Current Track List & Describing Sound - As Expressed in My Writing

Current Track List

1. Hotel California - Hell Freezes Over - Eagles [ Simply Vinyl 180g Remaster RIP in 24bit]  
• I like this specific mastering for it's vastly improved imaging precision and clarity! I and many friends have noted how much clearer, nuanced and precise the overall presentation is for this track vs the usual CD Mastering that many of you may be used to.
• That aside, while I personally enjoy the Eagles music, I keep this track in rotation because of how well known it is! Many of you have heard it extensively so references to how the track as a whole is presented from different hardware systems should be easy to digest. 
2.  Spanish Harlem -Rebecca Pidgeon-The Ultimate Demonstration Disc [Chesky Records 16bit] 
• Another Audiophile classic, but I feel this track helps to showcase overall tonal balance and micro detail.
• Unlike the previous tracks, the band's composition is a little simpler and the recording is of astonishingly quality and has this insane sense of spaciousness. I feel this track best showcases the naturalness of a hardware, as the timbre and envelope of each instrument is exceptionally vivid and can be smeared with hardware that has excessive distortion.  
3.  The Divine Conspiracy - The Divine Conspiracy - Epica - [Special Edition Vinyl RIP in 24Bit]
• Again the mastering on this edition is noticeably more dynamic than the CD version.
• What I like most about this track though is it's overall depth and how the band blends these two contrasting musical styles together! This is also an extremely busy track and can sound congested or cacophonous from hardware that lacks clarity or has an excess of distortion on the analog output.   

An I do use some similar tracks when listening to both headphones and judging hardware. Typically, I find that noise present within the system and distortion added by the system are what make an impact on the overall quality of sound. Additionally some system feature a non-linear output options, such as the effects of Digital Filters in the Dac section. 

My Theory on "Sound signatures"

I have a suspicion that the different presentations from the different manufacturers have to do with the languages spoken an the culture

Different languages put different emphasis on different verbal frequencies, and even the structure of the vocal cords at the people themselves changes what frequencies maybe more emphasized than others and so as a child growing up listening to the language to the sound how your people speak it mold your perception of what is natural of what sounds natural

And I'm not saying that one sound signature is better than the other because it's more familiar to me and because it's closer to the language I speak

Rather I find beauty in the different presentations and I enjoy them all equally for different reasons

Used Terminology Defined

In an effort to simplify things, I will be expressing my thoughts on the overall performance of both transient and dynamics response in units of AHM, or Ahh Moments. The Superlux HD 668B driven from my Shanling M2s serves as the base point for measurements in AHMs. As listening with my cell phone net's me 0 AHMs  with the HD 668B and moving into the M2s with the HD 668B net's me a total of 1 AHMs in a given 5 minute song. 

Timbre - unique sound amd texture of individual instruments, what allows us to distinguish two different instruments playing notes of the same frequency.  

Clarity (relating to frequency)- a lack of haze or fuzziness relating to frequency domain, a headphone with over emphasized lows/mids/highs that audibly overshadow the rest of the audible frequency lacks clarity

Clarity (relating to time) - the presence of reverb and or excessive ringing, think slow decay/sustain/release, a lack of focus, or a blur. A lack of clarity relating to time will soften and silence transients

Resolve - overall clarity and the presentation of detail

• Micro Detail- pertains to the instruments themselves including transients
• Macro Detail - ambient sounds, like foot steps
• Noise (Pertaining to DAC's an Amps)- perception of a black or silent background, a such as a lack of hiss 

Transients- very short sudden sounds interweaving with the audible attack, decay, sustain,vibrato and release of an instrument, these five elements are interconnected an in more natural music are strongly related to how the instrument is played,

• Attack - rise from silence to the peak or highest audible point
• Decay - fall from the peak to either a state of sustain or point of release
• Sustain - a continuation of audible energy
• Vibrato - a rapid, slight variation in the pitch, often evident in both the sustain of an instrument and it's release
• Release - the fall to silence

Dynamics - quick and effortless increases or decreases in volume, some may further specify this down to micro and macro

• Micro - smaller gradual changes in intensity, either increasing or decreasing 
• Macro - larger sudden changes in intensity, either increase or decreasing 

When I speak of the Lows/Mids/Highs I'm listening for 

• Timbre of instruments that are dominate in the specified frequency range 
• Clarity in the presentation of the specified range
• neither a lack there of or over abundance of frequencies within the specified range
• Resolve of micro-detail for instruments within the specified range

When I speak of "speed" how fast or slow piece of equipment sounds, I'm referring to the combined presentation of transients and overall clarity. Gear that is too fast, often sound very thin as it may have a quicker than natural decay and present an over emphasized attack. While extremely tactile and exciting it's not "pure" is respect to fidelity, very fast equipment is good for listening to other gear but not so much your music. Equipment that is too slow can be enjoyable but often exaggerate decay and soften attack, slower sounding headphones will be very forgiving of the gear and overall quality of your music but will also be lacking the presentation of some transients. In my opinion balance is ideal, not to fast nor to slow sounding, a balanced presentation results in a very natural sound.

Energy- would be both the perceived an actual volume of frequencies within a certain range. To little energy makes music dull, to much makes it sound harsh or fake.

Finally when describing the lows, highs and mids I like to use vocabulary related other sensual input.

Pertaining to the Highs I like to use words like bright an dark to describe the top end. Neither is better than the other, as ultimately we want balanced. Bright headphones with a dark source, or a dark headphone with a bright source

• Bright- having an abundance energy in the top end 
• imagine walking outside and having the sun shine right in your eye's, it's not pleasant and your eyes really struggle to define what's in front of you . Light-wise a excessively bright headphone can make it more difficult for your ears to define what your listening to, there's an overabundance of energy on the highs, which can negatively alter your perception of the musical piece as a whole 
• on the flip side something that's bright can be like a candle/lantern/flashlight it shine's light onto an otherwise dark soundscape
• Dark - having a lack of energy in the top end
• going back to the same situation, imagine walking into a dimly lit room. There's really just not enough light to see everything within. Like wise a lack of energy up top can often mask some audible information up top.
• on the Flip side something that's "dark" can also be like a pair of sun glasses, which reduce the negative effects of excessive brightness 

Pertaining to the Mids and Lows I like to use words like warm, cold or cool, lean or rich, sweet or dry. In simple terms these two ranges are connected more so than the Mids are to the Highs, again the idea is to have balance. If your source is very lean then you'd like a richer amp or headphone. Or if your source is very rich, like a Tube Dac, you'd want a very lean amp or headphone. Like wise, if your source is warm then you want a cold headphone, if your headphone is very warm you can get better balance with a colder source 

• Warm- having an abundance of decay/resonance 
• Warmth isn't bad, but it's very preferential. A lack of warmth is cold, an abundance of warmth... is like a hot summer day in my home town of Myrtle Beach... it's 98F and the humidity is at 100%. The warmth literally hit's you like a wet soft blanket. An abundantly warm headphone produces sound that hit's you in a similar manner. An some people like that... how ever excessive decay in the lows can also take away from energy and transients the highs as well... reducing the "bite" of the sound your hearing
• Cold- a lack of decay/resonance 
• A cooler sound isn't bad but it's preferential. If it's not cold it's warm, but a lack of decay can make your music feel like walking outside in 30F temperatures with 80% humidity, the air literally BITES you... likewise with a cold headphone the sound bites your ears. To what degree is does is based on the rest of your system, but having some bite to music is natural, a lack of decay or resonance can harden an softer sound 
• Lean - having less decay or resonance   
• This one's easy, think meat. Do you like fattier meats, or leaner meats without as much fat. Both are important, meat with no fat can be lack flavor, meat with too much fat can taste... well fatty no longer like the animal it was cut from. In cooking we will often add a fat to a very lean meat, or render off the fat of a fattier meat. Like wise with sound reproduction gear the aim is to be balanced. Not taking away or adding to much to what the artist/engineer have created and captured, gear that produces a sound that is too lean can make your music more aggressive or over textured and hard. 
• Rich - having more decay or resonance
• Again something that sounds rich can be likened to adding heavy cream to a sauce to improve it's texture. Creating a beautifully silky experience, though too much richness can lead to something being oily or... icky feeling. Like wise a sound that's too rich can feels super soft and gross sometimes undefined, 
• Sweet -  an abundance pertaining to harmonics 
• They say that even ordered harmonics are pleasant to listen to and make music really touch your soul, but too much of a good thing is never good. An sweetness is again preferential. I LOVE Semi-Sweet Dark Chocolate, I think it has the right balance of sweetness, you may like a sweeter milk chocolate thinking it has the right balance of sweetness. Ideally you want a good balance of sweetness in the music, or harmonics. To much or too little takes away from the overall enjoyment 
• Wet/Dry - these concepts work in tandem too much of one is almost always bad 
• Wet - an abundance relating to harmonics and or decay
• Machines require lubrication to operate smoothly, too much oil in your engine is bad things start to slip, too little and they lock up.  A sound that is too wet is sloppy, some wetness is required and necessary for a pleasurable listen. Not everything that is wet is sweet, however though most things that have sweetness also have some wetness  
• Dry - a lack of harmonics and or decay
• Going back to machines if there's a lack of lubrication, things start to lock up. If something's dry it may be lacking some decay but not always the presence of harmonics, the degree of dryness or the level of which moisture is absent is important. If I'm using dry it's going to be important to understand the context in which it's used. 

Ultimately a Natural Sound is on that has balanced mix of all of these elements. Though seeing as there is no piece of gear that will reproduce perfectly natural sound, any use of the term is realities to the preference of the individual listener. A comparison of only "natural" sounding gear will still result in some being brighter or darker, leaner or richer, wetter or drier than each other respectively.