High End Audio Sounds Crap!
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Can see the writers point, but on the other hand they are missing the point.
Hifi will always have to be a representation of what the recording engineers achieved, not how the actual event sounded.
A similar example would be a photograph taken with a high end DSLR and exotic lens, the photograph might look stunning in the way that we judge photo's, but is it accurate to what your eyes would have seen? Probably not, we don't see colour, depth of field, and distances the same as a camera does.
Hifi will always have to be a representation of what the recording engineers achieved, not how the actual event sounded.
A similar example would be a photograph taken with a high end DSLR and exotic lens, the photograph might look stunning in the way that we judge photo's, but is it accurate to what your eyes would have seen? Probably not, we don't see colour, depth of field, and distances the same as a camera does.
Mescalito
pfm Member
The writer of the articler is, of course, 100% correct. Unless you are listening to something like a very well recorded solo acoustic guitar, no hi fi even gets close to the real thing. It is a facsimile, and in most cases, a poor one.
Hi fi is methadone to live music's heroin.
Chris
Chris
Hi fi is methadone to live music's heroin.
Chris
Chris
Tony L
Administrator
I suspect the writer is simply contrasting studio recordings with a live gig. A whole other thing IMO. I don't want my home system to sound like a gig at all - my reference point is full-range monitors in the studio control room / cutting room. I want as close to the sound where the artistic decisions were made for a given recording as is possible within my budget.
I think the writer of this article is extremely naive. No HiFi system will ever sound as good as live music. Fact!
For a start there is far to much in the recording process and far to much in the replay process for recorded music to sound "live". I am not saying you can't get close because you can but it will never be as good as what you heard "live". It will only ever be a facsimile. Same is true if you took the very best camera in the world and took a picture of someone and compared it directly to looking at that same person in the flesh. The picture will never be as good but that doesn't mean the camera is crap.
Also HiFi like many things in this world (Cars, Bikes, Cameras etc, etc) is made up of companies producing products that "they" consider is the correct approach or the right approach. Whether you buy into this is down to the individual and their buying decision, its called "Choice". It doesn't mean just because you bought a Porsche over a Ferrari the Ferrari is crap. Same is true for High-end Hifi and like everything in this world, some is good and some is not so good.
For a start there is far to much in the recording process and far to much in the replay process for recorded music to sound "live". I am not saying you can't get close because you can but it will never be as good as what you heard "live". It will only ever be a facsimile. Same is true if you took the very best camera in the world and took a picture of someone and compared it directly to looking at that same person in the flesh. The picture will never be as good but that doesn't mean the camera is crap.
Also HiFi like many things in this world (Cars, Bikes, Cameras etc, etc) is made up of companies producing products that "they" consider is the correct approach or the right approach. Whether you buy into this is down to the individual and their buying decision, its called "Choice". It doesn't mean just because you bought a Porsche over a Ferrari the Ferrari is crap. Same is true for High-end Hifi and like everything in this world, some is good and some is not so good.
JTC
PFM Villager...
PS. 99% of gigs I've ever been to have sounded inferior than the sound of what most of us here get from our stereo systems. Sure, gigs are louder but the sound is often distorted and uneven. What's wrong about the whole premise of the original post is that expecting a studio or even studio-post-processed live recording to sound like a live recording is just wrong. They're very different things.
Still
he said his naim was ralph
I suspect that woman's name is Audio.
The argument in the article is nonsense.
If you want to recreate the sound of a rock band playing through a PA you should buy a PA system.
I have heard string quartets and pianos reproduced through high-fidelity systems very well. But then when I go to hear a live piano I don't stick my head under the lid - which is where a lot of recording engineers want to stick their microphones.
I've sat and listened in a room with a grand piano at the far end, and a hifi system between me and the piano.
People need to think carefully about what they are trying to recreate.
If you want to recreate the sound of a rock band playing through a PA you should buy a PA system.
I have heard string quartets and pianos reproduced through high-fidelity systems very well. But then when I go to hear a live piano I don't stick my head under the lid - which is where a lot of recording engineers want to stick their microphones.
I've sat and listened in a room with a grand piano at the far end, and a hifi system between me and the piano.
People need to think carefully about what they are trying to recreate.
Tony L
Administrator
The closest I've ever got was an original blue silver copy of SAX 2535 (Schubert 15 / Julliard Quartet). That really was a stunning sounding record, one of Stereophile's Records To Die For IIRC. Was worth a decent number of quids so I eBay'd it rather than hang onto it, which was possibly a mistake in hindsight.
Is that as in - being in the same room as the string quartet?
Or as in - sitting on the lap of the violin player?
This is about close mic recording.
Peter Walker was doing demos live versus recorded 50 years ago
The writer is absolutely correct. If you want to remove most of the sound manipulation, you'd have to listen to an uncompressed and unmixed FM broadcast of a live performance where the microphone is positioned to capture most of the performance. Even then, the very best audio system would struggle to recreate the music in a completely believable way.
IMO, this article does not condemn High end audio but is a reminder. Whatever the way you assemble your audio system or the price you pay it will remain a pale imitation of the real thing.
IMO, this article does not condemn High end audio but is a reminder. Whatever the way you assemble your audio system or the price you pay it will remain a pale imitation of the real thing.
PaulMB
pfm Member
Indeed. Every schoolboy knows you have to have two naked ladies, symmetrically placed.
To re-create the sound of a live band playing you need a live recording in the first place, not a typical studio album.
I recently got the double CD of this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000A2H1DW/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21
This pretty much does sound like a live band playing, even if I'm in the other room, mostly recorded in small venues where you can hear that the audience is near. The Dermot O'Leary Saturday sessions albums are also pretty good in that regard but sans audience which makes them feel a bit flatter.
Blame the recordings not the Hifi I say
I recently got the double CD of this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000A2H1DW/?tag=pinkfishmedia-21
This pretty much does sound like a live band playing, even if I'm in the other room, mostly recorded in small venues where you can hear that the audience is near. The Dermot O'Leary Saturday sessions albums are also pretty good in that regard but sans audience which makes them feel a bit flatter.
Blame the recordings not the Hifi I say
This site contains affiliate links for which pink fish media may be compensated.
If i were new to Hi-Fi I think I would be totally disheartened reading some of these comments, it would appear a lot of money is spent on a pointless task, If only the "live music" sound is acceptable to you, then just go to live concerts.which I would imagine is expensive.
I haven't been to many live concerts, but the ones I have been to were excessively loud and in some cases distorted.
I accept and agree recorded music is a facsimile, but CRAP! NO!! I have what IMO is a High End Hi-Fi system ( as in quality, not expenditure )and I have spent years adding to or changing equipment in order to hear more and more of the recordings I've bought and enjoyed the journey immensely.
I do have some crap recordings, but bye and large they are great and as I improve my system I hear and enjoy more and more which makes me wonder just how much information have the engineers put on either the LP or CD and I'm sure there is much more to be had.
Travelling to the venue, queuing in the cold, squashed in a crowd, blasted til my ears ring. Live music is fine, but you can't beat the real thing VINYL!!
regards Al
I haven't been to many live concerts, but the ones I have been to were excessively loud and in some cases distorted.
I accept and agree recorded music is a facsimile, but CRAP! NO!! I have what IMO is a High End Hi-Fi system ( as in quality, not expenditure )and I have spent years adding to or changing equipment in order to hear more and more of the recordings I've bought and enjoyed the journey immensely.
I do have some crap recordings, but bye and large they are great and as I improve my system I hear and enjoy more and more which makes me wonder just how much information have the engineers put on either the LP or CD and I'm sure there is much more to be had.
Travelling to the venue, queuing in the cold, squashed in a crowd, blasted til my ears ring. Live music is fine, but you can't beat the real thing VINYL!!
regards Al
mmaatt
pfm Member
I have to agree with the couple of dissenters here - the sound quality of my hi-fi beats any PA system I have ever heard hands down. I don't want that kind of loudness or distortion in my room thanks. Plus I'd rather listen to Jimi Hendrix than my local pub band, although I do go to a fair few gigs, but the sound quality is usually atrocious and that goes for jazz too.
Even choral or orchestral music often sounds better at home than in real life - it all comes down to enjoying music not reproducing the dynamics of a full orchestra or rock band in a listening room.
mat
Even choral or orchestral music often sounds better at home than in real life - it all comes down to enjoying music not reproducing the dynamics of a full orchestra or rock band in a listening room.
mat
bottleneck
pfm Member
Im with Tony on this.
.. Ive said before, but , what , truly do we mean by live??
If the instruments are mike'd up, played through a mixing desk, amplifier and speakers - is this live? Is it live in the same way as an unamplified string quartet in a room?
In the mixing desk/speaker/amp scenario, how much are we listening to the ''PA'' ??
In un-amplified music, I don't want to replicate this.
A drum kit is FUC... well it's very loud.
A saxophone is too much for my living room thanks.
If a hifi system makes music enjoyable at home, it's done it's job.
A drum kit behind my sofa is not enjoyable !!
.. Ive said before, but , what , truly do we mean by live??
If the instruments are mike'd up, played through a mixing desk, amplifier and speakers - is this live? Is it live in the same way as an unamplified string quartet in a room?
In the mixing desk/speaker/amp scenario, how much are we listening to the ''PA'' ??
In un-amplified music, I don't want to replicate this.
A drum kit is FUC... well it's very loud.
A saxophone is too much for my living room thanks.
If a hifi system makes music enjoyable at home, it's done it's job.
A drum kit behind my sofa is not enjoyable !!