I record, mix, master classical and rock music semi-professionally (you’ll never get to hear it but some has been on the radio). I review gear for a little magazine about 3 years now. I feel I’ve been listening critically since about 1974 and started pointing microphones at things well before that. I am completely baffled by the initial thread post and it has set me off but I see little value in my rant ...whatever. I’m entitled to my opinion (everyone’s got one and they all stink!)
Recordings are indeed mastered for their medium and it is extremely rare to hear a recording straight off the master tape. On top of that microphones are not at all neutral in general, go listen:
http://www.coutant.org/contents.html . Add placement and venue acoustics...blah blah.
Pros hate my recordings because they sound exactly as I hear them in the particular venue like a 180 year old adobe church but they don’t have that "classical ambiance" DG and the others have established as the default. It is all an illusion albeit a highly crafted artful one. I go for the reality I experience but I bow to the master engineers like Dr. Keith O. Johnson or others who construct the presentation with multiple microphones as is the norm commercially.
I prefer single point purist stereo recordings like those from Opus 3 or MALabs and strive to do the same. Yes I get to listen to my 1st generation DSD recordings at home whenever I like. I do believe this gives me an edge in reviewing gear in general but of course I mostly listen to commercial media. Progressive Rock and Jazz are my faves.
Recording technology since Joe Meek & Les Paul is a fully plastic medium and the tools now are awesome. The Beatles remain the gold standard in that regard imho but you’ll find a lot more Zappa in my library; the Plastic Master.
Neutrality is completely relative and with electronic music what comes out of your speakers is the 1st generation "original" sound. Does it sound like it did to the creators in the studio? Never and every studio will sound different anyways.Hell it will sound different at different times of day even. However that would be the definitive "sound" which can be exceeded in some cases with a very decent home system. "True to the master tape" is a valid judgement in my opinion but who gets to hear both? Is that master tape neutral to the source?
The speakers of course the most deterministic component but I for one find cables to be extremely important as well as stands and power conditioning and only because I hear it. I care not if it can be measured or explained (although I have found measurable differences in cables that correlate to audible quality). You may dismiss me as you please but come to my home and I will demonstrate reliably and repeatably.
BTW Common mode rejection is the advantage of balanced cables which aid in long runs. Interference is assume to be induced in both legs and when summed negated. In most audio gear however balanced is rarely true symmetrical circuits and most of the time requires additional stages which actually degrade the sound. Simpler is better in general but there are always exceptions.
Now is electronic gear for production or reproduction potentially neutral? Definitely yes in my opinion but one problem is with measurement which is static and musical signals are highly dynamic and chaotic so of course a "reference" recording is your best place to start.
Different gear with the same measurements can and often will sound entirely different and the factors are beyond my space here. Try to hear different amps all based on the Hypex Ncore for instance; wow.
That is why the ear must be the final judge and reviews are valuable when you can trust the reviewer to some extent but just like a food review personal taste differs. I’ll put my $335 used Sumo Nine Class A amp up against any amp at any price for instance. Price does correlate to a degree but there is a sort of luck, art, and magic any component might posses. Everything matters even the damn fuses. I wish it were not true.
Honestly I’ve been to CES many times and indeed there is some megabuck gear that literally made me weak in the knees. I love the hunt and am a tremendous cheapskate having been poor most of my life. Part of the fun is finding the inexpensive stuff that punches over it’s weight but I will still crave MBL speakers and 70’s Ferraris.
Can electrically reproduced music accurately resemble the live acoustic sound of the live performance? Lightning in a bottle...if you have ever been privileged to sit in a control room and listen to a live microphone feed than you know no matter what, there is LOSS at every stage of the game. Does neutrality matter then? Yes, it is something to strive for, like immortality or perfection and just as difficult to achieve. The efforts can be most gratifying and sometimes the illusion is complete enough to fool our ears and brain. Neutral is an ideal and must be found incrementally through time, experience, and expense. It is a rush when you get close. Just my thoughts on my passion. I reserve the right to change my mind pending new information and experience. Music is the best!
