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Should a good system sound bad with bad recording?

A friend of mine came home with a few CDs burnt out of "official" bootleg recordings of Pearl Jam NorAm tour...the sound was so crappy that he looked at me a bit embarrassed, thinking "very loud" that my system was really not great despite the money I spent. I checked the site he downloaded from...full concerts are about 200 MB on average. I guess I am dealing with a case of ultra-compressed files. Should I be proud that the sound was really crappy on my set up?!!!!
beheme
r_f_sayles's avatar
r_f_sayles
872 posts
 
Sure, one could argue that your system accurately reproduced the source material. Would you prefer a system that lied to you by making everything sound sweet, if that was even at all possible?! Happy listening!
unsound
7,329 posts
 
IMHO, a system shold reflect what the recording has to offer. Not under or over emphasize what is bad or good.
mark02131's avatar
mark02131
99 posts
 
A bad recording should sound bad on a really good system. I have a led zepplin CD that sounds ok in my car but is so compressed that It makes my system sound like a transister radio.

Mark
slappy
903 posts
 
If a bad recording sounds good on a good system, wouldnt that indicate the system is somehow coloring the music to make it less offence?

I'd say crap in, crap out.

Imagine Crap in, T-bone steak out.
That would make the whole digestive process a little less appetizing.
"Here, eat this piece of shit. Very good. Yeah thats right, the peanut too. Now, come back later and crap a t-bone on my plate."
onemug
784 posts
 
I agree on the garbage in/garbage out factor. If you have a revealing system it will reveal the garbage or reveal the quality of what's being played.
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