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Good music is truly timeless, and why we enjoy this hobby so (regardless of the tools and toys used to get that emotional connection).
I find that I am much more successful at re-creating chamber music than a full orchestra. I believe that my room size has alot to do with this. Unfortunately, my listening room is 14'x16'. Try as I might, there just isn't enough cubic space available to do justice to the larger works.Randy
We have to be sure we're comparing apples to apples. For example, if the piano is closely miked a small system in a small room can't reproduce the dimensions of the instrument being played UNLESS it's miked from a distance. Play around with your volume control to reduce or enlarge the piano's size to what you feel is a reasonable facsimily of the instrument and of the setting. Everything about the recording should improve perceptually if you do this.
Question for those of you discussing concert hall effects, "perceived power", and suchlike --Why, then, wouldn't the "ideal" recording and reproduction system consist of the best-available mastering gear set up with a binaural mike system (located in the "best" seat in the house, of course), and played back with whatever you consider the ultimate electronics and headphones? Perhaps augmented by an external woofer/sub-woofer to produce the "body" effects of the bass frequencies?I have heard a few startlingly "real" binaural recordings over the years.
The binaural recording/playback system has been known for well over 50 years, perhaps much longer than that. There's only one flaw in the system and it is a fatal flaw. When you turn your head even slightly the sound turns with it. For that reason you brain immediately concludes that the sound is coming from inside your head. The perception of a large space is missing.
Before I leave this subject however there is one thing to be said for binaural recording because it can do something no other system can. It can capture the tonality of musical instruments as they are heard live (not the spatial aspects though.)
The basic problem is that not only is the source of sound an 8'-9" wide piano, it radiates most of its sound away from the listener. In fact unless you are in direct line of sight of the sounding board, strings, harp or the lid is propped open ALL of the sound from the piano you hear is reflected. By contrast your speakers unless they are panels or large surface arrays are point sources. But even if they are large they aim most of their sound at you and as frequencies get higher they beam all of their sound directly at you. The way in which the reflected sound reaches your ears, its relative loudness, direction of arrival, timing, spectral content are entirely different. There's no way to overlook this because if you have normal hearing you will notice it immediately....unless you are an audiophile like the magazine editor and interviewer in my previous posting is. In that case it will take somone who listens to music as opposed to electronic equipment to tell you about it