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Striking a balance between musicality and resolution

As my years and experience in this hobby continue to grow I notice a divergence between those seeking extreme resolution and detail from their music reproduction systems and those in search of maximum musicality.

In theory, high-end audio systems should provide more than garden variety stereo systems. In my view that means more detail and information should be heard from a high-end music reproduction system than one hears from ordinary HiFi stereo systems set ups. BUT is there such thing as too much resolution and detail in a stereo system’s sound presentation?

Some people feel that a less detailed presentation that is easier for your brain to process has better flow and provides more enjoyable listening.

So there is the dichotomy. Should one pay more to hear less? Can a frequency response performance that is curtailed at both frequency extremes be desired and praised?

Those that seek a “more musical” presentation usually point to their belief that that is how they hear live un-amplified acoustic music in the real world. In nature, high frequencies attenuate and decay with distance from the source and sound waves get absorbed, diffracted, reflected, and diffused by the environmental factors and landscapes; so they are not wrong in stating that in the real world the sound of music is less detailed and extended. The issue is that when we listen to our music reproduction systems at home we are not listening to live un-amplified music in a concert venue, but rather professionally produced audio recordings typically recorded with close-microphones techniques.

So the question is, do we want our systems to reproduce the sound on the commercial audio recordings accurately or does one want hear the sound the way one thinks that it should sound?

Lucky for me, I have enough systems at home that I have been able to design, set up, and tune them for different targeted resultant sound, sound presentation, and sound qualities. For instance, my OKTAN6 ultimate horn system is a dissecting microscope, my Pinnacle horn system aims at extreme musicality, and my WAAR reference system is a chameleon, which can be adjusted to sound exactly how you want it to sound in real-time.

My “test-bed” system takes on the sound character and sound qualities of the components in use and it is excellent for evaluating what new components have to offer or bring to the table in terms of sound qualities. But with the Acapella TW-1S ION plasma super-tweeters extending the high frequencies, the TBI Emperor subwoofers extending the low frequencies, and the highly detailed & nuanced Digital Audio Denmark AX24 DSD dac streaming HQPLAYER as the source, the “Test Bed” system is a highly resolving system.

As with everything else in life, is there a happy medium or compromise that gives you the best of those worlds? I believe that there is and that great music reproduction systems can be tuned to strike a balance between musicality and resolution. If one listens to the evolution of my OKTAN6 ultimate horn system for instance you can hear that the fine tuning is driving the sound in that direction.

So during last night’s listening session I adjusted the sound of my “Test Bed” system to a more musical sound presentation. The “Test Bed” system is always in flux so it allows me to experiment, explore, tweak, tune, and have fun with it.

Here is an audio recording from last night’s listening session that captures the revised sound presentation and conveys the sound qualities that exemplify a more organic sound versus a more delineated & resolved sound presentation:
 

The Way It Goes

 

carlos269
mihorn
909 posts
 
carlos269 OP   No one has ever claimed that audio recordings, through iPhones, cameras, or even professional studio microphones are identical to the sound in the room in “absolute” terms.
What I and others are claiming is that enough sound qualities are conveyed through these audio recordings to make some inferences and to allow for “relative” comparisons.

+1.

We hear radio news every day and we recognize the voice. Every audio systems sound different and YT videos deliver those differences. Our brain needs to id how each sounds sound in YT. Our brain can easily learn that.

Many my YT videos are few same music with same speakers (different tuning). Sometimes the same system with different times of day. YT delivers all small sound differences.

Just record your system (with cell or DSLR) and listen to it few times. Your brain will learn how each audio sounds are expressed in recording. YT is same as recording. Fortunately, all mics (small or larger) deliver similar performance. And all YTubers (trained) can hear how other audio systems in YT videos. And you can easily acquire that hearing. If you do that, YT'll open a new world which you can enjoy many great sound systems. Alex/Wavetouch audio

carlos269's avatar
carlos269 OP
467 posts
 

Here is an audio recording of a home system recorded with high-end studio microphones and professional studio equipment, the details are on YouTube:

Audio recording of home audio system made with professional grade studio mics and equipment

Listen to the other recordings posted by Believe in High Fidelity. He owns a studio and uses the most expensive professional microphones and “best” professional studio equipment to make his audio recordings.

mahgister's avatar
mahgister
15,051 posts
 

Thanks very deep observation by a clinical doctor about the real impact of the perceived soundfield on some patient.

If we create a 3-D soundfield in our listening room, by controlling among many factors "reverberation time and timing" what we experience is no more a familiar space, but an imaginary one as real as the usual one, which may be the recorded acoustic  space of an album of music translated through our room acoustic controlled space or a silent  room more  able to create distortion or elevate the level of our perception then more able to increase anxieties or panic.(anechoic room can also induce this for other  completely inverse reason: unnatural total absence of reverberation )

Most audiophiles had no idea about this because they dont control their room parameters really (except at best few panels) , they buy gear... smiley

@#mahgister: I read your comments about Edgar Choueiri with great interest because I stumbled upon a similar effect in my research on patient experience in clinical settings. I am a cognitive psychologist and used to do research for GE Healthcare on the design of clinical environments to improve patients’ experience while being treated. I worked with Orfield Laboratories in MInneapolis, MN to create a variety of virtual clinical environments with different spatial, material, lighting, and acoustic properties. I had a sample of actual patients experience the various virtual environments and then rate their perceptual experience of those environments using a battery of specially designed psychometric rating scales. One thing that struck me as particularly interesting was that acoustic reverberation made patients feel less secure. My interpretation was that reverberation created a perception of greater space in the environment, which made patients feel exposed and vulnerable. Point is, we humans are highly attuned to reverberation in the environment and it is a rich source of information for a variety of subtle human perceptual responses. Whether it is good or not depends upon the situation.

audioman58's avatar
audioman58
4,620 posts
 

Your amp,preamp  has a lot to do with that ,as well as cables and front end where is your weakest link

joeycastillo
267 posts
 

OP

you said

As with everything else in life, is there a happy medium or compromise that gives you the best of those worlds? I believe that there is and that great music reproduction systems can be tuned to strike a balance between musicality and resolution. If one listens to the evolution of my OKTAN6 ultimate horn system for instance you can hear that the fine tuning is driving the sound in that direction.

 

 

Exactly where my journey was this year, striking a balance (and for me budget target)

I did this as I started with audio gear that promote a high level of accuracy (all Benchmark gear and ATC speakers) and after a year, found out that there is something missing, an incomplete feeling of emotion. So, I went with class A, (Pass, Tube 845 power amp and Mac Tube Pre and atc speakers) and after a few months, well, where did my accuracy and detail go ????????

and then all the changes happened, change Preamp, cables, speakers

Oh speakers, they obviously have a profound effect! went from ATC to Kliphes, to B&W to Magnepans, Devores, Focal and finally to Falcons

when I heard the Falcon, I remembered what Herb Reichert of Stereophile said, He and others have been lifelong devotee of the Ls3/5. its ability to present music and colors that are near true to life. And ATC, the ability to just present the music as is, no / minimal coloration, just accurate. it ability for Piano and female voice are uncanny. So, in the end, I settled for my gear that is on my Profile as this has the "Best possible" for Me matching of gear to reproduce what make me happy

 

so that is my journey and if wanted to "Tweak" the sound, I just switch my standby speakers, Kliphes and B&W to produce music a certain way

 

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