The Absolute Sound vs Pleasing Sound

Of course it is for one’s enjoyment. Who said otherwise? What some if you guys miss is the fact that, for some, when the reproduced sound gets as close as possible to the sound of real that is, in fact, when there is the most enjoyment. Enjoy your music any way you want. Me? I want realism.

Had an interesting reminder two years ago on the merits of live music, and the difficulties with reproducing it. Was dealing with some health issues, and while recovering, there was a common area where we would chat, play chess etc.

There was a guitar there, and one person played. By no means a virtuoso, but able to play and captivate.

I commented to the player that you had to spend a lot of money on a sound system to get anywhere near the experience of the sound we were experiencing there.

This was a cheap guitar, in a somewhat crappy room acoustically and yet, it sounded so real - because it was.

I'm not so much interested in the measurements, numbers or graphs as far as accuracy goes. But I am interested in reproducing the experience of that intimate sound.

Live events often give us pleasant memories. Sometimes, that live event is listening to the radio while driving with a love interest you just met. Wanting to experience those moments again is important to me. 

Again, not so interested in charts and numbers, but I do want to have some kind of emotional resonance that connects back to the real moment. 

And as we all have different memories and experiences, we have different interests when it comes to the sonic signatures of our systems.

@audio2design

We are all in agreement that music is for enjoyment and I would never pretend to force my preferences on anyone, I was merely expressing what they are.  I want to think that if I play a Diana Krall song in my system and it sounds like what I heard in the concert in Brazil, then this is a good start. I don’t need nor do I want the ability to add more body to her voice to make it sound nicer to my ears. That’s just me. 

I get overpaid to do live sound production/mixing and actually have some shows sort of booked for September (we'll see about that, but I mention it because I don't want anybody worrying about me), so I'm to blame for some reinforced concert sound. That's right. It's my fault. That said, there are gigantic differences between un-reinforced performances and everything else, as well as recorded vs live...so what? Do you think watching an F1 race is like driving? Food shows are like eating? Are they supposed to be? No. I can play an acoustic guitar any time (not while driving...that's illegal) and yeah...it sounds groovy, but is a symphony going to set up in my house to play Benjamin Britton for me? Doubtful, and there's not enough parking. My hifi rig makes music sound good enough to be very enjoyable, concerts are fun, get over it.