Recommendations for hearing bass on home hi-fi systems

[Orbs]

Hi Guys,

I listen to mainly MP3's from my Mac via a couple of decent hi fi speakers and separate hi fi amp. My problem is the bass never sounds as clear as I'd like. I was thinking of adding maybe a sub to enhance the sound, or possibly upgrade completely. I listen mainly in my small man cave so cannot use huge stuff or crank the volume too high, nor do I want floor shaking type bass sounds.

Doe's anyone use or have any recommendations on stuff that really brings out the bass guitar in recordings really discernible and crystal clear? Thanks in advance!

[dmccombe7]

My laptop has REALTEK sound software that came with it. If you open it up there's a tab labelled SRS Premium which then opens up a drop down of various settings for your outputs like headphones or even line out. You can enhance the sound quality quite a fair bit.

If i don't use the Premium settings i can hardly hear the bass on headphones or via my HI-Fi seperates and i have pretty reasonable speakers in Bose and Mission depending on what i select usualy both.

Worth checking out your system to see if your Mac has something similar.

Dave

[Dood]

I think a mismatched sub can actually make things worse and my recommendation would be to get a nice set of studio monitors ('Active', the sort with an amplifier inside) and preferably ones with at least 6" cones for the woofers, or better still 8" - not to be loud, but to move some air and grace you with a bit of audio depth rather than reaching for the bass control on the amp. I was lucky to pick up a pair of decent monitors from a studio doing an upgrade many years ago and they are still going strong for what I listen to all day and play through (of course when I am doing remote session work too). You needn't blow silly money - there's some good offerings out there at a reasonably budget, such as the Rokit models by KRK.

The other options is to buy a really nice set of studio earphones (No, not Beats..) My tracking cans in my studio space are a set of Beyerdynamic DT770's which I managed to buy new for a total steal! They're a classic and well performing can which are enclosed so you won't get complaints about noise bleed.

[PaulWarning]

I've struggled with this too, a lot of it's to do with the mix, if the kick is too high it masks the bass and that's what you'll hear, however you boost the lows, having said that I've heard some really prominent bass on pub juke boxes that I can't get at home, but I think that's because there's no treble on them, but I've messed about with EQ till I'm blue in the face, if the bass drum is higher in the mix than the bass guitar that's what you will hear I'm afraid
edit, or maybe I've completely misunderstood the question

Edited September 1, 2017 by PaulWarning

[BigRedX]

Time to ditch the MP3s and other lossy audio formats.

One of the reasons you may be having trouble hearing the bass is because lossy audio compression works by removing parts of the sound that are supposedly being masked by others. Often this means details that we as musicians may specifically be listening for are being removed because something more important (louder) is happening at the same time. In particular bass instruments in time with the much louder drums.

The MP3 format dates from a time when hard drive storage was small and expensive and a fast internet connection meant you had 512K board band as opposed to 56K dial up. These days storage is stupidly cheap and for the majority the internet is plenty fast enough to allow real-time streaming of uncompressed CD quality audio.

[discreet]

Agree that you have to move air to hear proper bass and about the quality of source material.

If you regularly listen to mp3s on a computer system then listen to a really good CD player or turntable through proper HiFi gear using big floorstanders like I did the other day, the difference is startling, if not emotionally overwhelming.

Of course this doesn't help the OP much, sorry.

[handman]

Mp3 maybe not the best format, but I can highly recommend bk electronics subwoofers, connected using the high level input they can integrate really well in a music only system, fantastic performance and very good value , available in a range of sizes and configuration and made in england (Southend) so great customer support, check them out you will not be disappointed.

[Dan Dare]

Agree with Dood re DT770s. I'm a user/fan, too. A decent set of closed back cans is the only economical way to get accurate, extended bass reproduction from the average home hi-fi system. Not annoying the neighbours - low frequencies travel through building structures a treat - is an added bonus.

[Bolo]

[quote name='Dan Dare' timestamp='1504300588' post='3364056']
Agree with Dood re DT770s. I'm a user/fan, too. A decent set of closed back cans is the only economical way to get accurate, extended bass reproduction from the average home hi-fi system. Not annoying the neighbours - low frequencies travel through building structures a treat - is an added bonus.
[/quote]
Compare them back to back with Sennheiser's HD25-1, I didn't get on with the DT770.

Best thing you can do is visit several(!) audio shops, your macbook in hand for a listen. Check different types of configuration, active studio monitors (are for close range listening) vs bookshelf speakers (on good stands) vs pillar-like floorstanders. Keep a log of what's what and your likes and dislikes and evaluate after properly exploring your option. The quest is half the fun
Subs are for feeling air move, not for hearing. Fun when watching action flicks but otherwise not much use for music.
Good luck and have fun!

Edited September 2, 2017 by Bolo

[Shambo]

I'm with BRX on this one. I know mp3 quality has gotten better over the years but if you want to start messing with the eq of mp3 tracks, you won't have the source material to mess with, just an outline of it, because the data compression threw away most of what you may want to boost or cut.

As an aside, if you're in the market for monitoring headphones, I've had some joy from a company called Superlux who make inexpensive approximations of more esoteric manufacturers equipment (minus the R&D costs) in much the same way Behringer brings equipment to market that look suspiciously like someone elses design but at half the cost.

[naxos10]

Agree with BigRedX , discreet and Shambo regarding the mp3 files. There are better formats available and you could copy cd/vinyl using a bespoke conversion program (I use Exact Audio Copy) and run from your Mac. These should sound better than mp3 (obviously for personal use only).

Another thing to look at as an outboard Digital to Analogue converter which can be far better than those built into your computer and not expensive. Petty your not closer as I have one or two you could try.

[Orbs]

Thanks everyone for your advice, I've learned a hell of a lot of stuff so far from this!

[Leonard Smalls]

As has been said, the cheapest way to hear proper bass is with some quality headphones.
Personally, I find phones a bit unsatisfying simply because they don't shake the floor or kick you in the kidneys - but then I live in the middle of nowhere...
If you want speakers to do it you'll need to spend money; not an enormous amount if you go old - a pair of Ditton 44s will set you back around £100 and definitely do bass. New, it tends to be big speakers that do deeper bass, but you can get good results from smaller - though this costs! If you want small and really good bass you won't get much better than Devialet Phantoms - but they're getting on for £3k!
As a compromise, you can get a very clean sound with relatively extended bass from a good powered studio monitor - like Presonus Eris 8 (less than £400/pair) or Adam F7 (just over £400).

[Adrenochrome]

Yes, as above, you need a good sound source. My home hifi is a basic Cambridge amp with Gale gold mini-monitors that I've had for 20 years. The bass sounds super accurate through that fairly basic system with no sub.

[lojo]

Mp3s through my basic Hi fi amp and B&W speakers (all a good 15 years old) sound really clear for bass and treble

[Skybone]

What bit rate has been used to encode the MP3's?

If it's been encoded to a "standard" 128kbps, you will definitely notice the difference if you compare the tracks. However, if they've been encoded at 320kbps, then you shouldn't be able to discern much difference.

I made the mistake once of using 128kbps MP3's to burn some demo CD's, and the resultant audio sound quality was absolutely awful (seriously "muddy" sound). I remastered the tracks many years later at 320kbps, and they sounded completely different.

Lesson learned: Always rip MP3's at the highest bit rate possible.

[dmccombe7]

If its a difficult part to learn i download onto CD because it seems to make the playback clearer.
I don't download as an MP3 but as a full recording. I do go thru a lot of recordable CD's tho
Guess the various posts above have explained why the CD recording always sounds far better to on the ear.

Dave

Edited September 2, 2017 by dmccombe7

[tonyquipment]

EQ.

[Dan Dare]

[quote name='tonyquipment' timestamp='1504352319' post='3364301']
EQ.
[/quote]

Trouble is, unless you have something 1/3 octave parametric with variable q (which no domestic hi fi has), you will boost or cut a lot of stuff you don't want to boost or cut.

[gs_triumph]

[quote name='Orbs' timestamp='1504289193' post='3363967']
Hi Guys,

I listen to mainly MP3's from my Mac via a couple of decent hi fi speakers and separate hi fi amp. My problem is the bass never sounds as clear as I'd like. I was thinking of adding maybe a sub to enhance the sound, or possibly upgrade completely. I listen mainly in my small man cave so cannot use huge stuff or crank the volume too high, nor do I want floor shaking type bass sounds.

Doe's anyone use or have any recommendations on stuff that really brings out the bass guitar in recordings really discernible and crystal clear? Thanks in advance!
[/quote]

What are you using to connect the Mac to the hifi?
are you connecting through a decent soundcard?

I have found in the past (on pc) that a decent soundcard (in my case m-audio audiophile 2496) makes a huge difference. The 2496 has both analogue phono outputs and spdif (I have a yahama amp with a built in DAC). Both are different worlds to using the headphone socket on the pc.

[Orbs]

I'm just plugging my hi-fi amp (an audiolab) straight into the Mac. I've no idea what sound card is in the Mac. After doing some research I think a DAC of some sort may help though.

[ped]

Tecamp/Eich Bassboard

http://www.bassdirect.co.uk/bass_guitar_specialists/Eich_Bass_boards.html

[Phil Starr]

Are you listening for pleasure or trying to transcribe a bass part. If the latter then extra bass really won't help. Try rolling of the treble and mids, effectively this removes the other instruments/vocals a little and lets the bass through.

[spongebob]

I'm a streamer - legal - from Google play for the last few years.

Regularly found the various systems lacked bass. Always blamed the format.

Few months back, bought a pair of Audio Engine speakers, combined with a S3 sub woofer.

It's totally transformed how I hear digital music. Bass is huge, I'm always turning it down!

Can't recommend their stuff highly enough.

[BigRedX]

15 years ago before I started work on transferring my complete CD and record collection on my computer I spent a week comparing different encoding rates and listening to the results through both my HiFi and home studio systems.

I discovered the following:

1. By far the most important thing was the quality of the digital file encoding. Ideally I would have used uncompressed AIFF or WAV files, but back then the 1TB hard drive I had bought to store all my music files on had cost me a small fortune, so I was going to have to go compressed.

2. Using the built-in DAC on my PowerMac G4 I could hear an improvement in quality as I increased the BR or the MP3 file until I reached 192BR. Higher bit rates didn't sound any better. However when I listened to same files though the MotU converters in my studio system I could hear improvements all the way through 320BR to uncompressed files which were by far the best quality.

So the BR used on the MP3 files makes a big difference until you go beyond 192BR after which you also need a better quality DAC in order to appreciate the benefits of higher bit rates or uncompressed audio files.

Everything else (such as the amp and speakers) is IMO entirely subjective, so long as you have something half-way decent, and when for the past 20 years you have been able to get good HiFi speakers and amps for around £100 each there is no excuse to not to already have something perfectly serviceable.

Personally I don't like sub-woofers. IMO they sound artificial.