[mocenigo]

I went to the sf symphony the other night and sat near middle first row, just to the right of the conductor. After closing my eyes I tried to imagine the end game summit-fi headphones (or speaker) systems I've heard from the meets compared to the massive, distortion free soundstage differences I heard in front of me. Sadly, it's still not even close

Of course it is not even close. No system I have heard even remotely matches the feeling of real, live music, of direct sound. Even the best audio systems are crappy reproduction of real sound. We should never forget this. For me audio happiness consist in accepting this and embracing the compromise: I can listen to a lot more music than I could ever dream of if I could only hear it live, but sonically it is a lie - sometimes a beautiful one, but always a lie!
 
 Roberto

 

[bcschmerker4]

I went to the sf symphony the other night and sat near middle first row, just to the right of the conductor. After closing my eyes I tried to imagine the end game summit-fi headphones (or speaker) systems I've heard from the meets compared to the massive, distortion free soundstage differences I heard in front of me. Sadly, it's still not even close

Nor do I expect it to be.  Even the full-on cinema-house versions of Dolby Laboratories' Atmos sound systems have their limits attempting to reproduce concert hall acoustics for movie aficionadi.  Too many inputs for the audio engineers, especially for a scene set at Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, CA, USA, with both the Sympohony's full complement of single instruments and even a fourth of the resources of the 1984-vintage Fratelli Ruffatti V/147.  As a prospective pop producer, I'd have enough trouble mixing an Allen L-343 in with guitars, bass and drums.

 

[foreverzer0]

Nor do I expect it to be.  Even the full-on cinema-house versions of Dolby Laboratories' Atmos sound systems have their limits attempting to reproduce concert hall acoustics for movie aficionadi.  Too many inputs for the audio engineers, especially for a scene set at Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, CA, USA, with both the Sympohony's full complement of single instruments and even a fourth of the resources of the 1984-vintage Fratelli Ruffatti V/147.  As a prospective pop producer, I'd have enough trouble mixing an Allen L-343 in with guitars, bass and drums.

When totl summit-fi headphone systems costing 20k (stax or abyss, and not going with a MSB dac) or 50k (Sennheiser Orpheus or hifiman shangri la) and speaker systems costing 100-500k (Wilson or mbl), one kind of does..

 

[DecentLevi]

Interestingly two ways that hi-fi rigs could be 'better than the real thing' have crossed my mind:
 

1. Because you can fine tune many attributes of the audio to your liking, such as by tube rolling, EQ'ing, chosen cables, chosen headphones, etc. to give a sound signature that may be more to your liking than you would have gotten from a particular placement in an auditorium or which may have been too loud, or that may have had too many people clapping, coughing, etc.

 

1. Because some concerts have sucky sound stystems - you can get better fidelity at home than many auditorium speaker systems that may have lax sound engineers, sub-par speaker setups, bad acoustics, or that may actually play lossy recordings as backing 
     (this one applies to non-acoustic performances such as electronic, pop, etc. concerts)

 
In the above ways, you can fine tune a sound that can be subjectively 'better' than a live show - albeit may not be better than optimal placement in front of real instruments

 

[Logistics]

ITT: people discussing accomplishing something which cannot be accomplished, regardless of price.

You will never reproduce a live experience over a recording. And if you weren't at said performance, then it's even more pointless to debate it since you don't know how it sounded from any vantage point of the venue that hosted the event.

I recall a big name in audio, once discussing the futility of recreating live experiences. He chose Woodstock as a point of reference--an event this individual had attended. His discussion alleged that if you want to attempt to recreate the sound you heard on the enormous JBL cabinets, loaded with giant, paper-coned loudspeakers you had to actually have some... that and the proper listening space to hear them in.

But that's all very unrealistic so let's just stop worrying about it, and just listen to what you enjoy. Don't stop enjoying it because you think it should meet some unreachable parameters.

 

[mocenigo]

Originally Posted by bcschmerker4 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
  Nor do I expect it to be. 

When totl summit-fi headphone systems costing 20k (stax or abyss, and not going with a MSB dac) or 50k (Sennheiser Orpheus or hifiman shangri la) and speaker systems costing 100-500k (Wilson or mbl), one kind of does..

 
Well, if they expect that then they are delusional.
 
It may be a more interesting experience in a different way, but for once it cannot reproduce the emotional a live event because it is not live by definition. Factors such uniqueness, unpredictability, waiting for the surprise in an interpretation, sharing the emotion with other listeners in the same venue, these are all lost. So it is not only an approximation from the sonic point of view, which can be quite realistic.
 
 Roberto

 

[nvfan]

Will there be a meet in 2017 at SF?

 

[HellaSteph]

Will there be a meet in 2017 at SF?

We definitely will hope and see!

 

[third_eye]

Will there be a meet in 2017 at SF?

We definitely will hope and see!

We're planning for mid/end August and will have an update soon!

 

[vipervick]

We're planning for mid/end August and will have an update soon!

So,  this means you are waiting to see which day I work =(

 

[Logistics]

Honestly, I don't understand why the event is even held in SF. Is detouring people the goal, here? Everything about attending an event in SF is frustrating: driving there, parking there, and god forbid you should need to use a restroom while walking the city streets. Why can't we move the event to somewhere it can more easily grow? Somewhere in Santa Clara county is a great choice.

 

[bcschmerker4]

In fact we had a couple meet-ups in San José.  Alternately, a location in Frémont may be reachable for those planning on the August meet-up.

 

[Shure or bust]

In fact we had a couple meet-ups in San José. Alternately, a location in Frémont may be reachable for those planning on the August meet-up.

 

[HellaSteph]

I'm originally from San Jose so I have no disagreements there.

 

[Shure or bust]

Hope it happens