Fidelity vs. Musicality...........Is there a tug of War?

Fidelity and musicality are not mutually exclusive; rather there is a high positive correlation between the two.

In the context of music reproduction, without equipment capable of high fidelity you will not obtain a high level of musicality.

One can put together a system that measures really well but in the end, it’s not an oscilloscope that’s going to listen to the system-- it’s individual human beings, whose perception of sound and aesthetic preferences can vary considerably, to say the least.

Agreed

Everybody will have their own definition of what fidelity is, but to me fidelity does not equal measuring well on a scope. 2nd order harmonics is not distortion, 5th order harmonics is. 

Fidelity in audio is faithfulness to the reproduction of music, not faithfulness to reproducing a sine wave on a scope. Measurements that give the average deaf engineer wood is of no consequence to anyone with an interest in audio.

@cleeds


No no no, fidelity is my spouse being faithful to me, not me to her! Jeez dude. 😂🤣

Seriously though, I have no problem with the accepted definition of fidelity; it’s more a case of how that definition is applied in audio. I don’t consider high fidelity in audio as the ability of an amplifier to reproduce a sine wave accurately on a scope. Rather i see high fidelity of an amplifier to reproduce music in a way that I find it to be natural and accurate. 

The two are not the same, and most often some amplifiers will do the one well, the other not much.

Anything added is distortion. Piano, for instance, has overtones stretched over harmonics.

… best we agree to disagree on that one. Technically you are correct of course, however in music reproduction I prefer an amp that adds 5% 2nd order harmonics over one which adds 0.01% 5th order harmonics. The vast majority of posters here will make the same choice in a listening test.


I’m looking at distortion in the context of how we experience music vs. what a scope will show.

I prefer amplifier that does not add any distortion. My Benchmark AHB2 has THD=0.00011% (-119dB, inaudible). Any distortion is coloring sound (reducing clarity).

No, you actually prefer an amp that adds distortion, and your benchmark reduces clarity.

Our hearing evolved over millennia to interpret the fundamental frequency and even ordered harmonics as natural and clear sound. There is no natural sound in nature that is not accompanied by even ordered harmonics.

The 0.00011% THD is achieved by dialing in large amounts of NFB. NFB results in odd ordered harmonics. Even in minute amounts, odd ordered harmonics sound unnatural, sterile and not musical. Odd ordered harmonics do not occur naturally. You make the mistake in thinking 5% 2nd order harmonics is more disruptive than 0.00011 5th order harmonics. That’s true for an oscilloscope, it’s not true for human hearing.