Is Recording quality the real culprit?


We spend Thousands on trying to improve the sound of what we listen to. But isn’t it really more of a problem that we can’t really overcome, eg. Recording quality? It’s so frustrating to have a really nice system and then to be at the mercy of some guy who just didn’t spend the time to do things better when things were being recorded.

Fortunately many artists make sure things are done well, but so many just don’t make it happen.

It can sound really good but just doesn’t have that Great quality we desire.

So why are we wasting our time spending so much money on audio equipment?

emergingsoul

Waiting for AI to be turned loose into those mixes.... ;)

AI will be the true savior for a "music first" audiophile. I suppose it wouldn’t matter for the gearheads who have 3 audiophile recordings of lousy artists on repeat all year. In consideration of how lousy some mastering technicians are and the sheer volume of trash recordings out there (did too many great artists so wrong)...these guys need to be FIRED as soon as it’s feasible.

@searchingforthesound ....Ever since I ’graduated’ from Treble+Bass, to adding Loudness and later Midrange, what I heard in the spaces I’ve occupied has only tended to improve as my ’tempered’ use of eq became more....’broadened’.

The advent of DSP, even when done manually, was a Great Leap Forward in dealing with random rooms with porschitt acoustics...when it went to more (11>31) channels of fq to being able to push 100 and more,....

...which....finds you spending over an hour over a 3.5 minute snip.....'Just 'cuz it annoys you.....'

Pick your depth.....no holding your breath..... ;)

@emergingsoul is where I see AI getting into the ’mix’, as it was and became.

Obviously, a long learning curve awaits, but AIs’ are being a surprise on many levels; something us ’amateurs’ really haven’t grasped yet.

Generational Programming is already in progress for AI: One ’teaches others’, who ’teach others’....’scaling’ in that sense...

...on about the 4th >5th generation....’they’ Forget ’things’....!?

"I can do that all by myself, Thanx HAL....(*sotto voce* "...’springhead, fu2....")"

I look forward to ’discussions’ with my audio and general purpose ’puters.....

’Pulling the plug’ Is Not a Threat anymore....

@ibmjunkman  Good One 🤣

As for AI entering the picture, I was very interested in George Martin's son using AI to dissemble and then re-mix the Revolver LP.  I assume if the time, money and interest were there, they could take a four channel recording and re mix it using a 32 or 64 track console and create a whole new and improved version of some classic LPs?  Will this be the next frontier of re-mining the archives?  Will it be done in stages?  First the 16 track version on 180 gram vinyl for $125, followed shortly by the 32 track version for $170 and so on and so on........    The list is endless of recordings that could be new and improved.

As your system evolves everything is improved, even bad recordings. It can be no other way. As others have said you just need to embrace the "suck" and look for the aspects of these bad recordings that you like better in the improved system. Far worse to put together a system that makes everything sound the same. I think this is the reason so many embrace vintage equipment. 

Yeah those terrible mastering technicians. Like they had the final say in how the performance was recorded. Its called appealing to the greatest number of folks and mixing for the most common playback devices. Always has to be someone to blame I guess. I tend to blame the artists more than the technicians. Yeah just do whatever you want just give me my cocaine. 

 

"Give me more cowbell"...Sorry couldn’t resist.

I think as has been stated most of the pop recordings today are made to appeal to the earbud generation. That is, compressed and constrained. Sad...

ozzy