Recording Quality
The recording quality is everything; the best sound system in the universe will not make a bad recording sound better. For a start, try any record produced by Ted Templeman, like Nicollette Larson's debut record. Any record he produced will sound good. There are many other producers or engineers equally conscious of quality sound; Ted is just one example. |
So, given the playback equipment you have, can you tell that one recording was made better than others in the studio? Not quite the right question. But I get your drift. Its not a question of the playback equipment. I proved this to my wife when we went for a ride with a friend and sitting in the back seat of their '78 Volvo passed them the CD of Janice Ian Breaking Silence and we all could easily hear its tubey magic. Granted the better the system the more dramatic the differences between recordings stand out, and the easier they are to hear. But the differences are there regardless. This only works by the way because the whole point of the whole chain is to do nothing. To not be there. You don't want a system that sounds good. You want a system that sounds like nothing. You want a system that changes so much recording to recording that you're not even sure if you're hearing the system at all. I could play you music on mine leave you convinced its bright, or dull, hard or liquid, and it will be a good long time before you figure out it was the recordings not the system. There's that much difference, and we haven't even started talking about the difference in pressings. I worry you missed the full meaning and impact of "the whole chain" mentioned above. The whole chain means the whole chain. Everything from the nervous system and alveoli of the singer to the ear drum and auditory centers in the brain of the listener. The. Whole. Chain. Every single tiny little bit of it matters. |
mikeydee Very important, especially the dynamic range. If you have good dynamic range you not only have bigger differences between loudest and quietest notes but you also have space between the notes, so things don’t sound like a relentless wall of sound wearing you down. Get the best dynamic version of what you want here. (green is good) Stay away from red orange or even yellow unless you play it in the car/truck (loud exhaust or road noise) or use earbuds on a noisy construction site, or walking on city streets http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list?artist=supertramp&album=Crime+of+the+Century Cheers George |
