What causes sibilance [Archive] - Audio & Video Forums

PDA

View Full Version : What causes sibilance



dongrod
12-03-2004, 06:52 AM
Hi
Could you tell me what causes or whats the source of sibilance. Is it the receiver, speakers, cables, or what? My system consist of Pioneer dvd player, nad t743 receiver, b&w dm302 speakers, monster xphp speaker cable and vandenhul The Source cable for digital connection. I noticed that almost all my CDs produced sibilance. So with DVDs. That excessive sssshh from dialogue is very annoying. Any opinion on this?
Thanks

kexodusc
12-03-2004, 07:07 AM
This isn't an easy question to answer, but it's a good question.
Every component (yes, maybe even cables) can contribute to sibilance, I would suspect the single most important one being the tweeters in your speakers. The quality and level of performance of the tweeter, and even the goal of the designer, I would argue contribute the most towards sibilance.
Then you have your amp, pre-amp etc.

However, also consider that it could very well be the source material itself. There are an aweful lot of less than stellar recordings out there that have been either mixed pooly or recorded improperly. I'm not terribly knowledgeable in this area, but I have more than a few disappointing CD's/DVD's that have that excessive harshness.

Sometimes a component that's less aggressive in the treble area might mask the sibilance of your system. But, it gets really, really annoying if, say, you have a bright sounding speaker, a bright amplifier, and horrible source....

I have found that speaker placement can somewhat reduce sibilance...If your speakers are toed-in directly firing at you instead of shooting out straight perpendicular to the back wall, you might reduce sibilance by moving the speaker off axis a bit more...or vice-versa...experiment a bit. But also listen to other changes as you make adjustments...find a happy medium.

Bill L
12-03-2004, 08:05 AM
Hi
Could you tell me what causes or whats the source of sibilance. Is it the receiver, speakers, cables, or what? My system consist of Pioneer dvd player, nad t743 receiver, b&w dm302 speakers, monster xphp speaker cable and vandenhul The Source cable for digital connection. I noticed that almost all my CDs produced sibilance. So with DVDs. That excessive sssshh from dialogue is very annoying. Any opinion on this?
Thanks

kexodusc has covered the bases really well in his response.
" But, it gets really, really annoying if, say, you have a bright sounding speaker, a bright amplifier, and horrible source...."
That's your biggest clue. Think about acoustics too. Nothing sounds good in a bad environment. The "cd harshness" so prevalent in early cd playback is still blamed for hard/harsh mids when acoustics are the real culprit IMO. Until the acoustics are tamed, upgrading components will usually reveal a different-sounding bad, and will be unsatisfying in the long run.

Woochifer
12-03-2004, 12:45 PM
Another source for sibilance is distortion caused by excessively high levels at the preamp stage. This can originate from the CD, the CD player, as well as the amp. Terrence has indicated that most pop CDs nowadays are mastered close to the max levels. I've got several CDs with very high levels and varying levels of high end break up that results in audible sibilance.

You should try swapping out components and see if any one of them help. Try both the analog and digital connections from your CD player. Then see if you can borrow another receiver/amp from your dealer. Plug that into your system and see if it helps. If either remedy helps, then you got an equipment defect.