[pigmode]

My main criteria is enjoyabilty. I am interested in the creation--not the creator.

 

[Andrew Pielet]

Well, As for me, I hate music. I thought getting good equipment would get me more chicks.

 

[zowie]

Quote:

Originally posted by Joe Bloggs can't the reference standard just be whatever was recorded on the master tape / disc?

Absolutely right. That is, when "high fidelity" is referring to the CD or the playback equipment.

When high fidelity refers to the recording, the master, it obviously doesn't mean high fidelity to itself but to the musical event.

If the end listener wants to hear high fidelity (whatever the standard of "high" happens to be), then all elements of the chain need to be high fidelity.

 

[zowie]

Quote:

Originally posted by pigmode Right and the "original source" is not, in fact a live performance, but a master tape of that performance which entails a myriad of engineering techniques and the attendant equipment array. You could play a recording on a highly transparent and revealing system and resultant sound could be of the highest fidelity, but that might not neccesarily be "realistic". Soundstaging is a good example. I've never experienced High-Fidelity soundstaging in real life.

The cd and stereo system should have high fidelity to the master tape. The master tape should have high fidelity to the live performance. The objective is for what you hear to have high fidelity to the original performance, or do the best you can with what's been captured.

Soundstaging exists in real life. Everyone with normal hearing can detect what directions things are coming from and their general spatial relationship to each other. On truly high fidelity playback, you should hear that recreated. (This is another reason why a good system is more important for accoustic music than pop, where mulit-tracking makes the soundstage entirely artificial because the performers weren't even necessarily all together at the same time).

Some soundstage illusions produced by some expense gear which many people enjoy are really a benign form of distortion. Speakers that direct sound around the room like a lawn sprinkler to create a sense of depth which has no connection to what's on the CD are an example. This is a good illustration of the difference between "high fidelity" and, for some people, "sounds good."

 

[zowie]

Quote:

Originally posted by Andrew Pielet Well, As for me, I hate music. I thought getting good equipment would get me more chicks.

HA HA HA HA HA HA!

Of course, just the opposite turns out to be true. Try a slick car instead.