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"Breathing" of the air

Hi folks, I would like to ask you the following. With some audiophile set ups I'm able to hear what I call "breathing" of the air, as if the air surrounding voices and instruments is a living entity, as if one is capable of hearing individual air molecules, if you know what I mean. Are you familiar with this phenomenon? Is this quality inherent to some amplifiers or speakers? Can you mention set ups that have these characteristics?

Chris
dazzdax

Showing 2 responses by nsgarch

nsgarch's avatar
nsgarch
2,524 posts
 
Steve Hoffman, the well-known recording engineer calls it the "Breath of Life". I might as well let him explain it. Browse this page of his website. It's fun and you'll learn a lot:
http://www.stevehoffman.tv/dhinterviews/
nsgarch's avatar
nsgarch
2,524 posts
 
"Air" is one of those audio terms that means different phenomena to different people. That's why I prefer S.H.'s term "breath of life" and even then, some think he's referring to the human voice which he isn't necessarily.

Steve's bottom line for system sonics is: if you don't have lifelike midrange, you've got nothing. If you think about it, that's why, for example, the Quad 57 ESL is still considered one of the great speakers of all time and a standard for perfect midrange. Though it lacks extension (in both directions!) that midrange just hooks you and you forget about its shortcomings.
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