Musicians in your living room vs. you in the recording hall?

geoffkait,

"Glubson, sadly perhaps, is difficult to take seriously."

Do not present your lack of capability to understand as my flaw.

"Rock music is all distortion to begin with? Cut me some slack, Jack! Earth to Glubson!"

Instead of some slack, how about some wah-wah pedal?

You can also find some informational book that will explain what knobs on an electric guitar are for. I have not read this particular one, but I suspect it may have it mentioned.

https://www.amazon.com/Guitar-Dummies-Online-Video-Instruction/dp/1118872029/ref=asc_df_1118872029/?...

Or you can get an idea for free...

https://reverb.com/news/volume-and-tone-knobs-your-most-underrated-effects

jhills, prof,

I, like you, find live music engaging more often than not. In my post, I was, obviously in a very clumsy way, pointing towards my observations of mostly classical music concerts. At times, out of curiosity, I close my eyes and listen trying to compare it with what I have at home (admittedly, mid-fi for many, if not most, of you) and what I have heard on systems way better than mine. Each and every time, I notice that electronic reproduction has more of everything. On a good day, meaning in the right mood, those Bluetooth speakers can present as much "energy" (not in Joules, but in some virtual feel) as some of the actual concerts can, if not more.

Out of curiosity, has any of you heard Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here SACD and that acoustic guitar on the title song? I am yet to have a non-audiophile person hear it and not be impressed by impact. Except that a real guitar, in the same room, does not sound anything like that. Of course, much more goes into that SACD recording and reproduction and it is, in some way, apples and oranges but nobody ever got impressed by the guitar. Everyone got impressed by the recording of a guitar. Real one is much more bland. Crappy of a guitar as it may be, it is a real deal. I tried Jose Marin's Tonos Humanos, too. Same thing.

Once it comes to electrified music, trying to achieve the distortion of a live venue at home to me borders on comical. Don't get me wrong, nothing so far has beaten Chuck Berry at the Duck Room, Queen in 1979, Percy Sledge in Damrosch Park, or a few more, but in audiophile terms, they are way better at home.

geoffkait,

"What a maroon! How’s my spelling?"

It is retired.

"I don’t hear imaging and soundstaging in the concert hall..."

"But in smaller venues there may be like a jazz club, a choir in a church or a symphony orchestra will have wonderful imaging and loads of ambiance."

I would agree with viridian. Concerts, classical music, are not hi-fi. It is much more bland. My experience is mostly in larger concert halls, but mostly front row(s). Two Bluetooth speakers ran by an iPod are more "exciting". When it comes to smaller venues (think juke joints), ambiance is definitely there but imaging is not. Once it is about "rock music", talking about accuracy is a joke. It is all distorted to begin with.

Sound in the concert hall is greatly influenced by the number of bodies present. I am not sure that original designers/architects take that into account.

If you prefer rock CD that has ambiance, I would recommend Hindu Love Gods. It was recommended to me by Michael Green and, despite me not being perfectly aligned with some of his assessments of it, it does have ambiance. If you crank it up, you are right there in the garage where it was recorded. Except that it was not recorded in the garage. Who cares?

"Maybe, but at least I can spell."

Not so fast. Track record is working against you.