Life-like sound

[tvrboy]

If the goal of audiophiles is to get as close to a live performance as possible, then it seems to me high-end audio equipment will not reproduce that. I've been to something like 75 live classical performances (brass band, orchestra, chamber, solo recital) in my life and played an instrument for 7 years. To me it seems like the experience of a listener at a real concert is affected by so many things that the sound quality would be way worse than someone listening on a top-end speaker system. Audience noise, the shape of the hall, sound waves of all the instruments interacting in the air, planes flying overhead, rain, environmental noise, performers farting, and all that affect the sound quality. I mean, if there are 200 people in an auditorium listening to a concert, those people make a really significant noise shifting in their seats, whispering to each other, and coughing. So why do audiophiles think they are constantly chasing life-like sound? Maybe a better term would be "better than life" or "recording studio" sound.

[ClieOS]

Life-like as in 'trying to reproduce (as close as possible) the live performance of the musician(s) in the place of recording', not 'in front of an audience' (unless of course the recording is meant to be such).

If the music is recorded in a studio, then the goal (of faithful reproduction, or 'life-like') should be to reproduce the music as close as possible to how you would have listened to it in the studio, in front of the musician(s). If you want a music that was recorded in a studio to sound like it is in live concert, then obviously you are not trying to reproduce it faithfully, but rather trying to reproduce it in a manner that is most enjoyable to you.

Thus, there is nothing wrong with wanting to listen to a life-like music reproduction as long as you know where 'live' is actually located - may it be in a recording studio or a music hall full of people.

[DanielCox]

I don't think that is the goal - if it was people wouldn't be buying tube amps and Grados.

[donunus]

hehehe tube amps generally sound more lifelike than solid state IMO but that would be for another thread

[haloxt]

Which audiophile said he wants to hear performers farting as his audiophile goal?

[LFF]

Originally Posted by ClieOS

Life-like as in 'trying to reproduce (as close as possible) the live performance of the musician(s) in the place of recording', not 'in front of an audience' (unless of course the recording is meant to be such).

BINGO!

Life-like does not necessarily mean live performance. On some recordings, the engineer's goal is to reproduce the live performance as close as possible. These usually tend to be the ones labeled "Live At.....". The goal is to give the listener the idea of being there in the performance venue, audience noise and all sometimes.

Life-like can also mean the goal of reproducing the illusion that the performers are in front of you performing on a recording sound stage/studio. Listen to any DCC Nat King Cole title and you'll see how life-like a recording can get.

In either case, the synergy, quality and placement of the components within a given room will help reproduce what the recording engineer, producer, artist and mastering engineer want to convey to the listener.

I think that if at the end of the record a listener has enjoyed the music even a tiny amount, then all the work of the recording engineer, producer, artist and mastering engineer has been a success.

[DavidNY]

Check out the commentary on this link. Lots of flaming but some well written comments on how impossible it is to re create a live music event at home.

Let's Call The Whole Thing Off, Pt. III? BAlabo BC-1 Mk-II Control Amplifier and BP-1 Mk-II Power Amplifier | AVguide

My take on this subject is that:

To maximize one's enjoyment of music you should experience both live music as well as an enjoyable means to listen to music at home.

Both have their advantages and disadvantages

I frequent concerts at Carnegie Hall. No home system can replicate the sound of a full orchestra. But I've also had to endure mediocre performances. And impolite audiences can be maddening. I have tickets to the performance of Brahms 4th this season. I wonder how long it's been since that was performed at Carnegie?

You can spend as much or as little as you wish on a home system. The best home system I've heard recently is featured in the attached article, the Soulution Room:

gtt

I never heard my favorite recordings sound so life like. For example Kleiber and the VPO performing Brahms 4th soared and floated before me. Imagine having access to the best performances at your finger tips. Few can afford that system. But the pursuit of that level enjoyment is what it means to me to be an audiophile.

[haloxt]

A real life performance utilizes senses other than just hearing, and humans use all five senses simultaneously to enrich each other. I'm not going to take any claims of sound reproduction systems being like "real life" until a home theater makes serious attempts to make me think I'm virtually at an orchestra, ie. nice comfy seat and everyone including myself dressed for the occasion and I can interact with people (feedback is quite an essential part of reality), smell of all the fragrances that people around me are wearing, hotty sitting a few spaces away whom I can goggle at all I want, variability each time I listen to an album just like in going to a live orchestra two separate nights.

Watch the movie Strange Days to get a good idea of what I mean, but even the fictional device in that movie does not address interactivity. Also I think you guys are underestimating the importance of not just how things reproduce sound, but how you choose to listen. I'm sure some of you have listened to an album and felt totally different about it than at other times. That's because listening, as any other sense, requires an incredible amount of processing by the brain and there can be a lot of variability in how your brain is functioning at different times or in different situations.

[Uncle Erik]

Originally Posted by tvrboy

If the goal of audiophiles is to get as close to a live performance as possible, then it seems to me high-end audio equipment will not reproduce that. I've been to something like 75 live classical performances (brass band, orchestra, chamber, solo recital) in my life and played an instrument for 7 years. To me it seems like the experience of a listener at a real concert is affected by so many things that the sound quality would be way worse than someone listening on a top-end speaker system.

I've also played an instrument for a long time and been to at least a few hundred classical performances.

You're right - there's nothing quite like being there. Which brings up a couple of things I've noticed over the years.

First, all the ambient noise in a live recording makes listening at home that much better. I actually want to hear the glasses clinking in a club, people talking, applause, etc. because that adds realism you don't get in the studio. If speakers can add in those tiny details, you get surprisingly realistic performances at home. Especially with planars. (Try them if you haven't!)

Second, I don't think you can faithfully recreate a performance at home.

But how important is that, really? What about if you just put that aside and, instead, focus on the home experience as an event in itself? You don't have to have the live experience to enjoy it, do you? I've found that as long as my gear is transparent and mostly resolving, it comes across well enough for me to enjoy it.

Daniel Cox, the discussion would be better off in a separate thread, but you should really give single-ended triodes a shot some time. Yes, the measurements aren't there compared to solid state, but there's something just so damn real about them. If you want a comparison, think about playing an acoustic guitar outside in a field as compared to being played in a live, warm room. Same instrument, same player, same music. But they'll sound really different.

Single-ended triodes do wonderful things with music, just like an interesting live room can help. Perhaps not for everyone, but don't buy the line from the Audio Puritans. No, things don't have to measure perfectly well. Just the same, an old church might have some oddball room resonances. But the church might be a fantastic place to hear a singer. Concert halls are not acoustically dead. And why would you want to listen in a dead room, anyhow? Single-ended triodes are sort of the equivalent - like a great venue, they make music sound more like music, even if the numbers don't make sense. But you really should give them a listen some time. You'll understand why so many of us love them.

[DanielCox]

Not saying I don't like a bit of fakery (or difference). I have a tube amp and it's great.