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SET Asylum Single Ended Triodes (SETs), the ultimate tube lovers dream. |
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SET Asylum Single Ended Triodes (SETs), the ultimate tube lovers dream. |
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In Reply to: RE: we agree on the bit about the OPT at least. posted by morricab on October 12, 2021 at 07:28:26:
"ven though you might not consciously hear them because they are masked by the lower ordered harmonics, the ear does respond to the higher orders because the ear/brain system uses them to sense sound pressure (fundamental tones without overtones being pretty rare in nature...). "
I don't think this is right. Can you provide a reference for this?
Which part?
My understanding is that you detect the "loudness" only if it is unmasked...masked is masked and you don't sense it. Otherwise, SET amps would probably not sound as good as they do (and they DO sound good when done right).
OK- now that part doesn't sound right to me? Are you really saying that if the higher orders are completely masked, that you'd not be able to tell how loud the sound is? I'm not talking about filtering out the higher orders, I'm talking about how an amplifier makes distortion just so we're clear.
You are right that high order harmonics not being masked will impact sensation of depth perception and loudness.
I don't recall making a comment about depth perception with respect to the higher orders. If I did do that, it was a mistake.
BTW, the low order harmonics do no mask all higher order harmonics. It only masks relatively near neighbors. A bit more masking occurs when the ears own distortion rises with SPL level and this expands a bit to even higher orders but if you have significant higher order harmonics at low volume (by this I mean 7th and above), these will not be masked and will show up in the "character" of the amplifier...even at extremely low levels.
If this is correct then the reason why tubes are smoother than solid state goes away. Tube amps make more higher ordered harmonics than solid state amps do. By rights they should be harsher. But they aren't and the big difference being that in a solid state amp the lower orders are suppressed.
If you refer back to Jean Hiraga though I think you can see why he says an exponential decay is important- the lower orders are thus able to mask the succeeding orders. What this comes down to is what is the formula for the exponential curve describing this decay? You and I differ in this regard (I think...). I prefer the cubic since the decay is more rapid.
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Follow Ups
- RE: we agree on the bit about the OPT at least. - Ralph 10/12/2109:17:56 10/12/21 (2)
- RE: we agree on the bit about the OPT at least. - morricab 11:38:29 10/12/21 (1)
- Could you provide some context? - Ralph 12:12:08 10/12/21 (0)
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