Digital / Analogue: some observations

[cheeseboy]

It's all about personal preference.

most people don't dispute that, but some people have a very hard time (not yourself it would seem from your previous posts btw, but there are others) seperating personal preference from technical fact. Until people can do that, these threads will always appear.

 

[davedotco]

It's all about personal preference.

most people don't dispute that, but some people have a very hard time (not yourself it would seem from your previous posts btw, but there are others) seperating personal preference from technical fact. Until people can do that, these threads will always appear.

Actually I do, very much so. "Personal preference" is the primary reason so much modern hi-fi is complete poo.

Hi-fi is about re-creating a musical event in your home. Generally this is not possible, we simply can not produce the bandwidth, the volume or the dynamic range of live music in our homes ( a very lucky few apart).

Where personal preference comes in, is in the choices we make regarding the the compromises that have to be made for a system to produce something that we consider realistic.

An example from my own experience.

I find deep bass in small rooms unnatural, even unsettling, this is especially true in more affordable setups. I excercise my preference for smaller speakers in order to limit the effect of that problem. This means, for example that I do not play large scale orchestral music other than at background levels, which is a shame, though one I am prepared to live with. Strangely I do play reggae and some electronic music and, in the main, find that quite acceptable.....*unknw*

I am perfectly prepared to live with this compromise because of the clarity and articulation of bass lines in a lot of the music I do listen to, but I understand that, in the purest sense, my systems are flawed and not really hi-fi at all.

 

[Covenanter]

It's all about personal preference.

most people don't dispute that, but some people have a very hard time (not yourself it would seem from your previous posts btw, but there are others) seperating personal preference from technical fact. Until people can do that, these threads will always appear.

Actually I do, very much so. "Personal preference" is the primary reason so much modern hi-fi is complete poo.

Hi-fi is about re-creating a musical event in your home. Generally this is not possible, we simply can not produce the bandwidth, the volume or the dynamic range of live music in our homes ( a very lucky few apart).

Where personal preference comes in, is in the choices we make regarding the the compromises that have to be made for a system to produce something that we consider realistic.

An example from my own experience.

I find deep bass in small rooms unnatural, even unsettling, this is especially true in more affordable setups. I excercise my preference for smaller speakers in order to limit the effect of that problem. This means, for example that I do not play large scale orchestral music other than at background levels, which is a shame, though one I am prepared to live with. Strangely I do play reggae and some electronic music and, in the main, find that quite acceptable.....*unknw*

I am perfectly prepared to live with this compromise because of the clarity and articulation of bass lines in a lot of the music I do listen to, but I understand that, in the purest sense, my systems are flawed and not really hi-fi at all.

I'd go a long way wth Dave here. What we are doing is creating something artificial that gets close enough to the original that we can forget the artifice and listen to the music. The larger the scale of the music the harder it is to achieve this.

Chris

 

[davedotco]

It's all about personal preference.

most people don't dispute that, but some people have a very hard time (not yourself it would seem from your previous posts btw, but there are others) seperating personal preference from technical fact. Until people can do that, these threads will always appear.

Actually I do, very much so. "Personal preference" is the primary reason so much modern hi-fi is complete poo.

Hi-fi is about re-creating a musical event in your home. Generally this is not possible, we simply can not produce the bandwidth, the volume or the dynamic range of live music in our homes ( a very lucky few apart).

Where personal preference comes in, is in the choices we make regarding the the compromises that have to be made for a system to produce something that we consider realistic.

An example from my own experience.

I find deep bass in small rooms unnatural, even unsettling, this is especially true in more affordable setups. I excercise my preference for smaller speakers in order to limit the effect of that problem. This means, for example that I do not play large scale orchestral music other than at background levels, which is a shame, though one I am prepared to live with. Strangely I do play reggae and some electronic music and, in the main, find that quite acceptable.....*unknw*

I am perfectly prepared to live with this compromise because of the clarity and articulation of bass lines in a lot of the music I do listen to, but I understand that, in the purest sense, my systems are flawed and not really hi-fi at all.

I'd go a long way wth Dave here. What we are doing is creating something artificial that gets close enough to the original that we can forget the artifice and listen to the music. The larger the scale of the music the harder it is to achieve this.

Chris

Nicely put.

That said, I have been playing Kraftwerk's 2005 live concert recording this morning.

God knows where reality lies in this instance, the live concert experience presumably.....*unknw*

 

[Vladimir]

Personal preference = Me always being right, whatever the circumstances, my ego must be stroked for my money. I didn't spend 20% of my monthly income to be told by people I don't know or understand what they are saying that I am wrong for spending MY money the way I like it. Best to join a circle jerk alliance and reject everything else.

This means accepting relativism and rejecting the absolute information recorded on the media. It doesn't matter if instruments have different coloration and chunks of frequency are missing and bass is overblown. "I never said I want Hi-Fi."

Hi-Fi used to be (I am told) a gentlemen's hobby progressing towards a goal, high fidelity sound, as close as possible towards the live experience heard in a live music event as an ultimate reference. Now sound quality is quantified by the price tag and its weight in groupthink jelly. Engineers are considered monkeys obscured behind black curtains, randomly knocking hammers until good sound comes out of a box.

 

[davedotco]

Personal preference = Me always being right, whatever the circumstances, my ego must be stroked for my money. I didn't spend 20% of my monthly income to be told by people I don't know or understand what they are saying that I am wrong for spending MY money the way I like it. Best to join a circle jerk alliance and reject everything else.

This means accepting relativism and rejecting the absolute information recorded on the media. It doesn't matter if instruments have different coloration and chunks of frequency are missing and bass is overblown. "I never said I want Hi-Fi."

Hi-Fi used to be (I am told) a gentlemen's hobby progressing towards a goal, high fidelity sound, as close as possible towards the live experience heard in a live music event as an ultimate reference. Now sound quality is quantified by the price tag and its weight in groupthink jelly. Engineers are considered monkeys obscured behind black curtains, randomly knocking hammers until good sound comes out of a box.

You are a 'noiseboy' Vlad, pure and simple.

I am one too, but these days only on occasions, the rest of the time I am indulging in a 'gentlemans hobby'........*secret*

Not to be confused with 'gentlemans special interests', that is something else entirely.....*bad*

 

[Vladimir]

I'll take that as an advice to turn off the loudness button.