LightninBoy
Addicted to Fun and Learning
NOTE: the following is *NOT* to be taken too seriously. I’m not really mad about the term “bass head”, but the term encapsulates some audiophile misconceptions that I just need to push back on …
I keep reading this phrase in the forum: "I'm not a bass head". Its typically said while explaining why the poster can get by with small standmount speakers and doesn’t need a sub. For example: “I don’t need a sub, I’m not a bass head”.
I find it odd that this somewhat pejorative phrase would be used in this context and in a forum dedicated to accurately reproducing recorded sound. The typical small monitor starts petering out at 80-100hz. Here are a few acoustic instruments that can go lower than that: Piano, Cello, Stand up bass, Trombone, French horn, Tuba, Baritone Sax, Bassoon, Harp, Harpsichord, Timpani, Marimba, Guitar, Voice, kick drum, tom drum, etc, etc.
Then of course there are all the bass instruments used in modern music like synths and extended range bass guitars.
So I ask you, in the search for hi fidelity sound, why is it ok to not accurately reproduce the full range of these instruments? Why obsess over a couple SINAD points, but shrug it off when a system can’t even come close to reproducing the full body of a kick drum? And why are those who desire to accurately reproduce these instruments dismissively called “bass heads”?
There’s also an ongoing misperception that only extreme music (EDM, Organ, Metal, etc.) has much content in the low end. In fact in most popular music, the low end carries the energy of the song. Many pop/rock producers start a mix by setting the level of the kick drum and the bass guitar and then mixing everything else around that. There may be a few music genres that don’t have a lot of low frequency content, but most commercial music does. Certainly, since the CD age anyways. To demonstrate, here’s a typical spectrum example from a Sarah Mclaughlin’s “Building a Mystery”. I chose this because its about as mainstream as mainstream got in the 2000’s and is an adult rock staple – not EDM, or metal or any other extreme example:
Do you see all that information under 100hz? It’s roughly equivalent to everything over 3k (perceptually speaking). That’s information you are losing if you forgo a subwoofer because you don’t want to be a bass head. Ironically, there’s relatively little information over 5k, but you never hear anyone say “I don’t need tweeters, because I’m not a treble head”
There are many valid reasons for building a music system that does not go to the lowest lows: it can be expensive to do right, it takes up more space, its complicated and requires a lot of personal time, it will annoy the neighbors, etc. However, understand that these are compromises to the ultimate goal of accurate playback. Don’t fall into the audiophile nonsense that deep bass response is not important or even actually counterproductive to high fidelity. Good low frequency response is critical to high fidelity. And stop calling me a “bass head” for believing so … treble head.
I keep reading this phrase in the forum: "I'm not a bass head". Its typically said while explaining why the poster can get by with small standmount speakers and doesn’t need a sub. For example: “I don’t need a sub, I’m not a bass head”.
I find it odd that this somewhat pejorative phrase would be used in this context and in a forum dedicated to accurately reproducing recorded sound. The typical small monitor starts petering out at 80-100hz. Here are a few acoustic instruments that can go lower than that: Piano, Cello, Stand up bass, Trombone, French horn, Tuba, Baritone Sax, Bassoon, Harp, Harpsichord, Timpani, Marimba, Guitar, Voice, kick drum, tom drum, etc, etc.
Then of course there are all the bass instruments used in modern music like synths and extended range bass guitars.
So I ask you, in the search for hi fidelity sound, why is it ok to not accurately reproduce the full range of these instruments? Why obsess over a couple SINAD points, but shrug it off when a system can’t even come close to reproducing the full body of a kick drum? And why are those who desire to accurately reproduce these instruments dismissively called “bass heads”?
There’s also an ongoing misperception that only extreme music (EDM, Organ, Metal, etc.) has much content in the low end. In fact in most popular music, the low end carries the energy of the song. Many pop/rock producers start a mix by setting the level of the kick drum and the bass guitar and then mixing everything else around that. There may be a few music genres that don’t have a lot of low frequency content, but most commercial music does. Certainly, since the CD age anyways. To demonstrate, here’s a typical spectrum example from a Sarah Mclaughlin’s “Building a Mystery”. I chose this because its about as mainstream as mainstream got in the 2000’s and is an adult rock staple – not EDM, or metal or any other extreme example:
Do you see all that information under 100hz? It’s roughly equivalent to everything over 3k (perceptually speaking). That’s information you are losing if you forgo a subwoofer because you don’t want to be a bass head. Ironically, there’s relatively little information over 5k, but you never hear anyone say “I don’t need tweeters, because I’m not a treble head”
There are many valid reasons for building a music system that does not go to the lowest lows: it can be expensive to do right, it takes up more space, its complicated and requires a lot of personal time, it will annoy the neighbors, etc. However, understand that these are compromises to the ultimate goal of accurate playback. Don’t fall into the audiophile nonsense that deep bass response is not important or even actually counterproductive to high fidelity. Good low frequency response is critical to high fidelity. And stop calling me a “bass head” for believing so … treble head.
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