@mijostyn,
'What we listen to are illusions, illusions of musicians playing real instruments and singing.'
Good point. As time goes by we seem to be getting increasingly immersed in illusion trying to pass off as reality.
From the printed page to our smartphone screens, TV sets and workstations - it's all an illusion of a relationship becoming increasingly removed. Covid 19 has only made it worse.
Thankfully with audio we do have a fixed fundamental point of reference, the recording itself. All that any playback system can do is to attempt to play back the original recorded signal as faithfully as possible.
The biggest challenge falls with microphones and loudspeakers and their attempts to capture and mimick naturally occurring sound radiation patterns.
We cannot, and should never blame playback systems for not being able to deliver what was never captured in the first place.
As for individual interpretation, well that's another issue altogether - one of biological capability and psychological interpretation. One that, although currently beyond our means to measure adequately, is not one needed to determine playback fidelity.
The job of the playback system is accurate playback.
What the listener then does with the signal after it leaves the loudspeaker is only an individual personal matter.
@millercarbon,
We're not in the creation business are we?
We're only on the consumption end, and as such we look to the industry to provide the best products they can.
What do you suggest we should be listening to and learning from?
Isn't it better to leave that to the professionals who have both the time and resources to do a better job than we ever could?
'What we listen to are illusions, illusions of musicians playing real instruments and singing.'
Good point. As time goes by we seem to be getting increasingly immersed in illusion trying to pass off as reality.
From the printed page to our smartphone screens, TV sets and workstations - it's all an illusion of a relationship becoming increasingly removed. Covid 19 has only made it worse.
Thankfully with audio we do have a fixed fundamental point of reference, the recording itself. All that any playback system can do is to attempt to play back the original recorded signal as faithfully as possible.
The biggest challenge falls with microphones and loudspeakers and their attempts to capture and mimick naturally occurring sound radiation patterns.
We cannot, and should never blame playback systems for not being able to deliver what was never captured in the first place.
As for individual interpretation, well that's another issue altogether - one of biological capability and psychological interpretation. One that, although currently beyond our means to measure adequately, is not one needed to determine playback fidelity.
The job of the playback system is accurate playback.
What the listener then does with the signal after it leaves the loudspeaker is only an individual personal matter.
@millercarbon,
We're not in the creation business are we?
We're only on the consumption end, and as such we look to the industry to provide the best products they can.
What do you suggest we should be listening to and learning from?
Isn't it better to leave that to the professionals who have both the time and resources to do a better job than we ever could?
