ipod speakers

[guzziguy]

The port is actually a slit type thing.

Nevermind.

Steve is totally unfamiliar with slit shaped ports.

[Hopstretch]

Superb!

[morphsci]

If the A2s are anything like the A5s they will require a little time to settle in. The A5s did not have a midbass bloom but they certainly lacked treble extension and sounded pretty flat at first. After a couple of weeks of normal play for a few hours a day I noticed that they started to sound much better in their dimensional presentation and definitely sounded clearer and more extended in the treble.

[HeadphoneAddict]

Weird that there's a "small speaker" setting.

I may try the foam thing. Since I know nada, does anyone want to give me a clue as to what would work well?

That will boost the bass, for cases when you have an iPod feeding an amp with small speakers that don't have enough.

I believe the iPod and iTunes EQ are similar changes. Most of the EQ boost the bass. However, the "Lounge" cuts bass, boosts mids, leaves upper mids alone and boosts the 8K treble but not 16K. The "Pop" EQ boosts the mids between 250-2000Hz but not the bass or treble (which at the extremes is maybe -3dB). "Spoken Word" boosts the mids and upper mids without cutting any treble like Pop did, but it still cuts the deep bass a little. "Treble Boost" setting is flat in the bass, slightly up at 2K and 6dB up by 16K.

I didn't get to try various EQ or the AMP3 because I got busy and everyone is now asleep. Try some iPod EQ settings and let us know what you find.

If the A2s are anything like the A5s they will require a little time to settle in. The A5s did not have a midbass bloom but they certainly lacked treble extension and sounded pretty flat at first. After a couple of weeks of normal play for a few hours a day I noticed that they started to sound much better in their dimensional presentation and definitely sounded clearer and more extended in the treble.

I liked the A5 more, but the cost and size ruled them out for me. My A2 still have the bass bloom after 70-80 hours of music, but it is slightly better as is the treble. I did not intentionally run them to break them in, since I wasn't reviewing them and there was no rush. I can enjoy them without the SRS iWOW in iTunes, but I really like the way the SRS makes these speakers that are 2 feet apart and 2 feet away disappear more easily, and presents a soundstage that extends beyond the speakers. I don't like SRS iWOW as much with headphones, but it does have some crossfeed for when I listen to Dave Brubeck or Bill Evans or other older recordings. Moot point since SRS iWOW is not on her iPod.

Getting the A2 off the desk really makes a difference for me, and if I wasn't using a rolling cart for laptop/speakers in the middle of the room I would try standing mine on pedestals, above and away from the desk, wall or shelf where bass reflections could be amplified. I had my daughter hold them up off the desktop for me and it sounded a bit better. Someone here posted a link to some $30/pr pedestals on Amazon a while back. So, Boomana could consider something like that.

[Dusty Chalk]

I guess the inner tweaker/ortho modder in me says it'd be best if you could try a couple of different options and see what you end up liking best, but you can make judgments on how much bass bloom you want to remove. The foam that would make the least difference is some thin open cell foam that isn't dense... the denser/thicker the foam, the more bass resonance you will kill but the more bass extension you may lose. Dense closed cell foam would be like completely sealing off the bass port and so would only be used for extreme cases, where the bass is overpowering and muddy as hell... generally not recommended. And apparently the proper term for them is 'foam bung'. Make sure the foam bungs snugly fit in the bass port.

Seems using bungs is quite a touchy subject for audiophiles... kind of like EQ.

Well, isn't that what you want to do, in this case? The whole point in bass reflex is that the backwave off the driver comes around and interacts with the front wave, so you try to do it in such a way that it either negatively interacts with the natural hump in the driver's frequency response, or positively interacts in the region where it's weaker (this latter being the usual case).

A round port (I believe) means it's tuned to a specific frequency; a slit means it's tuned to a range of frequencies (someone who knows the science better should correct me if I'm wrong about that).

So short answer: something dense -- either closed cell foam or felt. Felt is easily obtained (and cheaply, I might add) at most craft stores; I don't know where you'd get dense foam, other than paying through the nose for it at a music store. (I'm not saying you can't -- I just don't know.)

You can also try varying the amount of the slit that you cover up. I.E. only stuff 50% of it, 25%, 75%, etc. Yes, I know, then we're back to how much of the backwave you let through -- but you have more control over it this way.

Definitely don't use the small speaker setting, that'll ramp up the bass. You might try some of the setting that HeadphoneAddict tried.

I'm a bung believer -- I use the bungs in my Special 25's, then corner load them. And then listen to them in the nearfield. It's a pretty exquisite experience. Other people might call it bass heavy. Heck, even I'd call it bass heavy, but it's tight, not loose. I don't have a decent preamp, but if either you (Justin) or Colin want to bring a preamp, I can demonstrate. (Just warn me, so I can set them up beforehand.)

Edited October 29, 2009 by Dusty Chalk

[HeadphoneAddict]

I definitely want to hook up my ipod tomorrow and try various EQ settings, and see how that compares to EQ in iTunes. I can use my LOD>RCA cable from iMod and use my USB DAC > mini for the Macbook, and switch between them with the same music.

[diebenkorn]

Joey Roth's Ceramic Computer Speakers Review: $500 Gives Your PC Audiophile Cred - ceramic speakers - Gizmodo

not what you are looking for but interesting

[Hopstretch]

Joey Roth's Ceramic Computer Speakers Review: $500 Gives Your PC Audiophile Cred - ceramic speakers - Gizmodo

not what you are looking for but interesting

Those would be fucking wicked in black with, say, a zebrawood stand!

[morphsci]

Those would be fucking wicked in black with, say, a zebrawood stand!

[Dreadhead]

[The Monkey]

You can't have "bass" without "ass".

[Dusty Chalk]

Joey Roth's Ceramic Computer Speakers Review: $500 Gives Your PC Audiophile Cred - ceramic speakers - Gizmodo

not what you are looking for but interesting

I don't think it's the same manufacturer, but there was this huge FOTM over on audio asylum (I think) back in the early oughts, of a very similar speaker. I thought they were "Swan", but doing a bit of googling, it looks like I'm wrong. If anyone else knows, wouldn't mind being reminded.

[swt61]

Those would be fucking wicked in black with, say, a zebrawood stand!

Yeah, I was gonna comment on the stand failure. The design is fine, but plywood on a $500.00 speaker = FAIL. The speakers look interesting though.

nOrh?

Yeah, I'm sure that's what he was thinking of. They're a fair amount larger though Dusty, and have separate tweeters.

[Dusty Chalk]

nOrh -- yeah, that's the one.

PS x3 on "that stand sucks". I thought it was a prototype, or a home DIY stand, when I first saw the pic.

[mypasswordis]

Well, isn't that what you want to do, in this case? The whole point in bass reflex is that the backwave off the driver comes around and interacts with the front wave, so you try to do it in such a way that it either negatively interacts with the natural hump in the driver's frequency response, or positively interacts in the region where it's weaker (this latter being the usual case).

A round port (I believe) means it's tuned to a specific frequency; a slit means it's tuned to a range of frequencies (someone who knows the science better should correct me if I'm wrong about that).

So short answer: something dense -- either closed cell foam or felt. Felt is easily obtained (and cheaply, I might add) at most craft stores; I don't know where you'd get dense foam, other than paying through the nose for it at a music store. (I'm not saying you can't -- I just don't know.)

You can also try varying the amount of the slit that you cover up. I.E. only stuff 50% of it, 25%, 75%, etc. Yes, I know, then we're back to how much of the backwave you let through -- but you have more control over it this way.

Definitely don't use the small speaker setting, that'll ramp up the bass. You might try some of the setting that HeadphoneAddict tried.

I'm a bung believer -- I use the bungs in my Special 25's, then corner load them. And then listen to them in the nearfield. It's a pretty exquisite experience. Other people might call it bass heavy. Heck, even I'd call it bass heavy, but it's tight, not loose. I don't have a decent preamp, but if either you (Justin) or Colin want to bring a preamp, I can demonstrate. (Just warn me, so I can set them up beforehand.)

I'm not sure about the round vs slit bass port thing. I would think the cross sectional area is all that matters but I might be wrong. And bass ports aren't ever really tuned to a specific frequency, but a somewhat broad range of bass frequencies, since what is wanted is increased efficiency in the bass region as low as possible without unwanted bass peaks. Fully closing a speaker cabinet meant to be a bass reflex enclosure just seems wrong to me, but I haven't really had enough experience to judge.

Sure, that'd be great if you'd set it up. I'm curious as to how much difference corner loading and bunges make. Whatever you have as a preamp is probably better than mine... I've got a vintage Kenwood Basic C1 preamp I can bring that is generally very well liked in its price-range of <$100. I originally got it for the phono preamp capability (MM and MC) and now almost never listen to vinyl.

[boomana]

Here's a crappy iphone pic of the only area I can set things up in (though I do have my HF2s with a nice stand and PRI set up separately so I can listen at work on my days off...yes, that makes sense). As you can see, I don't have much room, and the other section of my desk opens up to where I'm supposed to be paying attention to people talking to me, so no speakers there.

I'm fairly resigned to living with these right now, but am open to any realistic suggestions, though am stuck with the space and low-profile requirements.

[jinp6301]

Try taller stands. Thats still not high enough to get rid of the bass bloom. Since I'm cheap, I first used kleenex boxes then used black cd spindles to get them off the desk.

[mypasswordis]

Woah, I didn't expect them to be so... tiny. It's kind of a wonder they're producing any bass at all.

Try the foam or felt if you get the chance... certainly cheap, easy to do and quite reversible, so worst thing that can happen is your ending up with some Harbeths.

[Dusty Chalk]

Fully closing a speaker cabinet meant to be a bass reflex enclosure just seems wrong to me, but I haven't really had enough experience to judge.

Your intuition is correct. The design would normally be entirely different, going from reflex load to sealed.

It's still worth trying, you won't blow anything up doing that.

PS I just bought a pre. There's a good chance it'll show up on Saturday.

[HeadphoneAddict]

I tried using the EQ on my iMod today with an ALO cryo silver x iMod LOD > A2. I find that the "Bass Reducer" EQ actually did not suck. The other two working EQ options are the "Spoken Word" EQ setting, and lastly the "Lounge" EQ setting, which feels like it has less treble than the first two.

I think you should give these three EQ settings a try, and elevate the A2 another 6" so that they are midway between the desk and the shelf above them. You could also try some sound absorbing material on the desktop under the A2, and maybe under the shelf above them as well.

The AMP3 did not have as much bass bloom as the Macbook > Headstage USB DAC cable, but it was about the same as the iPod with no EQ, so that is not the solution. (which I know you weren't considering, but I did say I would try it). I'm back to using the iBasso D10 DAC line-out into the A2, because the tonal balance is better than the Headstage. This made me think that maybe you could use a bright-ish sounding amp with the iPod and feed that into the A2, thus the amp's sound signature being the EQ.

Good Luck!

[jinp6301]

The only EQ that doesnt suck on the ipod are the ones that reduce something. All the others definitely had some sort of distortion.

[HeadphoneAddict]

The only EQ that doesnt suck on the ipod are the ones that reduce something. All the others definitely had some sort of distortion.

That would be the "Bass Reducer".

Most of the time any EQ on the iPod causes clipping or distortion for me when listening with the headphone jack. But tonight the three EQ above out of the iMod/LOD did not do that, even though they add to the mids and reduce the bass. I thought it was strange.

[Torpedo]

Here's a crappy iphone pic of the only area I can set things up in (though I do have my HF2s with a nice stand and PRI set up separately so I can listen at work on my days off...yes, that makes sense). As you can see, I don't have much room, and the other section of my desk opens up to where I'm supposed to be paying attention to people talking to me, so no speakers there.

I'm fairly resigned to living with these right now, but am open to any realistic suggestions, though am stuck with the space and low-profile requirements.

Vicki, while those speakers probably aren't up to your "sound" exigences, I think the excessive bass comes from the desk acting as a resonance chamber for low freqs.

I'd try taller stands, and if possible, something rigid made of metal. I'd link the speakers to the stands using Bluetack, and would decouple the stands from the desk using sorbotane cubes or half squash balls. Also moving the speakers a bit more forward probably may help.

Another thing to try is filling the ports with tissue paper, so you can use light damping or more severe depending on results. If you ended up thinking that completely blocking the ports is the way to go, then I'd use thick felt or even rubber.

[Dusty Chalk]

The other thing that will give you a couple more inches cost-free is inverting them, but then you have the tweeter/desk reflection problem, so I wouldn't do that until you raise them first.

[The Monkey]

My desk at work is such an embarassing pig sty.