Etta James: Miss Pitiful
I find it almost impossible to not become involved move and get excited by this song. How this differs from PRAT I guess is how the stereo displays it???
How does PRAT differ from "Man that sounds good"?
What exactly is PRaT???
Ok, it’s like this thing and is associated with “toe tapping” and such. I confess, I don’t get it. Apparently companies like Linn and Naim get it, and I don’t and find it a bit frustrating. What am I missing? I’m a drummer and am as sensitive as anyone to timing and beats, so why don’t I perceive this PRaT thing that many of you obviously do and prize as it occurs in stereo systems? When I read many Brit reviews a lot of attention goes to “rhythm” and “timing” and it’s useless to me and I just don’t get it. If someone can give me a concrete example of what the hell I’m not getting I’d sincerely be most appreciative. To be clear, enough people I greatly respect consider it a thing so objectively speaking it’s either something I can’t hear or maybe just don’t care about — or both. Can someone finally define this “thing” for me cause I seriously wanna learn something I clearly don’t know or understand.
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@danager Great song. How does that tell me absolutely anything about PRaT??? My system sounds great playing that song so what EXACTLY makes a better PRaT system sound better doing that? I mean, as a drummer you’re either on the beat or you’re not. And I’ve not heard a system that’s “behind” the beat. You gotta come at me with more than a single song. I’m willing or learn, but this ain’t it. |
It's just a euphemism for something that simply sounds more authentic. Being more authentic gets you more involved with the sound and gets you to toe tapping. I think the mystery behind it that we're looking at it with a modern perspective that can't understand why something so mid range centric as the Naim/Linn sound back in good old days can be called authentic when modern systems can beat them at that game. Remember that the midrange accounts for about 80% and once they got that down convincingly, PRaT became a thing. Practically all modern systems have the ability to sound pretty authentic but we still find PRaT to be elusive and that all boils down to the quality of the recording: how well it was done. Great sound in, great sound out. All the best, |
@soix Well, your own system includes select cables, amp upgrades, and a lot of other refinements, so clearly you’ve spent some time developing a system that plays music the way you want to hear it. I assume you didn’t just close your eyes and grab whatever came to hand. If "PRAT" doesn’t mean anything to you, it doesn’t. For a lot of audiophiles, especially people getting started in the hobby, it can be a helpful measure of where your money is best spent. WhatHiFi is, IMO, one of the more reliable review sites and they devote a fair portion of every review talking about the equipment’s ability convey joy and rhythm, and generally a good musical experience. Nothing wrong with that. |
If Etta makes you want to move , isn't that Prat and if it's just meh isn't that lack of PRat? I suspect you're already PRaT maxed out. As a musician timing means something different than what it means to a typical listener. The beat is on the recording and unless you cassette player or vinyl speeds up and slows down the beat is the same no matter the system. From my perception of what is being described is more a leading edge dynamic artifact. When the stick hits the drum head it's more than a single event. Where you hit it, how much force, which drum and how the drum is tuned has a different level of priority to some. The same goes for stringed and wind instruments. The ability for your stereo to reproduce (enhance) aspects of the music affects the music's enjoyment factor. The same song can sound dull and lifeless or jaw dropping spectacular depending on both the system and your state of mind. There are times (usually late at night) where my stereo just sounds better than it did previously. Does that mean someone somewhere turned up the PRat or is that just an lack vocabulary to actually describe the many aspects that make up our hobby? |
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