was so happy with, now sounded comparatively dark and compressed. To clarify, it still sounded great, just not quite as great.
So, if the firewire cable makes a difference on the output, my guess is that it will have a profound effect on the input as well. Next step is to try a recording. The mics and preamps have not been moved since last night. Time for another take of the same song.
The lullabye song, guitar and vocals. My voice is rough but the playback noticeably different. The vocals are much clearer and the guitar more defined, with strong base that isn’t boomy. We generally associate clarity with a boost in the treble. The interesting thing about the enhanced clarity is that the treble is not being boosted, the noise and distortion in the high end go away and leave room for the high end to come out.
The final test was to record “Sarah Maria” through both firewire cables. First through the new cable then through the old one. Listened to playback through the old cable and the difference was very clear. Much higher definition and clarity with the new cable. Being able hear the difference through the old cable means that the difference in quality will be noticeable on lower end systems.
Here at the 5th Audio Angel article, with each one getting harder to write, I think it is time to share my personal experience of the effects of the Audio Angel. Every article, I am talking about how the sound has improved. And…each time it has. Before his first visit, I was confident that the sound was excellent. And it was…. we made some amazing recordings and everyone who came was more than happy with the sound. Already great sound.
The audio angel taught me and continues to teach me that the sound can get better, and once you experience “better”, the previous amazing sound no longer sounds as good. It’s a very strange experience to hear the new, clearer sound and then listen back to the previous sound, that was once the clearest sound you had ever heard, and think that it nows sounds dark and even distorted. I am just realizing now that the audio angel is not just upgrading my system, he is upgrading my ears and expanding my consciousness.
Once you take a step into a larger world, you will never see the world you used to see, in the same way.
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