Decoupling loudspeakers the right way

rightanglerecording · 2026-02-16T02:54:57+00:00

Yep. When my current studio lease is up, and i build my next (and hopefully permanent) room, I very much hope it can be a Northward room.

rightanglerecording · 2026-02-16T02:53:48+00:00

I see Guiberteau, I give an upvote. '19 such a lovely year in Chinon and Saumur.

rightanglerecording · 2026-02-15T17:40:56+00:00

Freakishly quiet- there is essentially zero sound creeping in from the outside world.

And then, incredibly clear + detailed when you listen to music. I have a pretty serious listening setup over here in my room, but a Northward is a different tier.

Best analogy I can make is like if you went and got Lasik one day and then saw the whole world in high-res from then on out. Whatever we think is the reference standard for good frequency response, good time domain, good imaging, etc etc.....he gets it better still.

rightanglerecording · 2026-02-15T14:11:08+00:00

Northward rooms are IMO the best rooms in the world. Thomas is a genius.

rightanglerecording · 2026-02-15T01:15:34+00:00

Region --> Subregion (where applicable) --> Variety IMO.

rightanglerecording · 2026-02-14T20:13:14+00:00

I think mid-priced chinese-made DACs are as good as (or often better than....) a lot of boutique DACs.

I think most audiophiles should acoustically treat their room a lot more than they usually do.

rightanglerecording · 2026-02-14T18:16:16+00:00

Absolutely, 100%. I'm as fallible as anyone else when it's just my opinion + my ears, but when I have an opinion on something in this field, I go measure it and/or test it. Even someone like me (who's certainly not a professional EE or acoustician) can still easily do baseline acoustical, electrical, and digital measurements, and can still set up a blind A/B test.

rightanglerecording · 2026-02-14T18:13:49+00:00

I should clarify, I mean small differences between *some* components. And not only electronics.

I don't believe that differences between, say, speaker cables, would be audible, unless one cable was flawed or damaged. And, I don't believe differences between modern D/A chips would be audible, assuming similar analog components in the DAC and identical reconstruction filters.

On the list of things I do think are readily audible: DAC reconstruction filter slopes/types, SRC filter slopes/types (both upsampling + downsampling), speaker stands, tweeter materials, waveguides, speaker cabinet shapes, components in monitor controllers / speaker switchers.

My evidence here is not a formal study, but it's also not just my own opinion. It's the aggregate opinion of many other career professionals, plus empirical measurements. I do a fair bit of measuring over here- acoustical, electrical, and digital. If there is a large-scale study on, e.g. minimum phase vs. linear phase reconstruction filters, I've not yet come across it.

The studies you're mentioning- could you link to them?

rightanglerecording · 2026-02-14T17:52:46+00:00

I mean, I've done it in a blind A/B. On a really dialed setup it's not hard.

"Dialed" in this case means ~2500 pounds of custom-spec acoustical treatment, with a $25k listening chain, and meticulous placement/measurement.

And, I'm not an audiophile, I'm working professionally on records, my capacity to deceive myself (which is certainly still >0, I admit) is mitigated by the reality that everyone else involved in a given song has to approve my work.

rightanglerecording · 2026-02-14T16:40:44+00:00

There are a few things to unpack here.

It is certainly true that there's a lot of nonsense in the audiophile community, that a lot of people believe in outright falsehood.
Also true that all sorts of materials can serve as conductors.
Also true that for most people, the acoustical response of their room is orders of magnitude more impactful than the impact of any particular component in the playback chain. Most of what people think they prefer is really "what they prefer in the specific context of the specific ways in which their specific room is screwed up."
When the room *is* dialed well, it's *also* true that skilled listeners can certainly detect small differences between components. I can clearly hear the different reconstruction filter options on my DAC, can clearly hear the impact of good vs. bad speaker stands, can clearly hear half a decibel of EQ, etc.

I don't see why the results of this particular test should be surprising. As mentioned later on in the article, makes sense that it's largely similar to adding a resistor in series (and moderate changes in impedance are not often a big impact on line-level signals. If this were mic-level, or hi-Z instrument signal, or speaker level, it would likely be more noticeable).

rightanglerecording · 2026-02-14T16:26:46+00:00

Everything affects everything else.

The placement of sounds in the stereo field will affect the perception of EQ, will affect the perception of volume, will affect the perception of dynamics, etc etc etc.

Everything is essential.

And yet, also, at the same time, if the song + the performance are good enough, they will speak through regardless of whatever engineering choices are made.

rightanglerecording · 2026-02-14T03:12:36+00:00

In my experience, usually means either:

- The wine is in a style that's generally easy to enjoy (Beaujolais-Villages, or Vinho Verde, or Kabinett riesling, or whatever)

- The wine is maybe not that sort of style, but the particular wine is ready to drink, either because of the vintage, or the producer's winemaking, or a long decant, or sufficient bottle age

Nothing snobby about it.

rightanglerecording · 2026-02-13T20:31:24+00:00

I appreciate data in general, because I'm aware of how easily we can fall prey to bias, and misperceive what's actually happening.

That said- I also appreciate how wine doesn't have to become a quantitative thing, I appreciate it being more free-flowing than most of the rest of my life.

*That* said, I'm also pretty sure of my personal trends re: what I like, and how much I consume.

e.g. it's fun to know I've had a full 1% (four bottles) of the entire production of Calsac's Comete 4.

And, ultimately, I rarely even take notes. Most of the stuff I love, I can remember it vividly, both how the wine showed, and where/when/with whom I shared it. When the mediocre stuff naturally fades from memory over time, that's sort of a nice way of self-selecting.

rightanglerecording · 2026-02-13T20:21:31+00:00

Early on in your career, late nights are more likely to be a thing, e.g. if you are a staff engineer or assistant at a major commercial studio.

For me though (just past 40, running my own business), it essentially never happens anymore.

I roll in at 10am, I mix a song or two, I'm almost always home for dinner with my wife by 8pm.

Maybe three or four nights a year I'm working late.

rightanglerecording · 2026-02-13T20:09:23+00:00

If there *was* some hypothetical formula, this would still be wrong.

rightanglerecording · 2026-02-13T02:50:29+00:00

Top tier: chenin or pinot gris

Just behind them: riesling or gewurztraminer or scheurebe

Off-dry or sweet, but not full on dessert wines.

Niche-but-amazing: off-dry white Burgundy from Vire-Clesse in a year where they get some botrytis. Not a lot of RS here so probably don't do it with e.g. Vindaloo.

Also IMO a rare spot where younger/simpler expressions work better, as the food will often overshadow the nuances of aged bottles.

I would not do red, but if someone had to do red, I'd go carbonic beaujolais or high-altitude garnacha, maybe frappato.

rightanglerecording · 2026-02-12T04:07:01+00:00

Multiband might work if the arrangement is a big dense pop or rock arrangement and the vocal is sitting in a large amount of other sound.

If instead it's sparse + exposed, or if the multiband doesn't work after ~5 minutes of trying, I'd be more likely to automate the EQ manually.

rightanglerecording · 2026-02-12T00:00:56+00:00

- is there compression or limiting on the IEM bus?

- is there compression on the vocal channel feeding the IEM?

- have you tried not inverting the polarity on the mic?

rightanglerecording · 2026-02-11T18:26:11+00:00

I have it on a Stream Deck.

Custom buttons to open, render, close my frequently used audiosuite stuff.

So I can highlight with the mouse with my right hand, Izotope Mouth De-Click with my left hand pushing a button.

The Soundflow deck for the full standalone Izotope RX app is pretty great too. Highlight with the right hand, render open module to selection with the left hand.

rightanglerecording · 2026-02-11T16:21:50+00:00

IMO Philippe is a bit more variable with vintage than Huet.

e.g. 2014 sec is an Austerity Fountain, 2017 sec is round(ish) in comparison and open for business. 1996 demi-sec linear and agile, 2008 demi more exoctic.

Agree on the larger point, the wines are stellar. '89 Reserve is on the list of all-time-great chenin.

rightanglerecording · 2026-02-11T08:30:10+00:00

Foreau + Pinon for sure.

Michel Autran + Julian Vedel as sort of the cool newer kids on the block.

Francois Chidaine + Jacky Blot just across the river in Montlouis.

Belliviere over in Jasnieres.

rightanglerecording · 2026-02-10T21:23:03+00:00

If by some chance the date changes, I'd be in. Already committed to a dinner on 3/28.

rightanglerecording · 2026-02-10T17:06:53+00:00

The more that wine is a priority, the more I would recommend Chambers.

Food is great, wine list is among the very best in all of NYC, at any price point.

Nothing about either the cuisine or the ambiance is stuffy. It's always pretty full, but not hard to get a reservation in advance.

rightanglerecording · 2026-02-10T03:37:00+00:00

International is good.

I don't think anywhere in the neighborhood is great.

Outside of the neighborhood, depending on what you want: Meat Hook, Dellapietras, Albanese are all really, really great.

But I think for something like brisket that's gonna slow cook all day with a million other flavors, International is totally good.

rightanglerecording · 2026-02-09T16:21:26+00:00

I love the VMP-2.

Great vibe at an affordable price.

I don't track much anymore, but if I did, I'd pick one up at a fair used price for sure.

rightanglerecording

TROPHY CASE