"Bridge Over Trouble Water" sounds artificial


During the pandemic I've been upgrading my sound system.  I used to enjoy Simon & Garfunkel, "Bridge Over Trouble Water".  With my upgraded equipment the hi resolution audio sounds very synthetic, with one track on top of another, not like real music at all.  The voices are doubled and violins just layered on top.  On my same system, I played a live concert of Andre Previn playing Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue".  It sounded real and beautiful, like a live performance.  Am I doing something wrong?
aeschwartz
It is so important to realize that we are listening to productions on our hifi. Every one is different! Like an art museum. Every work is different and done by different people with different techniques for different reasons. How boring if all art is done the same for the same goal of being “realistic “. The reason I can spend countless hours listening to music I might not even be familiar with is I never know what I might hear next. That’s a big part of the thrill of listening to music for me. Sure I have my favorite artists and my favorite recordings but it’s the variety and not knowing what you will hear next that keeps me going. I spend a lot of time using random play off my music server library.  It is my library so all stuff I have some interest in. As long as it is not making my ears bleed when they should not be I am good with it. Some recordings will and some are even designed to do that. I want to hear it all! Just some more than others perhaps.
+1, maps....I listen to a rather wide variety of selections chosen for a variety of reasons.  Some for the song itself, some for the dynamics (subtle or strong), and a few just for the grins...

An example; I have the 'straight version(s) as well...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGpkNPbSa2Q

Yes, terribly 'off the wall'....;)  But I like to think of it as an object lesson in the 'power of music' and the rather blatant parallels that certain genres can potentally evoke in and within our society....

*L* Yes, a heavy-handed commentary...akin to F. Zappa being told to 'shut up and play your guitar...."

Enjoy what you do...ignore the rest of us as needed or desired. *S*

Play on, J



op's query has been covered well here

suffice it to say that most pop/rock recordings are mastered without any thought to how they will sound on high end system

hi end hi fi is a niche... mass market recordings truly don't give a sh*t 
Systems that Emphasize imperfections in recordings have become synonymous with High Resolution Sound...the details are present on most systems, but the emphasis is more on the Music rather than the artifacts of a recording.  Been there and found it antithetical to the enjoyment of music.  Two words to avoid when building a system are Flat and High Resolution!