[guf]

When listening to a live concert recording, if my room is treated properly, should the placement of the band members be accurate? Or is a live concert recording NOT mixed or mastered that way. 

[jimdgoulding]

Depends on the recording, dunnit?

[Letitroll98]

Yeah, it really does depend.  But making a couple of assumption we might be able to comment.  The first would be unamplified instruments in free space, the second would be minimalist recording techniques, the third would be thoughtful transfer to media.  Recordings that come to mind would be many of the jazz and blues recordings from Mapleshade.  Pierre Sprey makes some excellent live and studio recordings that capture the instrument placements precisely.  Another would be the various Stereophile jazz and small ensemble classical recordings, some of which are like demonstration recordings on instrumental placement in your home environment.  Also most of the recordings from Cheskey, very nice indeed.  I'm sure there are many more that could be named.

What won't sound natural are most live Rock albums and a significant portion of jazz and blues recordings.  Anything with way too many spot mics and crappy multichannel transfers.   

[Glenn Kuras]

Depends on the recording, dunnit?

And the mixing.  Needless to say though if your room is treated you will be able to hear what the mix and mastering person is hearing. And if your room is better then theirs you can hear stuff they MISSED. 

[jimdgoulding]

If your room is treated "properly", I'm going with yes as the answer to your question.  Into the mix I must remind you that your speakers need to be out from room boundaries far enough so room reflected waveforms are not summing in too quickly where you sit and listen.  Give those instruments in your recordings room to breathe and the ambience in your recordings to be the ambience in your recordings rather than the ambience of your room.

[HsvHeelFan]

I'd say a lot if it depends on how many mics were used and where they were located within the hall.

The local symphony's concerts are all digitally recorded, using a pair of microphones suspended from the ceiling out in the hall.     I can see the microphones suspended out in the hall, but I'm not sure exactly where they are in the relationship to the hall layout.

HsvHeelFan

[jimdgoulding]

I'd say a lot if it depends on how many mics were used and where they were located within the hall.

The local symphony's concerts are all digitally recorded, using a pair of microphones suspended from the ceiling out in the hall.     I can see the microphones suspended out in the hall, but I'm not sure exactly where they are in the relationship to the hall layout.

HsvHeelFan

Many of the finest symphonic recordings on the planet are recorded with that kind of microphone placement, imo .