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Sound quality

I've not had this problem lately. I used to. I have stopped using my LP12 and mounted my Ekos/Arkiv on a Technics. I have also switched from Naim amps to Linns. All music seems more intelligible now. The system isn't impressive sounding, but I'm buying more records than ever and just can't wait for the next opportunity to play an old favourite.

I listened to a high spec Sondek through Naim again at a dealer last week and felt once again that sense of confusion about the purpose of music. It just felt like noise. I don't believe it's about acclimatising to a system. Wow and impressive-sounding but musically confused amps can obstruct a lot of musical pleasure while apparently revealing every last iota of 'sound'. Sound isn't always music, and it's very difficult to choose musical equipment without getting distracted by the sounds.
 
TheDecameron said:
I think sound quality as a parameter is over rated. I tend to go for great looks, special limited editions, five star review ratings, somthing that will blend in with our carefully chosen decor and above all something that will impress the neighbours when they come round for christmas drinks
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That's the stuff ! Bling over Bach any day ! I didn't think stack systems were still in vogue, though.:D
 
Blzebub said:
Mike Reed, just how good is having a dedicated mains feed?
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I can't bang a drum about sound quality, as I'm not about to put plugs back on and switch everything to domestic mains just to prove a point. However, I, and many many others, are totally convinced.

One thing that's easily demonstable, though, is the increase in dynamics at each step of eliminating plugs, sockets and fuses. I guess dedicated mains also helps in this area.

There are various ways of installing one or more radial circuits, depending on your domestic circumstances, but it's not expensive in relation to the price of good kit. Additionally, as I've found recently, installing RCBOs (a combination of 'fuse' and earth leakage device) as part of a system really enhances the safety aspect. Separate earthing is another important matter but requires careful research and consideration after installing dedicated mains.

I have eight large cables, one for each piece. Maybe over the top, but has suited me for a number of years. Anything is better than plugging into the domestic mains, in my opinion, though some people swear by regeneration units; these and dedicated mains are not mutually exclusive and I'm sure they're beneficial; they are, however, expensive; more so than a radial circuit system, I feel.
 
If I ever find myself worrying about sound quality, I just play the original release of Raw Power, and immediately realise sound quality doesn't matter in the slightest.
 
sideshowbob said:
If I ever find myself worrying about sound quality, I just play the original release of Raw Power, and immediately realise sound quality doesn't matter in the slightest.
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This is also always a good plan for clearing the cobwebs out of your brain.
 
sideshowbob said:
If I ever find myself worrying about sound quality, I just play the original release of Raw Power, and immediately realise sound quality doesn't matter in the slightest.
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Never a truer word, mate. I would rather listen to the original Robert Johnson recordings or the 1st Velvet Underground LP (both of which have poor "sound quality") than any amount of fantastically recorded audiophile shite (or dire straits...)

Chris
 
markt said:
Every now and then I forget my music, go days, even a couple of weeks without it not realising, then I return and it's good.

Too much of a good thing is wonderful, small amounts of a good thing can often be even better.
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totally
 
Mescalito said:
Never a truer word, mate. I would rather listen to the original Robert Johnson recordings or the 1st Velvet Underground LP (both of which have poor "sound quality") than any amount of fantastically recorded audiophile shite (or dire straits...)

Chris
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Why have you spent so much on HiFi?
And wouldn't it have been even better if the recordings had been high quality?

Cheers
Jason
 
Re-Joyce said:
Why have you spent so much on HiFi?
And wouldn't it have been even better if the recordings had been high quality?

Cheers
Jason
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Because I like to hear what went on the master. But it's by no means essential.

And no, the Stooges and the first VU album would be improved in no way at all by a "cleaner" recording.

They sound the way they do because the bands, quite rightly, wanted them to sound that way. And the music siomply would not work any other way. Think Dire Straits "Money For Nothing" vs VU "European Son". The sound quality on the first is superb, that on the second is murky & distorted. The first is a sanitised facsimile of rock 'n' roll. The second is the real thing.

Chris
 
Mescalito said:
Because I like to hear what went on the master. But it's by no means essential.

And no, the Stooges and the first VU album would be improved in no way at all by a "cleaner" recording.

They sound the way they do because the bands, quite rightly, wanted them to sound that way. And the music siomply would not work any other way. Think Dire Straits "Money For Nothing" vs VU "European Son". The sound quality on the first is superb, that on the second is murky & distorted. The first is a sanitised facsimile of rock 'n' roll. The second is the real thing.

Chris
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I also like to hear what the band/artist hears on the recording studio playback, but I'm not sure we ever do. By the time it's been mastered/remixed/re-mastered/re-pressed, how close to the original is it? Led Zep 1 on original pressingl vinyl is a stunning recording: you can feel the band's presence in the room. The first CD re-master series almost sounds like the band playing next door with the door closed.

Are we absolutely sure that VU wanted "European Son" to sound that way? Did it sound like that in the studio at the time? Or were they too stoned to notice? There are bands I've known that say their stuff sounded great in the studio, and that the released version sounds "tiny" by comparison.
 
it doesn't matter, what matters is that your hi fi is
1/ enjoyable
2/ lets you hear the differences between led zep and the velvet underground.
i think what mescalito is saying is he wants the 'actual' cd or vinyl to sound as it was manufactured to sound.
he can choose the remaster or original recording in the other cases.
 
Theo said:
I also like to hear what the band/artist hears on the recording studio playback, but I'm not sure we ever do. By the time it's been mastered/remixed/re-mastered/re-pressed, how close to the original is it? Led Zep 1 on original pressingl vinyl is a stunning recording: you can feel the band's presence in the room. The first CD re-master series almost sounds like the band playing next door with the door closed.

Are we absolutely sure that VU wanted "European Son" to sound that way? Did it sound like that in the studio at the time? Or were they too stoned to notice? There are bands I've known that say their stuff sounded great in the studio, and that the released version sounds "tiny" by comparison.
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I don't think "European Son" could EVER be accused of sounding Tiny! It sounds the way it does because that is how the band sounded back then. I actually saw them at the Cafe Bizarre in NYC in 1966. Any attempt to clean up the sound would have emasculated the music. So what is on the record/CD is what I want to hear.

If you want to hear the VU recording philosophy taken to the nth degree, check out Sister Ray on their "White Light White Heat" album. Everything turned up to 11 & the level meters bending on the end stops. Bloody magnificent, but from an audiophile point of view, appalling.

Chris

Chris
 
I never said that "European Son" sounded tiny: my point is that what the band/producer hears in studio playback may not be what we actually purchase by the time its been pressed for general consumption.

IN VU's case, WYSIWYG - not always the case though.
 
darrylfunk said:
it doesn't matter, what matters is that your hi fi is
1/ enjoyable
2/ lets you hear the differences between led zep and the velvet underground.
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Does it take a special hifi to hear the difference between led zep and velvet underground? I think I could hear the difference on a pocket radio played to me through a telephone.
 
John said:
Does it take a special hifi to hear the difference between led zep and velvet underground? I think I could hear the difference on a pocket radio played to me through a telephone.
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... played into a tin can connected with string to another tin can. :D
 
Back on topic slightly- it's definitely your mood, some people are solid as a rock (mentally) and experience hardly any variation from day to day unless something extreme happens to cause a reaction. Others, of which I'm one, suffer terribly from day-to-day with quite bad mood swings.

I sometimes browse my music and can't find a single thing that I want to listen to, this can happen for days on end, whilst other days I can dial in a play-list with 15 hours of music on it because there's so much I fancy listening to. As much as I love music, some days I just can't be doing with it. How people listen to it constantly via all the various portable devices bamboozles me, unless they aren't really listening and it's just used as noise to drown out the world.
 
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