Can there ever be a single perfect music system?

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zhopudey
Stammgast

#1 erstellt: 07. Feb 2007, 08:28

Old topic with a slight twist

There have been numerous discussions here about the perfect speaker, and about audiophiles/technophiles/music lovers, etc... Here are a few questions from my side to continue those discussions.

The perfect system, for me, would be one that makes me believe I am listening to the artist live. Not one that reproduces the CD faithfully. But I was wondering, can a single system do this for all types of music? I think music could be divided into two categories - a small group of singers with acoustical instruments, and a whole orchestra, with or without amplification.

For the first type, the music system will have to make us think that the musicians are sitting right there in our room. Thus, it should take the room acoustics into consideration. So, if one is sitting in a spacious 30x40' room listening to Norah Jones, it should sound like norah is singing in a 30x40' room. But if the system is set up in a small bedroom less than 100 sq feet, or even in a completely tiled roomed for that matter, Ms Jones should still sound like the real thing. There would be no question of good or bad sound, or using any of the usual audio teminologies. It should simply sound like Norah Jones is there in the room singing.

For orchestras, or for concerts, (or movies) however, the system will have to dissolve our walls, and transport us to the venue. Regardless of the size and type of our room, we should actually feel that we are sitting in the concert hall, or that we are standing at Woodstock. Maybe, multichannel systems would be preferable to achieve this effect.

So, my doubt is, can we expect a single music system to satisfy both these conditions, and be perfect across all genres of music?

stevieboy
Stammgast

#2 erstellt: 07. Feb 2007, 08:47

i think you're starting with a pretty flawed base itself - wanting the artist to sound like its live. i think the artists themselves have a tough time replicating the effects they achieve in a studio setting with engineering/ mixing etc in a live concert. if you've heard a song and the same song recorded live you'll know what i'm referring to. in fact even different live versions of the same song are different! what you need to be hearing is the artists' environment as it was recorded. for example i have a joan osborne cd recorded in a club and it damn well sounds like its in a club with the ambience portrayed well. similarly for another brick in the wall when the children sing it feels like they're singing in a classroom.

now getting that ambience live? why is 'live' your benchmark anyway? shouldnt it be getting the ambience in which it was recorded?

if your system took the ambience and twisted it to make it seem like the singer is on stage in front of a huge crowd its a pretty manipulative system!

i dont think a good music system brings the performer into your living room. a good music system for me takes you to where the performer was recording the album.

zhopudey
Stammgast

#3 erstellt: 07. Feb 2007, 08:53

Ahh...I never thought of that

I'll mull over this now.....

Arj
Inventar

#4 erstellt: 07. Feb 2007, 09:24

stevieboy schrieb:

i dont think a good music system brings the performer into your living room. a good music system for me takes you to where the performer was recording the album.

I would add to it and say it makes you think it has taken you to the studio

in the absence of any absolute way of comparing

zhopudey
Stammgast

#5 erstellt: 08. Feb 2007, 09:32

^^ err....why would you want to go to the studio? I don't think its a place where we could kick back and enjoy the music. Now if the recording where to be done in a club/school or any other place with a distinctive ambience, then of course I would want my system to take me there. But the studio doesn't have an ambience of its own, or does it??