Paul's Posts — 23 July 2012
By Paul McGowan
In a comment on my posting about voicing high end electronics the question was asked “Is there only one ideal voicing?” Great question and here’s the entire quote.
“And then it also depends on the venue and seat in the venue what is the sound you are looking for. I recall Gordon Holt’s review of the KLH 12 speaker and the disagreement with Henry Kloss over the voicing. The next time Gordon went to the Academy of Music in Philadelphia he sat in a different seat and darned if that seat didn’t have voicing like the KLH 12. Is there only one ideal voicing?”
Indeed, what’s the right voicing? After all, an orchestra or any live group sounds entirely different from every seating position. Which to choose?
As designers our job is that of consistency in neutrality. When I voice something I listen to a large selection of both good and bad music. Of both high-end and low end music and try and find a balance that doesn’t emphasize any one particular aspect other than musicality and dimensionality.
That’s the ideal voicing for each piece of kit.
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hahax
When I sent the comment on seating and balance I did think your description of listening to lots of different software, preferably with a number of different persons who you trust also listening was the obvious way to voice a piece of hardware.
In this case I also think a simple frequency response curve is also a useful input to the overall voicing. It is interesting that thoughsome hardware that is highly regarded for its voicing is not always flat. A well known example are the LS3/5A speakers(and all other BBC designed speakers of the same period). They all have the famous BBC dip in the upper mids. The BBC preferred a more distant perspective than perfectly flat response produced.