"Sound Enhancer"? - iTunes

TheMonarch · Nov 2, 2005, 04:57 PM

Whats a sound enhancer and what in the world does that do? Anyone have an explanation. How does it make it sound "better"? And does it take away from what the sound is "supposed" to sound like?

Who uses it? What does it improve?

Sorry. This question has been bugging me for a while...

pdpfilms · Nov 2, 2005, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blaskillet4

Whats a sound enhancer and what in the world does that do? Anyone have an explanation. How does it make it sound "better"? And does it take away from what the sound is "supposed" to sound like?

Who uses it? What does it improve?

Sorry. This question has been bugging me for a while...

I use it... and... it sounds...good? I have no idea what it does or how it does it. (Or even if it does anything at all, for that matter). Seems kinda like an iTunes-selected EQ setting.

snowmoon · Nov 2, 2005, 05:15 PM

From my limited understanding...

Compression attempts to first mask out sounds you "can't hear" and then takes the rest and applies lots of math to come out with the final products.

Sound enhncement does a number of things to counteract the compression and other artifcats. The two most well known tequniques are stero enhancement by taking the stero image and further seperating it helps some especially on "small systems" like computer and headphones. The other is harmonics in both bass and treble ranges where sounds are most often compressed away.

This may not be how iTunes does it, but these are common tricks.

telecomm · 06:13 PM

I'd steer clear of the sound enhancer—I used to use it for a while, and then I did the familiar "can I tell the difference between an encoded file and the CD original?" test.

Much to my dismay, the encoded tracks sounded terrible—among other things, the bass was horribly distorted. Later, I discovered the real culpit—sound enhancer, which, for some reason, completely distorts bass on some tracks.

Edit: Oops! Ignore my comments above, I just remembered that the culprit was Sound Check, not Sound Enhancer... The thread I had in the back of my mind is here http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=71035

stridey · Nov 2, 2005, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snowmoon

From my limited understanding...

Compression attempts to first mask out sounds you "can't hear" and then takes the rest and applies lots of math to come out with the final products.

Sound enhncement does a number of things to counteract the compression and other artifcats. The two most well known tequniques are stero enhancement by taking the stero image and further seperating it helps some especially on "small systems" like computer and headphones. The other is harmonics in both bass and treble ranges where sounds are most often compressed away.

This may not be how iTunes does it, but these are common tricks.

Not really related, but headphones wouldn't count as "small systems" in this case, since they have the widest stereo imaging possible (if it's all the way left, on headphones you really only hear it in the left ear).

As for the sound enhancing, I've never turned it on, so I don't know.

.:*Robot Boy*:. · Nov 2, 2005, 06:20 PM

Could it be some kind of aural exciter? Or a multiband compressor? I don't know what Sound Enhancer does, but I would assume it would use something other than EQ or compression to make it sound 'better' as those processes are taken care of by Sound Check and the graphic EQ.

Or maybe it's just a combination of lots of stuff?

Nov 2, 2005, 04:57 PM	#1
TheMonarch macrumors 65816 Join Date: May 2005 Location: Bay Area	"Sound Enhancer"? - iTunes Whats a sound enhancer and what in the world does that do? Anyone have an explanation. How does it make it sound "better"? And does it take away from what the sound is "supposed" to sound like? Who uses it? What does it improve? Sorry. This question has been bugging me for a while... __________________ Ever!

Nov 2, 2005, 05:49 PM	#4
telecomm macrumors 65816 Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Rome	I'd steer clear of the sound enhancer—I used to use it for a while, and then I did the familiar "can I tell the difference between an encoded file and the CD original?" test. Much to my dismay, the encoded tracks sounded terrible—among other things, the bass was horribly distorted. Later, I discovered the real culpit—sound enhancer, which, for some reason, completely distorts bass on some tracks. Edit: Oops! Ignore my comments above, I just remembered that the culprit was Sound Check, not Sound Enhancer... The thread I had in the back of my mind is here http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=71035 Last edited by telecomm : Nov 2, 2005 at 06:13 PM.

Nov 2, 2005, 06:20 PM	#6
.:Robot Boy:. macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: New Zealand	Could it be some kind of aural exciter? Or a multiband compressor? I don't know what Sound Enhancer does, but I would assume it would use something other than EQ or compression to make it sound 'better' as those processes are taken care of by Sound Check and the graphic EQ. Or maybe it's just a combination of lots of stuff? __________________ The Past: Macintosh LCIII / Power Macintosh 7200/75 / iMac (350MHz Blueberry) / PowerMac G3 (400MHz B&W) / 15" PowerBook G4 1.67GHz/2GB *STOLEN* The Present: 15" PowerBook G4 HD 1.67GHz/2GB/120GB The Purpose: Pro Tools TDM/LE

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

Nov 2, 2005, 05:15 PM	#3
snowmoon macrumors 6502a Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Albany, NY	From my limited understanding... Compression attempts to first mask out sounds you "can't hear" and then takes the rest and applies lots of math to come out with the final products. Sound enhncement does a number of things to counteract the compression and other artifcats. The two most well known tequniques are stero enhancement by taking the stero image and further seperating it helps some especially on "small systems" like computer and headphones. The other is harmonics in both bass and treble ranges where sounds are most often compressed away. This may not be how iTunes does it, but these are common tricks.