Detailed sound? Real?


I have read about many audiophiles wanting more detail and air around the instruments to improve realism. usually, when i hear a system with these qualities, the sound is almost always thin and fatiguing. When I hear live music, it never sounds like air around the instruments and detailed. Most detailed systems sound way too detailed. When i hear live music, there is a sense of air, but not around the instruments. Actually, many times it sounds natural and mono. It seems to me that detailed systems are probably the most unrealistic in audio. Yesterday I heard a live performance of a piano and sax. The piano was so muffled sounding, much more so than on any system I have recently heard. The sax sounded more detailed, but still not like the stereos portray it. I think the secret to listening is to find something that sounds good and that you can listen to without fatigue. Natural Timbre, color and good bass, not overblown but good, gets you closer to the real thing IMHO
tzh21y

Showing 3 responses by cyclonicman

Maybe the term Live music would be better if it was termed Live performance. Most rock music gets mixed, equalized and compressed in the studio. This doesn't happen on stage, so it never really sounds like the recording.
Onhwy61, yuor opinion is not indicative of my opinion or experience. You are implying that amplified music is somehow not indicative of how "real" music sounds!! How does that make any sense? Maybe I am missing the point of this post because for me, it's just comparing my attendance at a stage performance to the recording that I listen to at home. For me, it's not some esoteric science and does not require such extensive analysis of every minor detail that one can imagine. This post clearly demonstrates that a great many audiophiles stopped listening to music and prefer to listen to the less than perfect sound of their equipment. What's even stranger is that if they are listening to rock, they want the sound of their less than perfect equipment to sound exactly like that unworthy amplified music to which you alluded.
Mapman, I completely agree with you and the implications you mentioned. In my opinion, it is because of the myriad of differences in live venues, recording studios, listening rooms, etc., the pursuit of the absolute sound will always come up short. I tend to be in the same camp as Tvad and Mrtennis on this one.