greggf
1000+ Head-Fier
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I think the weird soundstages some of us hear - and are bothered by - are a function of the X9000's spectacularly tracking exactly how given recordings are recorded, mastered, and assembled.
On Jaco Pastorius' mid-'70's album, the X9000's are terrible. Some instruments come out of left field, some out of right - so far, so good - but others come out of the top of your head, some out of your navel, some from behind an ear, and so on.
Yet on Steve Hoffman's remastering of the Vince Guaraldi Trio's BLACK ORPHEUS, all is beautiful. It's a simple group in a studio - San Francisco's public broadcasting's recording suite? - recorded there in one piece.
Last night, I heard the Minnesota Orchestra's Reference Recording's COPLAND, and it sounded better - not as bright - than ever before, including on any speakers. I assume the whole group was recorded as an entity in one hall. Like with Guaraldi's Trio, the soundstaging was magnificent. No funny business with stuff coming out of weird places.
The X9000 are forensic instruments. They perform autopsies. They indict the guilty and let the innocent run free.
I can't wait to hear the Mama's and the Papa's, with all those messy multitracks.
And no, I guess the X9000 can't be all-rounders. Many - most? - recordings are not well done. But even then, the X9000 won't chase you out of the room with fatigue or excess brightness.
On Jaco Pastorius' mid-'70's album, the X9000's are terrible. Some instruments come out of left field, some out of right - so far, so good - but others come out of the top of your head, some out of your navel, some from behind an ear, and so on.
Yet on Steve Hoffman's remastering of the Vince Guaraldi Trio's BLACK ORPHEUS, all is beautiful. It's a simple group in a studio - San Francisco's public broadcasting's recording suite? - recorded there in one piece.
Last night, I heard the Minnesota Orchestra's Reference Recording's COPLAND, and it sounded better - not as bright - than ever before, including on any speakers. I assume the whole group was recorded as an entity in one hall. Like with Guaraldi's Trio, the soundstaging was magnificent. No funny business with stuff coming out of weird places.
The X9000 are forensic instruments. They perform autopsies. They indict the guilty and let the innocent run free.
I can't wait to hear the Mama's and the Papa's, with all those messy multitracks.
And no, I guess the X9000 can't be all-rounders. Many - most? - recordings are not well done. But even then, the X9000 won't chase you out of the room with fatigue or excess brightness.