[geowak]

Just wonderin...

So many of us love to listen to music. Many also love the technical side of this audio hobby. But when I listen to music, there are certain things I want to hear. I want to hear the violin sound like an actual violin playing. When the piano cords are stuck, I want to hear the exact tone of that note with all the decay one would hear if an actual piano key were struck.

Also I like the sound to be quiet when it's supposed to be. I like there to be a total absence of sound when no instruments in an orchestra or band are played.

So what are you listening for yourself? What is your standard?

[Andre2]

I enjoy classical music and I have seasons tickets to the Houston Symphony - not every weekend, cuz it can get boring some times, but I have 12 concerts per year subscription.

So, to answer your question: my personal standard for listening in my house is my own sound "memory or recollection" from the real instruments as I can hear in Jones Hall downtown Houston. 

I am pretty happy with my system as it is, so it when the recording is good, it comes pretty close to the live performance.  But, I can easily identify a bad recording, and basically I cannot stand these, and through the CD into the trash. 

[Gzerro]

If I am smiling ear-to-ear because the music is so damn good, and forget everything else, I know I have met the "standard".

Usually this requires:

1) A great performance
2) captured with clean recording
3) A reasonable audio system put together with some care and attention to room accoustics, but not necessarily expensive or complex
4) A good Scotch

It seems the more I fuss with the technology, the harder this is to make happen. But I still fall into this trap again and again.

[FullRangeMan]

Interesting topic. A good mike capture the sound in much more details than the ear/brain can listen, unfortunately some less good producers ruins the recording with compression, editing, level up/down channels, mix down etc..

But if the music is good and the recording has a minimum quality(24/96 or more) I will be happy.
So to me a good recording needs:
1) No compression.
2) No tape noise if analogue.
3) Big sound stage.
4) No small or hiden details or effects.
5) Good sound capture.

[geowak]

Interesting topic. A good mike capture the sound in much more details than the ear/brain can listen, unfortunately some less good producers ruins the recording with compression, editing, level up/down channels, mix down etc..

But if the music is good and the recording has a minimum quality(24/96 or more) I will be happy.
So to me a good recording needs:
1) No compression.
2) No tape noise if analogue.
3) Big sound stage.
4) No small or hiden details or effects.
5) Good sound capture.

Never really thought about this. Hmm. I suppose that those original tapes from analogue recordings would add hiss if not done carefully and professionally. I admit I can agree with Gzerro on the good scotch, but mine has to be a Guinness on draft.

[stanwal]

As the Supreme Court judge said: I know it when I hear it.

[Mag]

I want the recording to be a good as possible. But what I recently found out, the performance tops sound quality.

I purchased AC/DC- Live at River Plate, Blu-ray. The recording is top notch, but the band doesn't have the energy of the Live at Donington concert, which is also a good recording but not as good as the Blu-ray. So I'm disappointed and will continue to listen to Donington over River Plate.

Another example is a Bruce Dickerson dvd. The recording isn't very good, but I like the dvd cause it has really good rock songs. With recent speaker upgrade the recording is much improved and as good as it can be.

[charmerci]

When I crank it up, it doesn't hurt my ears! (Either the sound of the system or the sound of the recording.)


Using that criteria, it's interesting that some recordings can be turned up louder than others.


Obviously, the ideal being that they sound like they are in the room with me.

[FireGuy]

I think the standard should begin with the recording.  I'll listen to music in the those genres not in my wheel house only because the care and attention to detail from the initial source.  I then go from there. 

[JLM]

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By Craig Allison

The very first hi-fi shop in Northern California was opened by Audio Engineering Society (AES) member Mr. Charles Catania in 1948. Back then, almost every system was custom-designed/installed and very few of today’s typical component categories even existed. But the motivating concept was the same I uphold today, i.e, guiding folks who care about music to a point of far greater reward from intent music listening at home. In 1982, I was hired at the Santa Rosa branch of Catania Sound, and here we are today.

At this juncture, I can look back at 32 years of both audio specialty component and system sales as well as a similarly lengthy career, now retired, as a gigging and recording musician and band leader.

I became deeply engrossed in music starting at about age 12, and interest in hi-fi followed shortly. I sold ice cream on Broadway in NYC to buy my first stereo in 1966 after having a progression of early record players etc.

Today, at age 64, I am advancing the cause based on the now medically-confirmed wellness benefits of intent listening to music reproduced with low distortion as a sole activity. Doctors have been prime clients for my entire career, and these are the folks in whom we place maximum trust re: Better health. They listen to music on fine stereos for profound relaxation and true, non-pharmaceutical stress relief. This is the true value of our chosen passion; it enables us to be the best we can be. Last but not least, child brain development needs this unique stimulus for which there is no substitute.

We are currently encouraging women, the biggest music-buying U.S. demographic, to understand that having clean, low distortion sound quality at home is simply a logical element of a high quality lifestyle. Just as so many have moved to organic food, filtered water, etc., so does having clean sound at home make perfect sense; nothing weird or esoteric about it, just basic quality of life. Beautiful sound at home lifts up one’s entire life.

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