Real or Surreal. Do you throw accuracy out the window for "better" sound?
I visited a friend recently who has an estimated $150,000 system. At first listen it sounded wonderful, airy, hyper detailed, with an excellent well delineated image, an audiophile's dream. Then we put on a jazz quartet album I am extremely familiar with, an excellent recording from the analog days. There was something wrong. On closing my eyes it stood out immediately. The cymbals were way out in front of everything. The drummer would have needed at least 10 foot arms to get to them. I had him put on a female vocalist I know and sure enough there was sibilance with her voice, same with violins. These are all signs that the systems frequency response is sloped upwards as the frequency rises resulting in more air and detail. This is a system that sounds right at low volumes except my friend listens with gusto. This is like someone who watches TV with the color controls all the way up.
I have always tried to recreate the live performance. Admittedly, this might not result in the most attractive sound. Most systems are seriously compromised in terms of bass power and output. Maybe this is a way of compensating.
There is no right or wrong. This is purely a matter of preference accuracy be damn. What would you rather, real or surreal?
Funny, I was just listening to UnderTow. Sober is my favorite Tool song. Studio recordings are art, anything is permissible. Jimi Hendrix loved panning back and forth. In my experience, systems that can accurately portray a good live recording are more exciting to listen to when it comes to studio recordings. Take Roxy Music's Avalon or Carina Round's Tigermending, they are sonic paintings. Every little detail is suspended in space. |
mahgistermy sound too is now as natural as yours ...I can explain why and how... What are your explanation ? You never gave one and then you claimed to be the only one with a natural sound in the world ... It is a bit too much claim....Synergy, modifications , and acoustic optimization can be done ... I did them with complete success ...it was not easy to figure it out... Most will not... ===================== JBL, other big companies, and individuals have invested much money and their life times to figure out the natural sound in 150 years of audio history. If you’ve got it, use it for something good. I am selling my products to churches, concert halls, and event DJs now. Billions of people are suffering with bad sounds. I probably don’t have the time for the hi-end audio business in my life time. If I have a time after I am satisfied with PA speakers business (in 5 years?), I’ll be in recording equipment business. Making the natural sound mic and recording machine is same thing as making a natural sound audio and speaker. The perfect natural sound recording comes 1st, then the natural sound audio and speakers are next. Alex/Wavetouch |
I look at it differently. I have a goal. I know exactly what I want to hear and make modifications to achieve that result. I have a great sounding system, but it is not quite at the goal yet. You could say that I was not satisfied with the current system, but that is not how I look at it. I identify problems to solve and am happy to do so. That is what this hobby is really about. If the were no problems this would not be any fun! |
