"No white noise" - marketing hype or correct?

[Charles Jenkinson]

I've been directed to read a review of a Funktion one system in an ibiza club, covered on mixmag, link below. There's a section halfway down the page about 'gaps in sound' and no naturally occuring white noise that got me smelling a fish. Is there a better explanation I wonder...

http://www.mixmag.net/ibiza/features/ho ... nd-so-good

Charles

[CoronaOperator]

Just a stab in the dark, but I think white noise to them is what live sound guys call "mud" in the mix or too many harmonics / reflections in the mid-bass frequencies - makes everything unintelligable.

[netwerks]

Sounds like BS to me.

"Why can I stand in a Funktion-One fuelled club and talk to the person next to me while the music is pounding all around us?
That’s because the sound is arranged in organised packages. There’s no white noise
across the spectrum – there are gaps.

So when we’re speaking on the dancefloor here at Space, we are using those gaps in the sound spectrum, whereas in a club with a badly managed sound system, the gaps are flooded with white noise?
Pretty much, yeah. But remember, the white noise can be caused by anything, from the system itself to substandard input material – low quality mp3s or a cheap sound card.

The problem is that unless you get everything right across the audio chain, you can compromise your sound. It’s like having ten window panes lined up one after another – if one is blurred, you won’t be able to get a clear view. It’s the same with an audio chain. It only takes one fault along the entire chain to ruin the sound."

He meant to say...Because we've eliminated room cancellation nodes and made sure the system volume and eq's are tuned to the room and the human ear just right.

I interpret is as he either doesn't know what he is talking about or is doing a bad job of not trying to talk in geek speak with the interviewer.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

White noise is a specific set of waveforms:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_noise

I have no idea what the person quoted is talking about, and I'm quite sure the person quoted doesn't either.

[Gregory East]

The quote about being able to hold a conversation over a thumping mix speaks for some good things going on, white noise or not.

[CoronaOperator]

White noise is a specific set of waveforms:

Outside of audio the term "white noise" is also used to describe anything that has a masking effect. It's commonly disscused during PR meetings when discussing the publics retention of too much differing information, information overload on too many signs displayed in an advertisement space (visual white noise leading to no information retained), too much chatter during a presentation to absorb information, etc.

I can talk to the passenger over my car stereo at 115dB in a normal voice depending on the source material, but I attribute that to the clean sound I get from my components, amps, processing and of course the clean bass from my autotuba. I refer to that as "clean" rather than the lack of white noise. When the article describes "holes" in the spectrum I think he is talking about the lack of harmonics, distortion or purposely notched passbands or narrow speaker dispersion in certain frequencies in the spectrum for speach allowing for our voices to carry even if the other bands in the spectrum are quite a bit louder than our voices. Might be why there are no FR graphs. Might be trying to hide his "club" secret from others. Club music is quite a bit different than live rock and roll. A "hole" in the spectrum could easily go unnoticed to the crowd who is more focused on the energy of the room than the actual song.

[Radian]

After watching and reading several interviews with Tony over the years, I've come to realize that for an otherwise technically competent guy with a passion for providing sound, he simply fell flat trying to explain this one....Can happen to anyone when put on the spot I gather.

White noise? Packets?

More like distortion, if you ask anyone else.

[Bill Fitzmaurice]

After watching and reading several interviews with Tony over the years, I've come to realize that for an otherwise technically competent guy with a passion for providing sound, he simply fell flat trying to explain this one....Can happen to anyone when put on the spot I gather.

White noise? Packets?

More like distortion, if you ask anyone else.

Well, if you want to hear white noise tune an FM radio in between stations and you've got it. What it has to do with his speakers I can't fathom.

[SoundInMotionDJ]

I interpret is as he either doesn't know what he is talking about or is doing a bad job of not trying to talk in geek speak with the interviewer.

I also attempted to "round up" to get the statement to make sense...and I gave up before I herniated something that I might need later.

[biggerrigger]

Also don't forget to mention proper setup and placement as this has much to do with a good sounding overall system no matter the brand.

[Harley]

Here's white noise

http://youtu.be/QskZwT1psEc