Clarity is clean and clear. Being able to easily hear and delineate different threads or lines of music. Each individual voice in a chorus for example.
Presence is one aspect of clarity, primarily in the upper registers, and especially in the fine details of "ess" sounds, where it starts to verge into sibilance. But sibilance is all "sssss" and usually too much of it. Presence is sometimes used to mean closer to sibilance, but also more favorably in the sense of providing the fine details that tell you something is really there and not just a recording of something that was there. When this is really what you’re talking about we say palpable presence, to emphasize the feeling of really being there.
So palpable presence is more like what you mean. But then you said "in their room while they record" which that calls for a lot more than presence. Now you’re talking the Full Monty, not just palpable presence but now your room is gone and replaced with theirs. That calls for superb imaging and a seamlessly wide, deep, and enveloping sound stage. Something very hard to achieve with anything less than exceptionally deep smooth and articulate bass.
Which is odd, to find that presence is mostly upper register, but the highest form palpable presence also calls for the deepest bass. And yes it is odd. Oh well. Don’t make the rules. Merely report them.
Presence is one aspect of clarity, primarily in the upper registers, and especially in the fine details of "ess" sounds, where it starts to verge into sibilance. But sibilance is all "sssss" and usually too much of it. Presence is sometimes used to mean closer to sibilance, but also more favorably in the sense of providing the fine details that tell you something is really there and not just a recording of something that was there. When this is really what you’re talking about we say palpable presence, to emphasize the feeling of really being there.
So palpable presence is more like what you mean. But then you said "in their room while they record" which that calls for a lot more than presence. Now you’re talking the Full Monty, not just palpable presence but now your room is gone and replaced with theirs. That calls for superb imaging and a seamlessly wide, deep, and enveloping sound stage. Something very hard to achieve with anything less than exceptionally deep smooth and articulate bass.
Which is odd, to find that presence is mostly upper register, but the highest form palpable presence also calls for the deepest bass. And yes it is odd. Oh well. Don’t make the rules. Merely report them.