We (or most of us) believe that it’s very difficult if not impossible to hear an exact representation of the the sound of a live performance on a recording.
The question is how much do you have to delude yourself into thinking it’s the real thing your listening to, to satisfy yourself.
To some it has to to be as close as possible. But others can make allowances for defects in the sound in order to enjoy the presentation.
Yes, I want the instruments and voice to sound real. Realism is vital for me. I have had a good measure of it over the past decade. This increases my enjoyment and immersion into the music. Can hardly think of a sonic attribute more important…at least for me.
This realism helps my system sound like the performers are right in my room. I get this experience with many jazz and vocal recordings. Rickie Lee Jones - Naked Songs is an example. No, cannot get there as well with large orchestral recordings.
”If you think your listening skills are superior to all others and only you can hear that difference goid for you. The rest of us will just enjoy the music the way we like it,”
I don’t know where you get that impression. I’ve never said or implied that.
What is the goal of an audiophile or “high fidelity” if not fidelity to the real thing?
Otherwise you can just listen with a table radio.
Waiting For Columbus is good. Dissimilar to when I saw ’em at the Riviera. Excellent point that the live PA mix was/is mono. Unless you are fifth row seats like I got for ZZ in ’74, that’s all you hear at a reinforced show.
The point is why would one want to trick themselves into thinking that a Cosmic Crisp is a blood orange?
Listening to a live Led Zeppelin concert is an automatic disappointment. Why aspire to that??? You’d be listening to pro amps, pro speakers, mixed by a guy who was 3 sheets to the wind only 2 hours before, through god-only-knows what stage speakers…..
Nope. Not for me. Live concert is the very last thing I want!
Yes, there is a psychological side to listening, but chasing, "...the sound of a live performance on a recording" is a dubious or possibly dissatisfying goal. Aspiring to faithfully reproduce audio as mastered advances the listening experience and satisfaction.
Certainly recording dependent to some extent. Close miked intimate high resolution recordings sure bring performers in room. Large scale classical orchestras not so much.
Also has much to do with imaging, sound stage system able to reproduce.
For me, this is aspect of performance that should improve with ever increasing levels of resolution system able to reproduce.
I just want to enjoy the music any way I can. Live, recorded, in my home, in my car, out in public I just want to enjoy the music. You keep claiming and starting the same posts as your standard for a music lover needs to be a live performance. That is a very subjective view that you are entitled to but your view does not have to be the standard for all others. Actually live performances can be a crap shoot as to the quality of said performance. There are 100’s of factors that could influence not only the end sound but also the performance of the musicians. If you think your listening skills are superior to all others and only you can hear that difference goid for you. The rest of us will just enjoy the music the way we like it,
Well, actually I HAVE had a 30-piece concert band, along with 45 audience members, in my living/family room, thanks to an open floor plan and 12-foot ceilings. Trust me, it can get loud. Plus having permanent tinnitus from playing in big bands for many decades gives me a pretty good idea of what live sound is. And I don't stress a bit over whether I can reproduce that in my living room. Life is too short.
This hobby, or whatever it is exactly, is like a dog chasing its tail. No one no where is going to achieve a Live performance in their living room. The sooner you realize this, the happier you will become.
Some recordings do a better job than others. For me one of the nearest to being there is the Little Feat live album Waiting For Columbus. It does a pretty impressive job of capturing the space and energy of a live performance.
It depends . I suspect the reproduction quality needed to suspend belief every time you hear a 'better' system. I recall stories of live/recorded demos in the 19 teens with frequency response of old telephones and many participants were heard to be amazed saying they couldn't hear a difference. Expectation has a lot to do with it.
Over the decades I have increasingly been dissatisfied with electrified concerts. I now stick to acoustic symphonic and unamplified jazz. Otherwise my system sounds better.
I am pretty deluded and very disappointed but not with my HIFI. I've been to two Los Lobos concerts the first at the zoo (outside) was the second best I've ever attended. My most recent was the second worst I've ever attended. The sound guy must have been deaf. The amps were over driven into distortion, The mix was terrible and the vocals piercing and I was pretty much unable to distinguish the words. I ended up stuffing my ears with tissues just to be able to stay in the hall. If my stereo sounded like that I would have it in for repair.
Add to ^that^ That a lot of bands in concert are disappointing “sound wise”, compared to the studio album.
it is easier with something like a treo recorded live. But rock music is largely a different beast.
I am pretty deluded and very disappointed but not with my HIFI. I've been to two Los Lobos concerts the first at the zoo (outside) was the second best I've ever attended. My most recent was the second worst I've ever attended. The sound guy must have been deaf. The amps were over driven into distortion, The mix was terrible and the vocals piercing and I was pretty much unable to distinguish the words. I ended up stuffing my ears with tissues just to be able to stay in the hall. If my stereo sounded like that I would have it in for repair.
The night before at dinner there was a trio female singer, Ubase and guitar which actually sounded pretty good. It was correctly amplified and sounded good. My stereo is pretty close to that. I need to work on tightening up the bass but it doesn't take all that much to reproduce amplified music. Good quality HIFI amps and speakers are usually better sounding than pro audio and the studio microphones used in recordings are usually better than the ones used for live performances.
For the live experience I just have to delude myself that their are people behind me either sing along or talk during the performance.
Actually, I do get that “in the room” experience very often with my system, with vocals, with solo guitar, sometimes with piano. Always late at night. Never with larger ensembles, which wouldn’t fit in my listening room. But with any musicians who could, yes, they do sound like they’re right in front of me. . Good equipment and the right speakers placed correctly. Took me 20 years of churning and tweaking gear and a yacht’s worth of money to get there, but yes,
I just enjoy the the wonderful music and consider how blessed I am to have this system. I enjoy the escape and let the music wash over me. Forgetting about this messed up world for a little bit.
Obviously a recording can never reproduce the dynamics of a live performance. Who in their right mind would expect to have a full symphony orchestra crammed into their room. Even if it was possible it'd sound horrible.
A better test is how do individual instruments sound? A good test can be the saxophone. Is it getting close to a sounding like a live instrument or is it a poor representation?
I'm always worried my room will smell like Mary Jay if 'they' ever show up in my room. Another concern is what if 'they' are not big on deodorant. Do I really want them to be in my room?
If I listen to a wonderful recording of a string quartet playing late Beethoven there is no close your eyes moment for me and you're there because I know it is false , nice to listen to yes but I'd still rather be in The Queen's Hall in Edinburgh and listening to the real thing because that experience can't be beaten.
Big difference between live and studio recordings. Most recordings were not mastered to sound live. More likely to sell, for a car, jukebox, boom box, Echo etc.
The recording industry started off mono which could NEVER sound live unless you lost an ear.
(Upside the head Murray style?)
(Firecracker in a phone booth?)
(.44M in a basement?)
(Blue Cheer?)
Is Adele in the room? You ARE deluded.
That’s the beauty of Direct to Disk. How ya doin’ guys?
I won't say that my hi-fi fools me into thinking Led Zeppelin is performing in my listening room, we are a long way from that. A long long way. What I will say is that we are enjoying the art of recording. The process of recording a performance or a created sonic work of art made to be played back on a hi-fi system (or a car radio for that matter).
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