Hi all, there's something that has been bothering me for a long time. Some people will spend a fortune on audio equipment to reproduce sound as close to the original live performance as possible. But is there really a point in doing that? How do you know what microphone was used recording the audio? What is it's frequency response? After that it got mixed in a studio by an audio engineer, whose ears might be more or less sensitive to certain frequencies, who adjusted it to his own taste based on that and listened to it on his own speakers. So by the time you play that CD it will be far from the original live performance. And there are your ears that will be more or less sensitive to different frequencies. How can you make sure that a microphone has a flat frequency response and that a speaker has a flat frequency response?
Its a futile effort.
But lots and lots of experimentation has shown that the vast majority of people prefer neutral speakers.
So what are neutral speakers?
Neutral speakers have a ruler flat on axis frequency response in a reflectionfree room, and have a uniform of axis frequency response. Iow they have no resonances.
But lots and lots of experimentation has shown that the vast majority of people prefer neutral speakers.
So what are neutral speakers?
Neutral speakers have a ruler flat on axis frequency response in a reflectionfree room, and have a uniform of axis frequency response. Iow they have no resonances.
You will hear the term "Listening Fatigue". Some speakers are far more pleasant to listen to than others. Yes, the amplifier plays a part in that too, as does the source and its player.
In this subjective topic, we all just try to get a set-up that we find pleasant to listen to that you can listen to for hours on end without "fatigue".
In this subjective topic, we all just try to get a set-up that we find pleasant to listen to that you can listen to for hours on end without "fatigue".
"sound as close to the original live performance as possible" is an audiophile phantasie that doesn't mean anything in real world terms. First of all there might not have been a live performance. If there was one it will have sounded different in any given space of the room that performance took place in. I have never seen any recording coming anywhere close to the dynamic peaks that are possible with percussion or other instruments.
The "worlds best speakers" mean nothing if they are not integrated in a room that works as part of the reproduction chain.
Aaaaaaaaand so on....
The "worlds best speakers" mean nothing if they are not integrated in a room that works as part of the reproduction chain.
Aaaaaaaaand so on....
Sometimes when I listen I get overly obsessed with things like "one note bass" and then I realize for all I know, that could be in the original recording - not my system. So then I notice the wide variability of this aspect across recordings and realize that as much as we can do toward "high fidelity", it's only effective on certain recordings, hopefully the majority of what we have access to.
The best speakers cannot help a poor recording sound more life-like or whatever. They'll only reveal even more how bad it is. I have some material I cant even listen to at all and have proposed a project to purge it from my collection. I also have what I like to believe to be revealing speakers...
It's a compromise that at least should be chosen carefully, considering other factors. I think I just got lucky as I truly enjoy the sound of my speakers because of their "coherency" - a quality I particularly favor; other speaker qualities taking a back seat to it. Of course, look for a design that "has it all" - if possible within a reasonable budget.
The best speakers cannot help a poor recording sound more life-like or whatever. They'll only reveal even more how bad it is. I have some material I cant even listen to at all and have proposed a project to purge it from my collection. I also have what I like to believe to be revealing speakers...
It's a compromise that at least should be chosen carefully, considering other factors. I think I just got lucky as I truly enjoy the sound of my speakers because of their "coherency" - a quality I particularly favor; other speaker qualities taking a back seat to it. Of course, look for a design that "has it all" - if possible within a reasonable budget.
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I've read this a lot but find the opposite to be true, as my system, particularly the speakers, have improved, I've found I enjoy older/poorer quality recordings better.
You can make your own puristic recordings if you like. I used to record an amateur chorus using two AKG C900 microphones (with the acoustic presence-filter removed) in ORTF set-up with a home-made microphone preamplifier and a Fostex FR2-LE field memory recorder. The main differences between the recording and reality were that you noticed the reverberation more in the recording and that there was some background noise from the microphones.
A friend of mine once played such a CD in a car. As the recordings are totally uncompressed, he had to turn up the volume quite a bit and nearly got a heart attack when the traffic information started.
A friend of mine once played such a CD in a car. As the recordings are totally uncompressed, he had to turn up the volume quite a bit and nearly got a heart attack when the traffic information started.
Vast majority of consumer speakers actually have a smiley curve.
Which leads to another aspect of it all: Even if the acoustic elements of your listening to a live recording might be EXACTLY the same as what you would have gotten sitting/standing in the audience, the greater experience would still be totally different.
Unless they are symphony devotees, most people have no idea what the "real" instruments sound like anyway. If you go to a concert of any sort of pop music, you are hearing the creation of the sound system. I was a touring sound man for a time in my life. My job was to make the band sound GOOD, not to make the instruments all sound like they do in the living room. Golden ears can say Oh that guitar is SOOO compressed, and my guitarist will reply, I hope so, I run a compressor pedal in front of the amp, I like the sustain.
In manay dance bars, first set sounds different from third set. Opening set, the hall is relatively empty, and by third set, the place is full of bodies, and they are all breathing humidity into the air. No longer in Michigan, but used to be the bar air filled with smoke from cigarettes. The difference was enough to compensate for with EQ.
When I toured with a big band - think basic rock band plus horn section and pretty girl up front - the horns were close miked. That sounds different from hearing the hord from across the room. Same with guitar amps, my SM57 in front of the speaker will sound different than what you hear at a table across the dance floor. We won't "sound like the record" anyway.
I had a keyboard guy who couldn't find the notes when singing on half the nights, so I left him up in the monitors but took him out of the mix. He never knew. Nor did the crowd. This is show biz, what matters is the impression, not the reality.
In manay dance bars, first set sounds different from third set. Opening set, the hall is relatively empty, and by third set, the place is full of bodies, and they are all breathing humidity into the air. No longer in Michigan, but used to be the bar air filled with smoke from cigarettes. The difference was enough to compensate for with EQ.
When I toured with a big band - think basic rock band plus horn section and pretty girl up front - the horns were close miked. That sounds different from hearing the hord from across the room. Same with guitar amps, my SM57 in front of the speaker will sound different than what you hear at a table across the dance floor. We won't "sound like the record" anyway.
I had a keyboard guy who couldn't find the notes when singing on half the nights, so I left him up in the monitors but took him out of the mix. He never knew. Nor did the crowd. This is show biz, what matters is the impression, not the reality.
Definitely, though you will hear the faults of the recordings more distinctly (but not exaggerated),
just as you will hear more natural timbre of the instruments in good recordings.
Yes, there is for those who believe in that goal and the audiophile media have done pretty much everything to make it a worthy cause. I am convinced one should adjust the chain of electronics/speakers to sound to one's own taste to help achieve personal satisfaction.
Studio recording on cd is not live performance. Its artists vision of song, including all those sound manipulations. Numerous takes, cuts, echoes, eq's and other manipulations went into final mix. Nothing to do with live sound.
When the artist and sound engineers work together, and after many months of studio work finaly smile at each other and say, 'this is it', they do not care if it sounds like live instruments, far from it. They care if the song carptures your attention, if it grabs your soul, gives you shivers down your spine, brings tears to your eyes, or makes you want to move, dance, and be happy, or sad.
It about emotions.
Nothing to do with live sound.
When i play that cd, i want to hear precisely what artist and sound engineers heard after final mix. Does not matter what cd player, what amplifier, what speakers, or any other stuff it takes. If it takes dsp, or eq, or active crossover, fine. The goal is to recreate the sound artist had in mind. Not live performance. Most artists do not sound so good at live concerts, try dancing and singing! Dont even get me started how horrible most of the concerts sound.
Vast majority of consumer speakers actually have a smiley curve.
That's because those kind of speakers do better in those short audioshop AB tests.
of course...i was replying to the thread started where he talks about microphones, mixes, recording studio equipment and cds as a result
It's not so obvious, because live concerts of acoustical music are also recorded using microphones, mixers and so on.
I guess you should use monitor loudspeakers of the same model as was used in the studio then.
I guess you should use monitor loudspeakers of the same model as was used in the studio then.
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