How often do you hear music performed, acoustic or amplified
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whatsnext
Naimless
I asked the question because it dawned on me that some members might live in the depths of the country miles from others. Others may have players of instruments within their home or immediate surroundings. As most have said they seek out performances. Yet more might live in new developments far from entertainment.
I count myself lucky hearing various performances for different reasons.
And some who haven't posted just only listen to and talk about their HiFi or don't want to share.
I count myself lucky hearing various performances for different reasons.
And some who haven't posted just only listen to and talk about their HiFi or don't want to share.
blossomchris
I feel better than James Brown
Come back to off topic.
Bloss
Bloss
100% this. Amongst other things, I want my system to make "Night at the Opera" and Oxygene sound marvellous.
BugBear
Jim Audiomisc
pfm Member
The snag is with the use of the word "realistically" in what Joe said and you quoted to say you agreed. What about situations where there *is* no 'original sound' to have 'fidelity' to? i.e. no 'real' sound in the first place? Take that further and what you regard as "marvelous" may be quite different to what the person balancing and mixing aimed for and got from their monitors.
Hence the interest in if people are going to live concerts and what effect that has when they come home to their hi-fi.
What I have noticed over the years is that the sound balance I want at home is consistently quite different for Radio 3 than for old pop/rock recordings. I was able to reference the R3 against being at performances, but I never could tell what the people balancing a rock/pop LP/CD might aim at. Only that they seemed to expect me to have different tone control settings or speaker responses!
G
Guest432
Guest
TheDecameron
Unicorns fart glitter.
I heard Mahan Esfahani give a recital at St. Cecilia's Hall in Edinburgh today on their famous Taskin 1769 harpsichord.
They hold one of the most significant collections in the world. You can even hear what they sound like-
http://tamtreanor.com/stcecelias/
Here's the Taskin being played-
[YOUTUBE]/IsAycqNhOAU[/YOUTUBE]
Even in the small chamber music auditorium, the instrument put out very modest SPLs and I was sitting fairly close. I came home to listen to his Goldbergs on DG- this time hifi won!
They hold one of the most significant collections in the world. You can even hear what they sound like-
http://tamtreanor.com/stcecelias/
Here's the Taskin being played-
[YOUTUBE]/IsAycqNhOAU[/YOUTUBE]
Even in the small chamber music auditorium, the instrument put out very modest SPLs and I was sitting fairly close. I came home to listen to his Goldbergs on DG- this time hifi won!
paulfromcamden
Baffled
Also want...
From the epic 100+ page WE thread over at Lenco Heaven:
http://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=7616.0
From the epic 100+ page WE thread over at Lenco Heaven:
http://www.lencoheaven.net/forum/index.php?topic=7616.0
Alan Brown
Registered LUser
Is the premise in the OP sound? It seems to be implied that 'knowing' how 'real' music sounds enables 'better' choices in hifi.
One might ask a person considering a SOTA OLED TV if he regularly looks at real things in order to know how good the TV is. It makes no sense: with a lifetime if experience looking at things, he or she still may not know a decent TV display when they see one. The 'point of reference' argument isn't so terribly relevant.
The main factor must surely be how much one enjoys hifi and live music in general. Live music always excites more, it always 'wins' even in acoustically compromised venues. Shouldn't a hifi also excite and satisfy when the recording/home acoustic /components aren't perfect?
It's very personal, very subjective, and I'm not sure anything can be inferred from somebody's experience of live music, or what hifi choices they have made.
One might ask a person considering a SOTA OLED TV if he regularly looks at real things in order to know how good the TV is. It makes no sense: with a lifetime if experience looking at things, he or she still may not know a decent TV display when they see one. The 'point of reference' argument isn't so terribly relevant.
The main factor must surely be how much one enjoys hifi and live music in general. Live music always excites more, it always 'wins' even in acoustically compromised venues. Shouldn't a hifi also excite and satisfy when the recording/home acoustic /components aren't perfect?
It's very personal, very subjective, and I'm not sure anything can be inferred from somebody's experience of live music, or what hifi choices they have made.
JemHayward
pfm Member
Just completed 3 festivals in about six weeks, and as usual festival stages vary, and the sound varies depending on where you are. The B&W sound system at WOMAD this year was way better than I've experienced before, and would be more impressive if the overall sound quality standard at WOMAD wasn't so high anyway. I noticed engineers doing DSP setup on the main WOMAD stage - my wife thought is was some form of minimalist music playing between bands... I noted that the excellent PA speakers used at WOMAD are now used at Cropredy, and the sound from the back of the arena there is remarkable. Blue Dot main stage was good when stood near the mixing desks, less so when in other areas, I suspect reflections, and their second stage tent was really a bit too loud. Last classical was at the Sheldonian in Oxford.
I don't really expect my HiFi to sound like either of these types of venue... my neighbours are glad of this.
I don't really expect my HiFi to sound like either of these types of venue... my neighbours are glad of this.
When listening to keyboard concertos live even with the superb acoustics of the Wigmore Hall, played on original instruments with a baroque orchestra (usually mostly strings, 2 horns, 3 or 4 woodwind), the keyboard is often drowned out. Listening to recordings of the same orchestra playing the same piece, the balance is towards keyboard. What is preferable? What is authentic?
At the Mor Kabasi gig, I went to back in May, her on vocals, plus two backing musicians, at an arts centre venue, I thought the amplified sound was very good in quality and quantity. Full but not loud; enthralling in terms of voice which was much more mature and complex than on the CD purchased after the gig.
I remember thinking that the PA speakers (probably with built in amplifiers?) on single pillar adjustable stands, were not that big - almost a sort of a scaled up (domestic) audio system proportionate to the larger space (compared to a domestic setting). The venue was equivalent in size to say a ‘medium size function room’ - sorry to be vague - which for me made it small enough to make comparisons with a hifi system sound, and I also tried to recall impressions from hifi demonstrations in similar sized spaces (some with larger speakers).
In terms of realism, the vocals and instruments sounded much better, not just in scale, than the amplified sound I can achieve at home, or ,what I could recall from the hifi demos in similar sized spaces. For that matter, the recorded music being played through that PA system before the gig and during the break also sounded very good!
Obviously size and space does very much matter. I’m happy with the sound I can achieve from my set-up, but that occasion clearly showed up the limitations of a small domestic setting, and was something of an eye-opener in terms of the quality available from a pro audio set up.
I remember thinking that the PA speakers (probably with built in amplifiers?) on single pillar adjustable stands, were not that big - almost a sort of a scaled up (domestic) audio system proportionate to the larger space (compared to a domestic setting). The venue was equivalent in size to say a ‘medium size function room’ - sorry to be vague - which for me made it small enough to make comparisons with a hifi system sound, and I also tried to recall impressions from hifi demonstrations in similar sized spaces (some with larger speakers).
In terms of realism, the vocals and instruments sounded much better, not just in scale, than the amplified sound I can achieve at home, or ,what I could recall from the hifi demos in similar sized spaces. For that matter, the recorded music being played through that PA system before the gig and during the break also sounded very good!
Obviously size and space does very much matter. I’m happy with the sound I can achieve from my set-up, but that occasion clearly showed up the limitations of a small domestic setting, and was something of an eye-opener in terms of the quality available from a pro audio set up.
paulfromcamden
Baffled
One of the big differences with live music is dynamic range and volume. Recorded music is normally compressed during mixing and mastering. This is a good thing - I don't want the actual volume and dynamic range of a snare drum in my living room!
Helen Bach
if it ain't Baroque ...
I have played most types of music, with groups and orchestras. Used to listen and play up to four times a week. So I think I have a pretty good grasp of what real instrument sound like, which is not like most hifi sounds like!
@Helen Bach - of course, and neither am I under any illusions, see my post 33 above (though of course my experience is limited to being a member of the audience - not a performer!).
My last post was prompted by Jem's post 52, referring to the quality of PA systems at festivals. The gig I'm referring to had a smallish scale PA set-up which made me think of comparisons between pro audio and hifi. As I indicated, even the recorded music played through the PA before the gig and at the interval compared favourably to my recollection of HiFi demos in similar sized spaces. In passing, the rigs at those demos would certainly have cost much more!
My last post was prompted by Jem's post 52, referring to the quality of PA systems at festivals. The gig I'm referring to had a smallish scale PA set-up which made me think of comparisons between pro audio and hifi. As I indicated, even the recorded music played through the PA before the gig and at the interval compared favourably to my recollection of HiFi demos in similar sized spaces. In passing, the rigs at those demos would certainly have cost much more!
Helen Bach
if it ain't Baroque ...
not getting at you, nicetone, just a general observation. Of all the PA systems I have used/played through, 99% were pure junk. The only one that impressed was an active (built in amplifiers and crossovers) one built by a friend. It had two mid/bass units and three tweeters, covering two bands. Unfortunately, one of the 100 watt amplifiers in one of the speakers produced distortion half way through the set, but no-one (except me) could hear the difference!
One of the strangest (and cleverest) 'PA's I've seen and heard was when 'Show of Hands' played a set in the Lakes. As they come from just down the road (from me) I know them well. Their set was of two holiday makers on the beach, their 'PA' was made from two portable radios which were up to the job, but never intrusive.
['Show of Hands' do a number where Phil Beer sings one song, whilst accompanied by Steve on guitar, while Steve (sic) sings a completely different song!]
One of the strangest (and cleverest) 'PA's I've seen and heard was when 'Show of Hands' played a set in the Lakes. As they come from just down the road (from me) I know them well. Their set was of two holiday makers on the beach, their 'PA' was made from two portable radios which were up to the job, but never intrusive.
['Show of Hands' do a number where Phil Beer sings one song, whilst accompanied by Steve on guitar, while Steve (sic) sings a completely different song!]
Helen - I saw 'Show of Hands' at Cambridge Fest 2010. Memorable for me is their song 'Roots' (which they also performed then), written as a response to Kim Howells, former Labour Govt minister who made comments* dissing folk music.
Great song and great response. Howells, to his credit was gracious enough to write to them regretting his comments and complementing them on the song. Of course you'll already know all this, but no harm in plugging Phil and Steve. Regards.
*Now looked it up and the comments were made during a House of Commons debate on licensing laws. I knew what he had said, to the effect that the idea of listening to three Somerset folk singers in a pub sounded to him like hell, but couldn't remember where.
Great song and great response. Howells, to his credit was gracious enough to write to them regretting his comments and complementing them on the song. Of course you'll already know all this, but no harm in plugging Phil and Steve. Regards.
*Now looked it up and the comments were made during a House of Commons debate on licensing laws. I knew what he had said, to the effect that the idea of listening to three Somerset folk singers in a pub sounded to him like hell, but couldn't remember where.
Still
he said his naim was ralph
WOMAD has a history of sq excellence ime.
The B&W sound system was fantastic imo in 2014 and 2015.