[hardbop]

Since I consider music to be the biggest reason I'm so deep into this hobby, I have become increasingly curious about recording quality.

Which sonic qualities belong to the music pressed on the disc or vinyl, as opposed to those qualities which are attributed to pieces of equipment or the combination thereof? How many sonic qualities are an extension of the data on the disc and revealed, in various ways, by the hardware used to reproduce it? I've heard all of the audiophile jargon and I know the definitions of most of the terms, but perhaps not how they apply or where they belong in the aural chain.

I'm familiar mostly with the undesirable traits captured in recorded music, such as hot recordings, compression, sibilance, noise, and so on. However, I don't think I've heard much about the good qualities of recordings, at least not in specific terms. When I hear these qualities or read about them, it's usually attributed to the equipment that reproduce them, such as the terms soundstage, airiness, blackness, etc. Surely, there's something more quantifiable in good recordings than the lack of bad qualities. Perhaps the line between equipment quality and recording quality is non-existant because there's no way to listen to a recorded music without the coloration of the equipment in some way. I suppose comparisons could be made with live music, though.

I could easily be wrong, but I would think that recording quality is more objective a measure than judging headphones, sources and amplifiers. There may be some who simply like lo-fi recordings, but the bad recordings I enjoy I do so despite the poor sonic qualities.

I'd just like to find out what makes a good recording good and try to nail down what, I hope, I already know. I'd say that I can usually tell when music sounds good, even when I can't explain why. Although, I'm usually unable to put the explaination into words because I'm enthralled in the music itself.

 

[LFF]

What makes a good recording? That's a very hard question to answer. I guess it depends who you ask. I like a recording that sounds lifelike - like the singer/musicians are in the room with me. I like dynamic range. I like music that is not compressed to death. So many factors go into making a good recording - tubes, limited mics, all the musicians playing together etc etc. Then after the recording is done, you have to pray that the mastering engineer doesn't mess everything up.

For example - listen to any remastering done by Bob Norberg. Horrible. Listen to the original release of Nat King Cole's Just One of Those Things on CD. Then listen to the Hoffman remastered vinyl. Huge difference.

In short - too many variable to name but if it sounds dynamic and lifelike - it's probably a good recording.