But keep in mind there is no need for you to subscribe to anyone else's philosophy or sonic priorities and preferences. To each his own.
I think you are over-thinking this.
If you calibrate your system at home, it is more likely than not that you will be hearing the same thing (at the frequency ranges you have available) that the mastering engineer heard.
Quote from: omegakitty on June 06, 2012, 10:15:45 PMAre tubes neutral?Functional ones properly designed to be. Are transformers neutral? (ones in the signal path like output transformers, input transformers, step up transformers for cartridges or microphones)Functional ones properly designed to be.Should recording engineers use tubes?They already do and have. Did you not notice? Should recording engineers use transformers? (ones in signal path see above, or should they stick to solid state devices for mic stepups?)No idea, LFF/MarvAre even order harmonics neutral?No, they sound like shit. I think Marv and myself have come to the conclusion that this even order distortion representing the musicality of tubes is BS. It's all garbage noise, even or odd. Or are odd order harmonics neutral?No, they sound like shit.
Are tubes neutral?Functional ones properly designed to be. Are transformers neutral? (ones in the signal path like output transformers, input transformers, step up transformers for cartridges or microphones)Functional ones properly designed to be.Should recording engineers use tubes?They already do and have. Did you not notice? Should recording engineers use transformers? (ones in signal path see above, or should they stick to solid state devices for mic stepups?)No idea, LFF/MarvAre even order harmonics neutral?No, they sound like shit. I think Marv and myself have come to the conclusion that this even order distortion representing the musicality of tubes is BS. It's all garbage noise, even or odd. Or are odd order harmonics neutral?No, they sound like shit.
But there is no such thing as no harmonics... every circuit distortsTubes can be neutral.Transformers in the signal path - absolutely no way IMO.
A lot of transformers don't measure well. They also introduce phase shifts. It's up for debate whether they are harmful or not, and with what application. The same thing can be said for capacitors in the signal path.As I said, I prefer not to over think things and just focus on aspects which are easily measurable, most noticeable, and most in my control (my playback system.)
A quick thought:IMO, the goal of neutral playback from a music listener's perspective isn't to get rid of the recording's coloration, it's to get rid of the music playback systems's coloration. So you don't need to use the same system they used. Hearing the recording's coloration is part of what makes different albums unique and interesting. Most music playback gear is so colored that all you have to do is get close to neutral and suddenly, you're not listening to colored gear anymore, you're just listening to colored recordings. The recording's colorations are interesting, beautiful, and IMO almost never harsh. It's the music playback's colorations that are bothersome.
So as far as measurements go what do you think makes something neutral (I am talking about amps, sources, not transducers)? I think any headphone amp which is primarily dealing in low level signals should measure flat or it's not very good. They're not really dealing with hugely varying impedances like speaker amps have to. My comment on transformers was nothing based in objectivity, but listening to the effects of already low output impedance OTL tube amps that had OPTs added; even really good ones like Lundahl and Electra-Print. All transformers I've heard have a sound. And doing A/B comparisons with a very good TC amp and discrete class A SS. Not saying it's bad, I myself wanted an OPT headphone amp for that sound.
