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  3. 182899-93005

What to listen for?

This is aside to the obvious ones such as does a piano sound like a piano, the singer's voice sound close to them live, etc.

So, what I am trying to put together a list of songs where there is something specific to listen for. For instance, in the song Guinevere (CS&N) I have read that Crosby should sound as if he's standing in your room, front and center. On the acoustic Hot Tuna Album, they are playing in a bar and a beer bottle breaks landing on the floor  - it should be sharp and sound like it's in the room with you. On Babylon Sisters there are some cymbal crashes on the left that should be crisp and not smeared. On a Beatles song (I forget which), a chair squeaks and a door opens and closes in the studio. 

A good system will revel these little things. Any other that you have heard of? 

 

 

128x128deadhead1000
baylinor's avatar
baylinor
1,235 posts
 

Great album BTW.

strawj's avatar
strawj
73 posts
 

On a JGB show from The Keystone in the 70's on Real Listen one night- super loud -you can hear some woman(wasted) wander up to Garcia (he's wailing) and ask him if he still gives  guitar lessons. He keeps playing and responds "I don't really have time anymore". Then if you have a good system you can here one of the backup girls say to the other "He didn't miss a note". I wish I still knew the date of the show -for DH1000.

henry53's avatar
henry53
280 posts
 

I suggest it is very simple, listen to music, if you like it then its good, if you don't its not. Recently heard a $150,000 system I wouldn't have in my shed.

dynamiclinearity
239 posts
 

What I primarily listen for(and you need software that has it recorded) is dynamic linearity(my handle). This is NOT dynamic range, the ability to play loud cleanly although that's a part of it. It's linear changes in level whether small.\, medium, or large, the lack or at least minimum compression. This is waht makes real sound real. It's not frequency response. Change your seat in a music hall and frequency response changes. And it's not distortion(as long as it isn't huge but thousandths of a per cent is irrelevant. Harmonic distortion is musical(hate that term). But clean, wide band sound without dynamic linearity sounds like a great radio but not like live sound.

P.S. This was explained to me 5 decades ago by Bud Fried(the name sake of IMF speakers) but it took me a few decades to understand what he meant.

re-lar-kvothe's avatar
re-lar-kvothe
159 posts
 

Linda Ronstandt's version of Blue Bayou. At about the 50 second mark when she sings:

I'm going back someday
Come what may
To Blue Bayou

you should be able to clearly hear a subtle mandolin coming from the left speaker.

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