How come there is no thread on the RealityCheck?

A fellow Audiogon member was kind enough to offer to make RealityCheckCDs from a few of my redbook CDs. Last night, I listened to a RealityCheckCD copy of a friend's commercially produced progressive rock CD which is a nicely layered and sonically dense recording, although I've always considered it edgy and bright. The RealityCheckCD mitigated the digital edge and lent some naturalness to the music, however it also somehow affected the ambience and extension.

From a burned compilation CD I own of audiophile quality recordings, I compared Thomas Dolby's "I Scare Myself" to the RealityCheckCD version. The RealityCheckCD version defines the instruments and voice a bit more than the original burned CD, and the leading edge of the piano attack is softened a bit. I can see where this would be pleasing to some listeners. Overall, however, I find the RealityCheckCD, at least on this track, collapses the soundstage height and width and diminishes the layering somewhat. There is less ambience in the music, and micro details are reduced. For example, in the first 30 seconds of the track there is some brush work on a ride cymbal that is clearly defined on the standard burned CD. The RealityCheckCD version either pushes this cymbal work back in the mix or muddies it, I'm not sure which, but I suspect some tweaking in the frequency range where the attack of this sound originates, and I think this goes hand-in-hand with the loss of ambience in the recording. There is certainly a difference in the two recordings, but I'm not sure the effects of the RealityCheckCD process would be beneficial in all cases. I prefer the original version of this track, and it's a song I've been using for quite some time to evaluate equipment.

I noticed this also while listening to "Walking on the Moon" by the Yuri Honing Trio from the same compilation CD. The saxophone sounds more natural in the RealityCheckCD version, and much closer to what I remember my vinyl sounding many years ago. However, the music sounds like it's being performed in a closed, cloth-walled room without any circulating air.

So, the RealityCheckCD can make the music less digital and more natural, but to my ears, it also tweaks with a recording's extension and ambience to a degree that I find unsettling.

Tvad,all that I can say with regard to the your finding of the lack of ambience and high frequency extension is that I find the RC give an edge to brass and a shean to high hat that I find very realistic. I also find a great sense of decay to the notes and more of a sense of real depth and location. Overall, I find the sound much more like the recording venue.

I have no clue why our results might differ, but I find I can no longer listen to other digital.

Different strokes for different folks, Tbg.

Vive la difference.

I don't own a single recording of a performance that I have also heard
live in the venue itself. In fact, most of the music I like has been
recorded in a studio rather than a concert hall, so I can't begin to
imagine what it sounded like in the venue. I understand the point you're
making, though.

I'm happy it works for you and has enhanced your listening experience.

Is this similiar to the doppler radar preamplifier, liquid cerarmic cables, and $8000 isolation bases that we've read so much about? What or who is the common thread among them?

Tbg- did you look at the PSU?