How competitive are you with your system?

"The only bragging rights would be for "how much was spent" which is at least objective, but does not say much else about the sound."

That would depend on your crowd.  Those at AK typically take the opposite approach..., i.e., "how little was spent for the results obtained".

Unfortunately, it is impossible to accurately portray all aspects of the "results obtained" over the net and this requires attendance at the venue.

BUT, a good YouTube video can go a long way, and while you’ll never portray all the nuance, you will hear anomalies in the response and get a good idea of what the system is capable of, and you will know if it is garbage.  Of course this assumes that you have a fairly neutral playback system on which to hear the videos or listen over good headphones and the video was well done.

@cleeds

That’s because you don’t know how to use it.

It will tell you if a system has a smooth frequency response in the room and if there are peaks and nodes (assuming a good recording).

Also, to do this, you need to go back and find the original direct transfer and that is what you are comparing the system too.

You are not listening to "what it sounds like" but rather "how close does it sound to the direct transfer" when listening on your quality monitoring system.

If you do comparisons in this manner, you will hear what the room sounds like as well as deviations in the system.

Sure, you loose imaging, soundstage, and the like, but you can tell trash from treasure.

If you think about it, if one were to use AI, they could do a digital rendition of a direct transfer and the recording and have the program "overlay" them looking at any differences in the bits.  The fewer the differences, the higher the score?

Mihorn has shown my case.

Here is the direct transfer:

https://youtu.be/CoOp12ayIVg

And his wavetouch version:

https://youtu.be/lM-vtW-bygs

Load them in separate browsers and listen alternately back and forth at the same volume level.

Ignore soundstage/imaging/separation.  These are not comparable unless close-up micing is used and even then the playback equipment may not support it for what it is in the room.

OK...,  it doesn’t matter what you are listening on if it is decent.

Where did the bass go???

Where did the harmonics go?

Why does it now sound "boxed in" and not open?

The closer one gets to the direct transfer, the higher it scores.

high fi·del·i·ty

/ˌhī fəˈdelədē/

noun

noun: high fidelity; modifier noun: high-fidelity

1. the reproduction of sound with little distortion, giving a result very similar to the original.

High fidelity is my goal and it requires reproduction to produce an end result that is very similar to the original.  The original is best demonstrated on a direct transfer and not a recording at someone’s venue.

One can say, "It is the room" or "I am only using 5-1/2" woofers so what do you expect?" but then they cannot consider this as high fidelity because it is unlike the original and therefore a distortion.

If you want true "high fidelity" you need the equipment and the room to back it up.

Mihorn, I don’t agree.  I can hear the room.  I can also hear a resonance in the room not on the original.  But it is well treated compared to most.

https://youtu.be/lDJP95aZ9L8

As I noted, any variation from the direct cut is a distortion.  But we can choose our distortions to suit our wallets and tastes.

I have a somewhat lively room (~5,000 cu ft) that is untreated, though the windows on two sides have blackout blinds, and when I listen, I choose to move the venue to the room rather than moving myself to the venue.  I use no eq or room correction, either electronic or physical.  When I do a video, the effects of the room become readily obvious when one listens to the direct cut.  Sure it’s a distortion, but not so bothersome.

If I had this track, I would do a demo (dogs allowing of course).  But I don't and I don't stream.

My computer is not connected to my stereo.  It has it's own monitor system.

I suppose that I could download a track to a drive and plug that into the dongle of my Oppo, but I've not set it up to do this.

Pick something else that is out there, preferably in SACD and if I have it, we'll give it a go.

On another note, I know that you are somewhat local and are welcome to come over and hear first hand.  I'm in the North Tustin area.  Only that way will you experience the soundstage, imaging, and microdetail that are possible at realistic levels that envelop one.

My recordings always come out bright because I sit back into the sofa and the camera stands proud so we don't quite hear the same thing.  And I use a Nikon D750 DSLR, because that's what I have and it does a decent job.

toddalin said:

When I listen to music, I don’t transport to the venue, but rather transport the venue to the room. A deader room would put me more at the venue.

When I do videos they tend to be brighter than what I hear on the couch because my head is typically back to the cushion and the mic stands "proud" away from the cushions. Even moving your head forward a few inches relative to the back of the couch causes major change to the frequency balance.

Mr Boochie said:

This recording business is a part of audio that I never put effort into before. It is a much different world from playback.

The mic’s position is critical. A few inches, up or down in relationship to the midrange/tweeter and woofers, can make a notable difference in the recording. You don’t hear it in real time, but it appears in the recording.
 

https://youtu.be/PVVwzcXtBNk

Recorded with mics on camera. They are too high = muddy mix, shifted to the high frequencies. Bass dynamics are hurt the most by poor mic placement and room acoustics. Mics were at 8-foot distance from the speakers. 54 inches off the ground.
___________________
 

https://youtu.be/PVVwzcXtBNk

Close mic’ing (mics at 18 inches from the front of the speakers and 22 inches in height).

In my experience, ensuring the mics are well supported and isolated from speaker vibrations helps clarity. They pick up extraneous vibrations that muddy or add artificial brightness.
 

BTW, Mr Boochie uses, and these are recordings of JBL L300 speakers.