JIm, your words are running a little ahead of you. Difficult to read.
What define "musicality" ? And what constitute "musicality" in audio ?
I think that "musicality" is the most important factor and attribute in living audio experience... The experience of "musicality" i think, cannot be reduced to subjective factors only, nor objective one...It is more easy to describe what it is not, than to describe what it is, perhaps like the experience of God in theology...But for sure if you get it, it seems the most important resultant factor of your audio grid system,you feel it and like it the most...After 7 years i feel it more than ever...The urge to upgrade recess in the background because when you feel "musicality" already at a certain level, you dont believe that it is possible to push that level really higher at an affordable cost... "Musicality" for me, in my words, correlate with realistic musical timbre and voice, fluidity,no harshness at all, no fatigue, and last but not least, listening music and forgetting the sound...
This is my personal my experience, i am curious to read others about that,about their "way" and "means" to live that experience...Thanks to all...
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When I first came to Audiogon I asked if there was a glossary of some sort with terms used to describe sound and music. I think it was member david_ten who provided this link. This is a very handy and very extensive resource: https://www.stereophile.com/content/sounds-audio-glossary-glossary |
Three points:
First: In the words of Jeff Foxworthy…”You know might have a musical system if….” This is where things get hung up…..so…
Second : What defines musicality…is a lot like defining great pizza or great wine…it is in the eye, mouth, ear of the beholder.
Third: And now a
possible real world definition….you turn on the music and you listen…and never
once did your brain try to cut in and tell you all of the things that might be
better…such as…”hmmm, I wonder if a Be tweeter would make that trumpet sound
better”. So, if you are able to just
listen and enjoy, then just maybe you have a musical system....and the rest of the descriptions and definitions don't matter. |
Geoff,you sound like an old men saying that this or that is an illusion...For sure "musicality" is a metaphor for some experience that is relative like an "horizon"... I am just curious to the history and methods,or purchase, of people here in an audio forum, about this experience that is an horizon toward with all we navigate...Sometimes someone shout "terra" "Terra" and the goal is relatively reached, with this person and his boat(audio grid)… I dont sail anymore now, I am on my island, I have shouted "terra", and I dont think to buy another boat... By the way, I read about your "peebles" on cable some years ago, that inspire my experiments with stones...And that work, and I dont mock you like stupid people who dont experiment and dont have open mind...That work really on my cable and that was a step toward this experience of "musicality"... Thanks for your inspiration... But now Geoff you said to me that,no, I am not in India but in America, my goal was an illusion in this travel...Perhaps I am wrong, I am not in India,but I love America,the New India, and for me this great feeling of discovery I called it metaphorically "musicality" or " the new India"... My illusion is my treasure old man...The "terra" was in sight in the end...You know it only if you buy a ship and go for the travel...Thanks Geoff, for some equipment you give to me along the sail... geoffkait14,271 posts 03-12-2019 4:05pmMusicality is a mirage, a spectre, a chimera, an illusion. There is no standard for musicality. And there is no ideal for musicality, just like there’s no ideal for sound quality. Everything is relative. As Bob Dylan says at the end of all his songs, good luck. 🤗 |
snapsc149 posts And yes I have "musicality" now, I listen to all my files with the same forgetting of the sound, particularly those files I was listen to no more because of their bad sound...Their sound was most of the times not so bad, it was my system that was not able to give me some basic rendrering of them... Now I listen without changing the files by boredom, or hate, or indifference most of the times... A good system makes what is good, very good, and what is bad better... For me this is "musicality" gain in my audio system... I am only interested by your history in audio, your way to gain that experience of "musicality" and the reason why you gain it finally, even if it is a relatively hard concept to define, a metaphor, that experience exist for each of us in different modes, or versions, or occasions... Thanks for you interest, understanding and participation... |
I agree with Geoff. Saying a system has 'musicality' is like saying a steak or cup of coffee has flavor. On the one hand it states the obvious and on the other hand it doesn't convey any useful information. And again, if everyone has their own definition of it then it can only really serve to confuse things. |
N80, I perfectly know that there is no definition perfectly clear of God nor "musicality"... But I am here to learn and listen to your own story about that experience... For example in your case how luck or inheritance transform a life without music with a life with music and a relative "musicality"... I perfectly know that this term is a metaphor... The experience is not, "God" is a metaphor, living "musicality" also, in the 2 cases, real experience are possible and sometimes real but always relative to each of us... |
You are right Snapsc, the joy was the sailing...the journey... But I dont have the money to try many equipment... And I was craving for listening my music, the music I know sometimes for 50 years, but with real quality sound... Without money, with some wise purchase, and with my own experiments, and some device of my own design, I had it now; and I dont feel frustrate now when I listen my music because I cannot afford the new gear I read about... Then the joy is perhaps not only the journey but touching the goal in some extent, especially without too much money... Because I am curious I want to listen your own history about this journey and the means you use for touching the goal (relatively for sure)… Thanks and my best to you.. |
Alot of audiophiles listen to the equipment and that's ok. Some of us use the equipment to listen to the music. That's better. My grandfather had a single speaker radio that he listened to everyday. He knew more about music than most people could ever dream of. I remember when I was a kid at Papa's house the music was always on. It was a house that was always musical. I miss those days..and him. Musical is a very subjective term. Enjoy it when it happens as it's a joy denied to many. DH |
I think one can learn a lot about sound and perhaps even which direction to go by listening to certain “sound effects” and using them as a tool. You know, things like thunderstorms, rain hitting pavement, audience applause on live recordings, the glissando on guitar or harp, vocal artifacts like breathing and smacking of lips, movie soundtracks like Apocalypse Now!, which as a plethora of well-recorded spoken words and “sound effects.” There are some Pink Floyd albums that can be used to evaluate system sound quality, too, obviously. |
Last weekend I ran a live show for an astonishingly great string quartet that was astonishingly great. They all used mics they'd brought...tiny condensers...miking violins is always tricky, but these little mikes worked swimmingly and man...astonishingly great (did I mention that?), and they felt the sound was natural and excellent, which I need to hear for my fragile ego...you can make the case for live music played by great musicians to display musicality, as why else would they show up? I'll tell you why...MONEY.... |
For me musicality = a strong emotional response to what I'm listening to. As example the first track on Satchmo plays King Oliver. St. James Infirmary, played on a the right system, gives me goosebumps. If I hear it on the radio - it's just good music. A good system is able to deliver more, of the right sounds, that our brains decode, that results in an emotive response. |
Making me tap my feet, move my body, dance, eyes water up or overwhelm me with unexpected emotion is a good sign. Very grateful for words of wisdom a seasoned "audiophile" shared with me some 30 odd years ago I'll always remember: Judge gear in my rig (or the rig) by how it compels me to listen. I should feel "I want to or can't wait to turn the system on". Like an itch I can't help but scratch lol. Someone mentioned food being tasty. I've cooked in quantity (like 20 servings) that did not seem to stand out in taste but leftovers were gone in 2-3 days. I looked forward to eating leftovers. What *did* stand out was noticing I enjoyed and ate the rest of it cold. I made the same dish other times and although it seemed tasty at first, the leftovers stayed untouched in the fridge for almost a week so I had to keep reminding myself to eat it before it went bad. Just my observations that tells me something must be "righteous", though I'd be hard pressed to nail down what that is sometimes. |