SQ vs. Music

Same orchestra playing same composition. Different conductors. In one case the performance is spectacular and in another so so. What is going on ? Same sounds and combination of notes and silence, even the same musicians. Conductor is our hi fi, without the conductor it's nothing, just outlines.

inna,
Good point about different conductors.  I have several versions of the Beethoven symphonies, some seem to be faster (though the track times are not), some seem more "dynamic" than others, etc.

When I was visiting dealer after dealer, auditioning speakers, it really bugged me when I'd bring in a stack of CDs for my audition and the dealer insisted on demoing with music I would never listen to, but that made the speakers shine.  I'd deliberately include a few older CDs, back in the day when the mastering equipment was not the best, to make sure I'd be able to listen for extended periods of time; I could not make it thru the first track of the original "Born to Run" CD, as the "highly resolving" system being demonstrated brought out all the rough edges in a way that was not at all pleasing.

@ejr1953 ,

I could not make it thru the first track of the original "Born to Run" CD, as the "highly resolving" system being demonstrated brought out all the rough edges in a way that was not at all pleasing.


The story behind the recording is pretty epic. A killing amount of rerecording resulted in an album with a sound that Springsteen hated.

According to his biography he initially felt crushed at the outcome. Time proved his concerns unfounded but no one will ever claim it’s a sonic masterpiece.

Various attempts at remastering over the years have made it a little more presentable. My 1993 gold cd disc version sounds acceptable and the 2014 Bob Ludwig 30th anniversary is about as good as it possibly will ever get.

Good question!

I personally distinguish two separate joys when listening to a recording. I may enjoy  just the sound, sound quality, how different instruments are recorded and reproduced, and of course I mainly enjoy the music I am listening to. If the music I like is well recorded then I enjoy double, in fact the dependence is not linear perhaps even it is exponential. Lately I find myself that often I tend not  to listen to music that I like but which is not well recorded.  At the same time,  for such recordings, I try to choose appropriate equipment or even listen to that recording in my car where the imperfections become less notable. Then you just enjoy the music and "forget" about sound quality. 

I admit that too much dependence on sound quality is not good - a "weakness" that we acquire with good audio gear. At the same time, good audio equipment makes possible to appreciate fully the music you like. 

My first thought was to dismiss the premise behind the question, but on reflection it is a valid query.  I listen primarily to Classical.  There are many classic pre stereo performances in my collection and I do listen to them.  Restoration techniques are excellent—some of these recordings are nearing the century mark and, such as the Rachmaninov/Stokowski Second Piano Concerto that sounds amazingly vivid-yet even when enjoying it I feel a little niggling unease that I am missing something sonically.  Now, most of the Classical repertoire has been recorded so redundantly that one can find many recordings that do not require music and sonic compromise on the part of the listener.  I learned Beethoven’s Ninth from my parents 78s of Toscanini and the NBC SO, but now I have to be in a special mood for that one, even though it has been restored to a much higher degree to what I heard back in the day