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Listening to low quality recordings on quality gear

post #1 of 34
7/17/04 at 11:57pm
Thread Starter 
Based on the music I listen to, one would never guess that I was an audio geek. Very often, I find myself using my $350 setup to listen to music that is horribly recorded. Anybody else do this a lot?
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post #2 of 34
7/18/04 at 12:18am
The music I listen to is a mixed bag. Most of it was CDs my mom purchased in the late 90's/early 2000's and it's mostly pop and rock. Some of them are unlistenably bad (Eminem's Eminem Show, Weird Al's Poodle Hat), a few are barely listenable (INXS's Greatest Hits, Depeche Mode: The Singals 86-98), most are marginally good quality (Journey's Greatest Hits, Styx's Greatest Hits) and a few are exceptionally good (Mike & The Mechanic's self titled album Mike & The Mechanic's, Depeche Mode's Some Great Reward). Most of the CDs I've purchased have been pretty good sounding, including the sountrack to the 1984 restoration of Fritz Lang's Metropolis (VERY good recording and music!), the Tron soundtrack, Styx's Mr.Roboto, The Incredible Machine 3's soundtrack (it's a game from 1996 that I loved, and happens to have a very well recorded soundtrack that includes Hip Hop and Progressive Rock tracks that have their dynamics left intact).
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post #3 of 34
7/18/04 at 12:23am
A lot of my favorite music is obscure hardcore/emo that was recorded very much on the cheap. I listen to it because I love the music, regardless of recording quality. My only concern is making the cds sound as good as they possibly can.
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post #4 of 34
7/18/04 at 12:34am
Yup. I find myself listening to mainly FM music. This is enathema to true audiophiles who even reject satellite radio. But I love the fact that I don't know what's coming next. I have two radio stations that are superb. They surprize me with music I have never heard before, and I like that. I am a dedicated inferior quality FM guy.
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post #5 of 34
7/18/04 at 12:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Factor
Based on the music I listen to, one would never guess that I was an audio geek. Very often, I find myself using my $350 setup to listen to music that is horribly recorded. Anybody else do this a lot?
A suggestion if the recordings originally sound bad, at least try not to make them sound even worst, and do not compress them. If you compress them, and try to play them in a compressed format, they will sound even worst....Now if you mean that the recordings were originally good, but they sound bad due to the compression you use later, the case is a little better, but still IMO not too logic....

But it is true it doesn't make sense to spend money in a setup while the music you will hear sounds horrible, what for??? To torture yourself???
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post #6 of 34
7/18/04 at 12:54am
not all the best music are recorded with the best quality unfortunately. see me sig.
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post #7 of 34
7/18/04 at 12:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by terrymx
not all the best music are recorded with the best quality unfortunately. see me sig.
True....unfortunatelly....
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post #8 of 34
7/18/04 at 1:00am
I listen to music with my systems, doesn't matter what kinds or how it was recorded. I've always thought that the quality of the recording was an indicator of the skill of the soundman, but it really doesn't have much to do with the music, does it?
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post #9 of 34
7/18/04 at 1:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Norbert
Yup. I find myself listening to mainly FM music. This is enathema to true audiophiles who even reject satellite radio. But I love the fact that I don't know what's coming next. I have two radio stations that are superb. They surprize me with music I have never heard before, and I like that. I am a dedicated inferior quality FM guy.
You know they sell some very high quality (and expensive) tuners although I'm not sure if they are worth it since FM signal doesn't seem to be a high quality source.
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post #10 of 34
7/18/04 at 1:01am
I think this thread should perhaps be moved to the members lounge (if a moderater is listening) cuz it doesn't have much to do with a particular headphone.
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post #11 of 34
7/18/04 at 1:39am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sovkiller
it doesn't make sense to spend money in a setup while the music you will hear sounds horrible, what for??? To torture yourself???
Actually, I like using quality gear no matter how bad the recording quality is. If I'm listening to... say... a Jesus Lizard album, a better rig won't necessarily expose a whole lot of intricacies, but it will definitely make it more visceral and emotional.
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post #12 of 34
7/18/04 at 1:49am
k. ODAMA,

Actually, I think I have a pretty good TEAC HD 500 receiver. I can't imagine going beyond that in sound quality for FM. This is their reference quality receiver. It doesn't get much better them that for teac. I have no need for upgrade. I also have a cassette deck, but I never use but to use it to record for other's car players.
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post #13 of 34
7/18/04 at 11:42am
Having good equipment can be a two edged sword. Good recordings sound better and poor onces sound worse. But I've found a third situation where I'm sure the music was properly recorded, but the distortion is part of the music.

I had a surpise recently when I listened to Neil Young's "Fade to Black" on the Weld CD. I had not yet heard it on my HR-2, Zu cabled HD-650's. When the grunge came through it sounded like the batteries going dead on a battery powered headphone amp. (which of course the HR-2 is not). Then I realized, no, this is supposed to sound this distorted! The purposeful distortion truly hadn't come through on my previous system when I was using an HD-600 and a Perreaux headphone amp.

Well my new rule of thumb for Neil Young's brand of grunge is that when the sound distorts I crank up the old potentiometer a bit! It hurts my ears so good!
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post #14 of 34
7/18/04 at 12:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Factor
Actually, I like using quality gear no matter how bad the recording quality is. If I'm listening to... say... a Jesus Lizard album, a better rig won't necessarily expose a whole lot of intricacies, but it will definitely make it more visceral and emotional.
I'm talking about the quality of the recordings not the kind of music itself, just ot clear that, OK?

Try the first Alice Cooper album, or maybe King Oliver with Louis Armstrong from around 1926, and let me know what do you think with those through a surgeon CD3000.....or maybe the Etys....and a good amp.....completelly unbearable IMO....Emotional? Visceral? Honestly, I wish
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post #15 of 34
7/18/04 at 12:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Norbert
k. ODAMA,

Actually, I think I have a pretty good TEAC HD 500 receiver. I can't imagine going beyond that in sound quality for FM.
IIRC some time ago according to some FCC regulations, the FM cut the freq at 15KHz, now I'm not sure, but I don't think they will go too far from that....
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