Is it normal, amp/speakers to sound slightly different every now and then?

[canidoit]

I am trying to figure out whether it is my hearing at play, but I could swear that some days my speakers sound brighter and other days it does not?

I do allow my amp to warm up that runs my passive speakers before I start mixing/mastering and I have considered that slight changes in position will alter the sound, and possibly if I am fatigued but I am hearing a pattern that makes me question my amp and speakers.

I am trying to isolate the problem, because some days I am really happy with my mixes/mastering, and then another day, I can't figure out why I made those mixing/mastering decisions.

 

[rock soderstrom]

but I could swear that some days my speakers sound brighter and other days it does not?

I think your sense of hearing has much greater variation throughout the day than your amplifiers and speakers.

 

[JohnRoberts]

There can be very small differences from temperature change and humidity, but human hearing is the weakest link in that scenario.
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I've told this story before but I recall one time I was in a friend's recording studio doing listening tests on an effect I was designing. Everybody needed a smoke break, since I don't smoke I drank a cup of crappy coffee from the machine in the break area. 15-20 minutes later when I resumed my listening tests everything sounded different.

JR

 

[k brown]

I've also noticed that my system always sounds different (worse) when I first wake up in the morning, which is, I'm sure biological. I never make final mastering decisions (esp EQ) very early in the morning.

 

[Newmarket]

imo first thing to check is for congestion or wax build up in ear canal. And cross check with other speakers / headphones.

 

[soapfoot]

First thing I’d question is whether monitoring level is varying wildly.

I use a decibel meter and refer back to approximately 85 dB C-weighted from time to time.

 

[mhelin]

Check cables, also sometimes if the speakers have diffraction problems for an example then even a tiniest move of head might cause a change in frequency response. Anyway, might be hearing related issue most probably...

 

[Ricardus]

It's being human.

It's the reason that "audiophiles" think two amazing pieces of gear that test identical sound totally different, or one of them "Blows the other one out of the water! Even their wife could hear it from the kitchen!"

 

[soapfoot]

Yeah, being inside a human body (steered by a human brain) is the ultimate variable.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve come back from lunch and everything sounds totally weird. Blood sugar? Or just taking a few minutes away and refreshing the perspective?

Also, OP mentioned allowing the amps to “warm up.” Are they tube amps with unregulated linear supplies? In that case line voltage fluctuations could possibly be a factor.

 

[JohnRoberts]

I heard a humorous anecdote about human audition from the publisher of one of those audiophool magazines.

He was in a restaurant enjoying dinner with an audiophile gear manufacturer and his wife. The gear maker's wife complained that the piano playing though the restaurant sound system didn't sound natural. It turns out that it was a real piano playing in the next room.

JR

 

[Gold]

First thing I’d question is whether monitoring level is varying wildly.

I use a decibel meter and refer back to approximately 85 dB C-weighted from time to time.

A calibrated monitor position is extremely useful. In an untreated or lightly treated room the speakers can sound wildly different at different levels as different room modes are excited.

 

[kags]

At the studio where I tech, the staff and clients seem to think the sound of each room changes over time. Not a consistent change, like the room gets brighter/darker over time, but I get comments like "Wow, Studio B sounds great this week!" I chalk it up to the producer that is using the room. I voice all of our rooms monitors to be very similar in overall presentation and I check every few weeks and nothing ever seems to "drift" unless a component is failing. Interestingly, none of our clients noticed when I substituted a Bryston on the horns in place of an old K-series Crown. I immediately noticed the top end felt different, but none of our long-term clients noticed.

I think one's impression of the sound of speakers sound has a lot to do with the particular project and the general mood in the room. Like headphones and singers - whenever a singer complains about the headphone mix I go into psychology mode.

 

[Gold]

I heard a humorous anecdote about human audition from the publisher of one of those audiophool magazines.

He was in a restaurant enjoying dinner with an audiophile gear manufacturer and his wife. The gear maker's wife complained that the piano playing though the restaurant sound system didn't sound natural. It turns out that it was a real piano playing in the next room.

JR

Well, it probably sounded like it was in the next room.

 

[Gold]

A calibrated monitor position can be as simple as a mark on a piece of tape. You just want repeatability.

 

[kags]

I'm shocked at how many of our clients pull the huge computer monitor forward on it's arm so that it blocks the direct path from the nearfield monitors. That doesn't seem to bother them. I guess mixing with your eyes is a thing...

 

[Electrobumps]

Are you on any medication?

Even small amounts of Alcohol changes hearing and cocaine acts like a LPF!

 

[RoadrunnerOZ]

I am trying to figure out whether it is my hearing at play, but I could swear that some days my speakers sound brighter and other days it does not?

I do allow my amp to warm up that runs my passive speakers before I start mixing/mastering and I have considered that slight changes in position will alter the sound, and possibly if I am fatigued but I am hearing a pattern that makes me question my amp and speakers.

I am trying to isolate the problem, because some days I am really happy with my mixes/mastering, and then another day, I can't figure out why I made those mixing/mastering decisions.

When you listen to a mix after a long session and decide it’s all good is way different to listening to a mix with fresh ears. Ears do fatigue after listening at a reasonable volume for a period of time. Whenever I have finished a mix I go out of the control room and listen again with the door only open a crack - this resolves everything to mono and also gives me a great idea of what is lacking or sticking out in the mix.
The monitor positioning is also critical - for near monitoring the monitors should be equidistant from each other and the listening position, ie the engineer and the two monitors form an equilateral triangle with the monitors angled inwards at 30degrees. Check back on mixes at the same listening position.
I always check and note level of the system when I finish a mix and then listen back at the same volume with fresh ears - speakers do sound different at differing levels.
To record and mix I use an Apogee Symphony II Dante running through a Neve 5106 into ATC powered 3 way studio monitors (previously ATC SCM-20’s on a Madrigal amp) and switch to Duntech Orpheus and Rogers speakers for a smaller speaker reference. Then I’ll do a quick master and check to see what sticks out. I also run the quick mastered mix on a car system to see how it stands up and also through earbuds from an iPhone.
It’s unlikely for speakers and amps to sound different on different days - but warming up an amp doesn’t get it as hot as driving it for hours mixing, so maybe your amp sounds different when really heated up??

 

[Riley Casey]

Wet ware is always more variable than hardware. I've long suggested that anyone mixing do what live audio mixers do and start each day or each session with playback of a well know recording even if all the other variables like the room and the audio system are unchanged. Does it sound like you expect? Is it far enough off that you should start looking for hardware problems in the sound system or subtle enough that you simply have to assume its your ears / brain today and act accordingly.

 

[AlgoRhythms]

It sounds like you're asking whether a system can change sound from day to day or hour to hour, and then back to "normal". I've never experienced that so I'm gonna say no.

A system CAN change over (a long) time, but usually its a very gradual loss that doesn't reappear once it starts happening.

 

[kags]

Wet ware is always more variable than hardware. I've long suggested that anyone mixing do what live audio mixers do and start each day or each session with playback of a well know recording even if all the other variables like the room and the audio system are unchanged. Does it sound like you expect? Is it far enough off that you should start looking for hardware problems in the sound system or subtle enough that you simply have to assume its your ears / brain today and act accordingly.

This goes double for multichannel systems and any system running software room correction. I've been in rooms where the software correction loads improperly or to a different setting or someone yesterday recalled a previous tuning without resetting the system at the end of the session. I start every day with a "reality check" of listening to masters that I'm familiar with. When I mixed at other studios more I would often find a blown/weak driver, polarity problem, or channel mismatch doing this. I would hate to find that problem in the middle or end of the day and question the day's work!

I once mixed a song at the old Soundcastle Studios in LA only to get to mastering and two of the three copies of the mixes that I printed had terrible channel imbalances. We didn't monitor the record machines (1/2" and 2 DATS) while printing because the studio was in the midst of re-wiring the patchbays. Our assistant played back some previously recorded tapes to show us that the machines worked properly. Turns out the problem was with the distribution amp in the SSL that fed the machines, so our playback test didn't show the fault. Luckily the third machine (unfortunately a 16-bit DAT) was working well and we used that to make the master. The studio has since closed, but achieved the nickname of "Sound-hassle," due to these types of issues. Always confidence-monitor your prints!!!!