What is "Real"?

[JeffW]

And I thought buying really expensive gear was going to bring Jimi Hendrix back to life. Damn!


Widget

I'll ask him next time he's over for a beer. Oh wait, you mean YOUR system didn't bring him back to life?

I'm bringing at least one live piano recording with me to the LVAC meet, we'll see how stacked Ubangis do with it.

[DavidF]

So, two audiophiles are attending a piano recital in a ball room of an old estate. Part way through the program one leans to the other and whispers..."Wowwww, that piano sounds so real!!"

[LowPhreak]

And therein lies the crux of the biscuit...

[JeffW]

So, two audiophiles are attending a piano recital in a ball room of an old estate. Part way through the program one leans to the other and whispers..."Wowwww, that piano sounds so real!!"

They have it made, it's the rest of us schmuks that have to listen to recordings that have to muddle along.

[loach71]

Perception is reality... at least so inside the Washington DC Beltway!

[1audiohack]

Haha! Sad but true.

Barry.

[SEAWOLF97]

Perception is reality... at least so inside the Washington DC Beltway!

As Mr. Loach knows , reality is when the ground is approaching rapidly, and your shorts are getting warm. At that point, there isn't much sound at all, mainly reflections on a misspent past.

(a nod to yesterdays holiday)

[sonofagun]

I recently was contacted by an audio engineer who has developed over the last several years a new reproduction system which by all measurements and tests (as well as live demos before some industry ears) may be as great an advance in music reproduction as digital was over everything before it. He's still got a few things to get in order before unleashing this to the world but it should be incredible. He's not releasing any further details right now.

[hjames]

Its all websmoke and rumours until its in the market ...
We are talkin' "real" real here - not pipesmoke ...

I recently was contacted by an audio engineer who has developed over the last several years a new reproduction system which by all measurements and tests (as well as live demos before some industry ears) may be as great an advance in music reproduction as digital was over everything before it. He's still got a few things to get in order before unleashing this to the world but it should be incredible. He's not releasing any further details right now.

[Ed Kreamer]

Collegues,

I have always searched for the holy grail of accuracy and in particular the (what I call) the "sheen" of concert presence, one hears in the concert hall but is missing in 90% of all recordings. I'm speaking of classical music here. I'm not looking for perfection, but closer than what we seem to get most of the time. I think that with most pop/rock it is easier to obtain in that they are creations of the studio and cannot be performed in real time. That is not a condemnation, just a statement of fact. Orchestral music is more difficult to record not only in timbral accuracy but also in placement accuracy. (where are those 'cellos supposed to be?) Some labels are better than this than others, Telarc or Delos come to mind....but even then I have found some that are not as good as they should be. It makes me search out certain engineers, Keith Johnson for one, and also the late John Eargle. Both make the orchestra come alive.

We all have the same hearing mechanism but we all perceive differently. And no matter how accurate our playback systems are (for the record I use 3 4410's in front 4 l 20's for the sides and rear and 2 Altec 411's doing vlf duty) we are all at the mercy of the engineer

[LowPhreak]

Much of that's true, Ed, which is why I like rock recordings [many but not all] that were mixed or mastered by greats such as Bob Ludwig, Greg Calbi, Eddie Kramer, and a few others. Sometimes though, the engineers are at the mercy of the producer, record company, or musicians, or the venue and variables that can't be controlled.

But in lieu of a several hundred word dissertation that would probably bore everyone, I'll simply refer back to Roger Skoff's missive that I posted earlier.

[Maron Horonzakz]

You cant squeeze a full orchestra through a microphone and expect it to sound the same,,,no way hozay

[BMWCCA]

You cant squeeze a full orchestra through a microphone and expect it to sound the same,,,no way hozay

Why not? We squeeze it through two very small—and probably age-impaired—ear canals, don't we?

[Maron Horonzakz]

Than why shouldn't they both sound the same ???

[BMWCCA]

Than why shouldn't they both sound the same ???

It's either bad microphones or bad engineering. Maybe you need to have your speakers on-stage in a concert hall? So that means room acoustics. You know . . . all the usual variables.