SBB's arrived ... impressions

[fallenguru]

Finally got my SBB today to complement the SB2. Impressions so far:
- It looks great and feels rather sturdier than I'd expected.
- It sounds strange. I'd say too much bass, only adjusting the bass down to -10 or even -15 doesn't help, at some point the sound just goes from "booming" (no pun intended) to "flat" and I kind of miss the "natural" in between. The only comparison I can think of is "riced-up car with overblown car stereo setup to match". Are there any equalizer presets or the like I might have turned on by accident?
- What's the point of the new mini-remote? Without navigation-by-first-letter it's basically reduced to skipping songs and adjusting the volume. The form factor may be cute but doesn't fit AAA rechargeables ... oh well, I'd have preferred the SB1/SB2/Transporter remote or even no remote at all.
- In the olden days I'd just have ordered a full-size remote but Logitech doesn't seem to sell them seperately. The whole bought-by-Logitech deal sucks. Having to wait for the local channel to pick products up is one thing but the price is far above what I'd have had to pay had I still been able to order direct. Still worth it ;)

Now that I have an SB in the bedroom please do get on with it and make a portable player already, with the same open-and-flexible philosophy. :P

[maggior]

You can buy the classic remote here on the accessories page:
https://secure.slimdevices.com/order/upgrades.cgi

[mvalera]

You might try moving it around a bit to adjust the bass. The closeness to a wall, and the object you have it on affects the sound.

I personally have never had to turn the bass down.

Mike

[seanadams]

I'm puzzled by your comments about the bass - Boom (ironically?) should not sound boomy at all. Just to make sure we're talking about the same thing, "boomy" refers not to merely _loud_ bass, but to a spike in frequency response around some tuned resonance on the low end. This is typical of ported woofers, but not sealed woofers, which is what boom has. In fact Boom's frequency response is very well equalized.

I wonder if you have some other familiar speakers that you're comparing to as a point of reference?

[Phil Leigh]

I have to agree - the Booms response is ANYTHING but boomy. Maybe the unit is faulty?.

[ccrome2]

I was wondering the same thing. Something is mis-calibrated, either the
boom or your ears :-)
If you're comparing against a table-top speaker, boom may have much more
bass, but shouldn't sound boomy.

On the other hand it's possible that the unit is faulty. We do test 100% of
the devices on the production line, but who knows.

When paused, listen closely to each of the 4 drivers. There should be very
slight hiss on both sides, and should sound the same on both left and right
sides.

-Caleb






On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 2:16 PM, Phil Leigh <
Phil.Leigh.3fwhnb1221686402 (AT) no-mx (DOT) forums.slimdevices.com> wrote:

>
> I have to agree - the Booms response is ANYTHING but boomy. Maybe the
> unit is faulty?.
>
>
> --
> Phil Leigh
>
> You want to see the signal path BEFORE it gets onto a CD/vinyl...it
> ain't what you'd call minimal...SB3+Stontronics PSU - Altmann
> JISCO/UPCI - TACT RCS 2.2X + Good Vibrations S/W - MF
> Triplethreat(Audiocom full mods)- Linn 5103 - Aktiv 5.1 system (6x
> LK140's, ESPEK/TRIKAN/KATAN/SEIZMIK 10.5), Townsend Supertweeters,
> Kimber & Chord cables
> Outdoors: Boombox+Creative Sub (If I remember to turn it on...)
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Phil Leigh's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=85
> View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=52747
>
>

[SuperQ]

I also find my Boom to be a bit on the bass heavy side. Mine is setup in the corner of my bedroom on a very solid wooden bedside table. I have hardwood floors, and fabric curtains. It also may be that the previous setup I had was so lacking in bass in that room that it's just taking me a while to get used to it. I mostly notice it's bass heavy in the 20-30 volume range. Maybe I'll have my SO help me do some blind tests, and take some measurements with my studio mic. I don't have a calibration mic yet, but my AKG is fairly good.

[Phil Leigh]

I also find my Boom to be a bit on the bass heavy side. Mine is setup in the corner of my bedroom on a very solid wooden bedside table. I have hardwood floors, and fabric curtains. It also may be that the previous setup I had was so lacking in bass in that room that it's just taking me a while to get used to it. I mostly notice it's bass heavy in the 20-30 volume range. Maybe I'll have my SO help me do some blind tests, and take some measurements with my studio mic. I don't have a calibration mic yet, but my AKG is fairly good.

Maybe you are used to a bass-light balance? Also, this may be level-dependant...I never listen below 60 and (I think) there is level related EQ in play? - Caleb?

[lanierb]

I also find my Boom to be a bit on the bass heavy side. Mine is setup in the corner of my bedroom on a very solid wooden bedside table. I have hardwood floors, and fabric curtains. ...

The boom itself has a pretty natural sound. That said, bass response for any speaker is a big issue in any small room (meaning anything in your house, not a concert hall). The reason is that the room acts like a giant cabinet and the resonant frequencies and harmonics of the room are right smack in the bass range. Response will be very uneven and will also be location specific: move either the speaker or your ears around a bit in the room and bass response can drastically change. The first time you see an in room measured frequency response in a real room you will be shocked at how bad it is in the bass range. Also, unfortunately even large amounts of fabric won't help much with bass frequencies.

In your specific case, corner loading tends to enhance bass, so this could be your problem. Try moving the boom out of the corner. However, it could also just be that your room has unpleasant peaks that you just can't get rid of by moving it around. No way to fix this besides adding "bass traps" (basically bass insulated panels) to the room.

BTW if you want to hear the boom's own natural sound, try taking it outside.

[ghostrider]

Mine is not in a corner but does have a bit of bass grunt. I like it!

[fallenguru]

> You can buy the classic remote here on the accessories page:

No, I can't, that's the point. Slim Devices themselves don't ship internationally anymore. At least not to most of Western Europe.

> Boom (ironically?) should not sound boomy at all. Just to make sure we're talking about the same thing, ...

To be honest I'm not sure. Describing sound is tricky if you're neither "audiophile" nor a sound engineer. The net effect is that the bass is drowning out / muddying higher stuff, say vocals. My portable mp3 player does something similar when its bass enhancer gets switched on by accident, which is why I suspected an equalizer setting.

I haven't listened to a lot of stuff on it yet, just some J-Pop tracks I'd just been listening to on the living room stereo. It's entirely possible that I'm just too used to its different / flawed output.

> If you're comparing against a table-top speaker, boom may have much more
bass, but shouldn't sound boomy.

"Reference" setup: SB2, Rotel 970BX amp, Linn Index speakers.

I haven't got much else to compare to besides decent computer speakers and an old boom box that was high-end ca 1990 :-) Both arent't even on the same planet as the SBB.

Will test with different songs and at different locations tomorrow. Judging by the other posts, the latter might help. Small room, hardwood floor, more or less bare brick walls and the wooden bedside table it's on has a rather large hollow space inside. Nothing at all that would absorb sound.

> When paused, listen closely to each of the 4 drivers. There should be very
slight hiss on both sides, and should sound the same on both left and right
sides.

Will do.

Good night for now.

[dwilliams01]

Check the Stereo XL setting, as well. What you described in this last piece made me think of when I had it set too high (for me).

[Sike]

I just my 2 Booms today! Good stuff.

After unpacking it and starting it up my first thoughts were that it has too much base. After reading this thread I noticed that in my haste of unpacking the power cable was under the Boom. After moving the cables and ensuring that the Boom was flat on the table everything started to sound great!!

[maggior]

Something is mis-calibrated, either the
boom or your ears :-)



Once upon a time, I would have thought this comment to be a bunch of hooey. However, I have now experienced this myself and understand the issue.

When I first got my current car (Volvo S40), I was very impressed with the sound system, but it seemed really heavy on the bass - to the point of distraction. I found that I had to crank the bass down a good number of notches before it sounded good to me.

Over time, the bass level has been cranked back up to where it is set flat. Now that I'm used to it, I wonder what I was thinking before.

Reflecting on it, what happened was that my ears were so trained to not hear good tight bass in a car that, once I heard it, it was overwhelming to my ears. I had to retrain my ears.

It's amazing how the brain will try to compenstate for something that is not there.

So yes, positioning and room acoustics play a definite part. But so do your ears!

[Pale Blue Ego]

...and the wooden bedside table it's on has a rather large hollow space inside.

This could be a big part of the problem. You might want to try putting the Boom on a slab of marble or some other inert material, so the low frequencies don't transfer through the table. If you can decouple the marble slab from the table with hunks of blu-tac or museum putty, even better.

[MickeyG]

Fallenguru's reference is a pair of Linn Index speakers. They are 2-way with a 1" dome tweeter and either 6" or 8" woofers. If you google around, they are typically mounted on stands.

If you read this URL it says that they will have light bass unless placed 2-4 inches from the rear wall.

http://www.tnt-audio.com/casse/linne.html

I would guess that Fallenguru's reference speakers are farther away from the wall than 2-4 inches, and he's probably accustomed to lighter bass.

It's easy to believe that Boom's bass is more prominent than he's used to. I don't think Boom's bass controls permits sufficient tweaking to present a significantly lighter bass.

Mickey

[fallenguru]

Location, location, location ... not this time. I put the SBB smack between the living room stereo's speakers so the room characteristics there should be similar.
The living room stereo, an iAudio U2 and an iPod touch sound about the same. Of course the portables don't sound as *good* as the stereo but it's clearly the same track. The SBB sounds so different it might as well be playing a subtle remix or cover version. BTW all four drivers seem to be present and working.

Random observations:
Heard an interview with a male politician this morning on the (low quality) WMA stream of a local radio station. His voice was clearly affected, as lower (as in frequency) parts of words were clearly over-emphasized. Might make a nice effect for movie aliens, could make them feel ever so slightly alien, even when disguised as humans.

Back to music. The bass-drowns-out-the-vocals effect is actually reduced by turning the bass *up*. That way there's more bass (doh!) but the drowned-out-parts are actually boosted *more*.

Any ideas appreciated, including instructions on how to find out how what's bugging me is actually called so we're on the same page.

PS: I fear the explanation that I'm just not used to it is the best so far, but how does one recalibrate one's ears? Is there a plugin for that? ;)

[Phil Leigh]

Location, location, location ... not this time. I put the SBB smack between the living room stereo's speakers so the room characteristics there should be similar.
The living room stereo, an iAudio U2 and an iPod touch sound about the same. Of course the portables don't sound as *good* as the stereo but it's clearly the same track. The SBB sounds so different it might as well be playing a subtle remix or cover version. BTW all four drivers seem to be present and working.

Random observations:
Heard an interview with a male politician this morning on the (low quality) WMA stream of a local radio station. His voice was clearly affected, as lower (as in frequency) parts of words were clearly over-emphasized. Might make a nice effect for movie aliens, could make them feel ever so slightly alien, even when disguised as humans.

Back to music. The bass-drowns-out-the-vocals effect is actually reduced by turning the bass *up*. That way there's more bass (doh!) but the drowned-out-parts are actually boosted *more*.

Any ideas appreciated, including instructions on how to find out how what's bugging me is actually called so we're on the same page.

PS: I fear the explanation that I'm just not used to it is the best so far, but how does one recalibrate one's ears? Is there a plugin for that? ;)

Yes - it's called "the passage of time" :o)

[Jazz1]

This could be a big part of the problem. You might want to try putting the Boom on a slab of marble or some other inert material, so the low frequencies don't transfer through the table. If you can decouple the marble slab from the table with hunks of blu-tac or museum putty, even better.

Great idea! Funny how the audiophile tweaks work on these high tech. toys. I'm hoping that the bass is adjustable to the point where I can get good vol. on the mid-range and above. The reason I have a Boom on the way to to replace an mStation 2.1 Stereo Tower in my office. Too much boom, boom and not enough mid-range and above at comfortable office environment listening levels. I was hoping the Boom would not go boom so to speak.

[fallenguru]

Is is at all possible that the volume adjustment / Replay Gain is somehow causing the effect that's bothering me?

RG has been fine on my SB2 for a long time but I seem to remember that it was funky in the early stages. With the current SBB turning RG off is the difference between "a little more bass than I'm used to, but in a good way" and "too much bass and it's (for lack of a better word) boomy and drowns out the mid range".

[tuckers]

I know the Linn Index, it can have very good bass when next to the wall. It can be up to 8 inches from the wall to have the bass reinforcement effect. Away from the wall it still has a rich sound, it just doesn't have the lower 'thump'. So I doubt his system is light sounding.

My boombox actually sounds pretty lean -- a bit bass shy. So I have the bass controls cranked up. I would suspect that yours is placed in a place that is not friendly to its speakers, or there is a problem. Try moving it to some other locations so you know what the problem is.

If it's not defective, you can reduce the bass by raising the unit from the table top an inch or more. Try putting some kinds of feet under it or something. The higher it is off the table, the less the bass reinforcement from the surface will be. You can get some rubber feet and stack a few of them for a permanent solution.