"Breathing" of the air


Hi folks, I would like to ask you the following. With some audiophile set ups I'm able to hear what I call "breathing" of the air, as if the air surrounding voices and instruments is a living entity, as if one is capable of hearing individual air molecules, if you know what I mean. Are you familiar with this phenomenon? Is this quality inherent to some amplifiers or speakers? Can you mention set ups that have these characteristics?

Chris
dazzdax

Showing 3 responses by mrtennis

my reference is live music. when attending a symphony orchestra concert, i don't consider the word "air" applicable to my experience of listening to music in the audience.

the term "air" brings to mind the distinction between "audiophile" terms , listening to a stereo system ,and the expoerience of listening to live music.

many terms used to describe the performance of stereo systems are irrelevant to the live music experience.
if you stand in a room, you don't hear air. if someone is talking, you don't hear air. if someone is playing a piano, you don't hear air/

you hear an instrumentS) in a recording, but you don't hear air.

one can detect physical space, as when an instrument is recorded in a studio or a church.

one can also observe depth, as whena microphone is placed say, 10 feet from an instrument.

i doubt anyone is hearing air, except when someone is breathing, and in that case, one must be close to the source.
the musicians of a symphony orchestra are positioned very close to each other. there is very little space between them.

perhaps there is an implied disagreement regarding semantics.

in any case, i think it is more important to minimize timbral errors and then the other audiophile concerns may follow.

does anyone have a recipe for achieving timbral realism ?