Do Live albums sound better to everyone else?

walkch

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Mar 31, 2021
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Hi all,

I recently moved to a higher end hi-fi system (I wouldn’t say high end but still pretty decent - see below if interested for context).

It’s mainly built for vinyl but I added in a Bluesound Node 2i for day to day listening in place of a CD player or radio. Even after burn-in I was a little disappointed when listening to some of my favourite albums (a bit too bright and a bit narrow soundstage - nothing major and still sounded good but the setup didn’t blow my socks off).

I then tried streaming a random selection of live albums from Tidal and wow - full sounding, wide soundstage and incredible detail. Is this something that others have observed as well? May be that I’ve inadvertently created a setup that’s just better suited to live material but would be good to get others experience as well.

—————

Amp: Cyrus 82 DAC
Speakers: Monitor Audio GX50
Streamer: Bluesound Node 2i
Cables: Van Den Hul optical to the amp, Atlas Equtor to the speakers
 

abacus

Well-known member
It sounds like you bought it before listening to it first, (You cannot buy Hi-Fi on specs and reviews alone) and the combination you have chosen does not suit your ears.

After lockdown go to a dealer and listen to a few combinations to identify what equipment needs to be changed to get it sounding as you want.

Remove unnecessary variables such as fancy cables (Just use standard cables) to give you a good base to work from. If you believe cables make a difference (There is no verifiable evidence that they give an improvement over good quality standard cables) then try changing them only after all the equipment works together seamlessly. (If you get the right combination of equipment you should be able to sit back and enjoy the music without the slightest urge to upgrade anything)

Have fun

Bill
 
D

Deleted member 116933

Guest
There no such thing as a system sounding better with one type of music than the other, it’s more absurd than the cable debate.

Any how I think what your noticing is that tidal actually might have an inferior master/masters of the recordings you have on CD (if I read what typed properly) that I have noticed on more than one occasion especially with older recordings. As the blue sound is a network streamer can you not make a recording of your fav cds and play them back that way instead?
 

Gray

Well-known member
.....May be that I’ve inadvertently created a setup that’s just better suited to live material
...a system that's better suited to better recordings in general more like.
You've got some studio recordings that sound equally good though right?
You've hit on the reason that some people actively choose rose tinted systems - to make all of their music at least listenable.
(The odd, poorly balanced track sounds too bright through my Cyrus, but the best recordings are completely uncompromised and I prefer that).
 
Hi there.

I think there can be something to what you are saying, but it depends upon what you are listening to. Most (but not all) modern music is recorded in a cut-and-paste manner - not recorded as everyone playing together in one space, which is sometimes called 'recording the room.' Live recordings by definition are 'recording the room', and some of the most wonderful recordings I own are live. The voices and instruments will often be spread widely, and the sense of the acoustic in which the recording is made (absent from many cut-and-paste studio albums) can give a real sense of being present. But not all - some are rubbish.

But Gray's right - you should have some non-live recordings that sound equally good - maybe if you tell us which artists you are listening to, some of us might be able to suggest studio albums that should sound equally good?

And apologies that your question has been instantly hijacked as part of an ongoing cable debate, when you asked about something completely different.
 
D

Deleted member 2457

Guest
Some do and some don’t depends on the recording.
 
D

Deleted member 188533

Guest
Yeah lets keep 'other' discussions out of it for now. At least unless the OP asks. :)
 

abacus

Well-known member
I think we need a bit of clarity from the OP, as the way I read it is that they upgraded recently and now finds the sound not to his liking, but when he added a Bluesound Node with Tidal it sounded fine, hence they would need to evaluate different equipment to resolve the problem. (Hence my suggestion of how to try out new equipment from base)

If I misinterpreted the post (Most other replies seem to interpret the post differently) then just ignore my post and follow the other replies.

Bill
 

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