Is it live. . . ?

[matthewpiano]

Tear Drop:matthewpiano:I believe a certain level of fidelity is necessary for basic enjoyment of music, or at least it is for me. I don't enjoy music played on cheap earphones or a 'boombox' because I can't hear what is going on in the music. For me, being able to hear that is essential for my enjoyment of the music, and that is why I have a very good hi-fi system

Fair enough, and I've no doubt that is presently true for you (as it probably is for most people who get involved with hifi), but ask yourself which came first in your life - your enjoyment of music or your interest in hifi? One naturally follows the other. How did you first enjoy music without a hifi system? I would refuse to believe that anybody started to enjoy music only after buying their first hifi setup!

I first enjoyed music through piano lessons at the age of 6. My love for music started with learning to play it and prompted an inquisitive mind in terms of listening to a wide variety of music. My listening experiences were of course assisted by the systems my Dad and I had during my formative years, and much of my early discoveries were made on a Pioneer PL12D with aforementioned Sansui AU2200 amp. The music, though, very definitely came first.

 

[Tear Drop]

You know, I've been plodding around hifi forums for several years and it always comes back to the simple fact that 99.99% of us - despite a lot of forum aggro! - all love music in some form or another, love it enough to put up with this frustrating hobby we call hifi!! Cheers one and all!

 

[idc]

Tear Drop:99.99% of us - all love music in some form or another

Except Chinese Opera surely.

 

[Tear Drop]

Especially Chinese opera!

 

[Anonymous]

I always find the idea of Hifi recreating the live music sound an amusing one.

What does live music mean? I mean if you were in a recording studio would the sound behind the mixing deck be the same as the sound if you were actually standing in the studio without the effects, backing tracks, and mixing etc. I'm not an expert and haven't been to a recording studio but i imagine the sound is quite different. Going a step further if the band were playing in your front room it would sound different again.

So what does getting close to a live recording mean? The mixing deck version, or the recording studio version, or the standing in front of you version?

As with live recordings can these ever come close to being there? I don't think a home hifi could ever come close to reproducing the depth and power of a live performance with a huge pa system. And even if it could i doubt the size of rooms at home, and the fact that we don't want to be deaf would restrict it.

For me hifi is all about getting something extra from music which a normal system won't give you. Whether thats excitiment, emotion, better tone or simply hearing music and wanting to start dancing! I think it is this which makes Hifi worth it.

 

[plastic penguin]

Rich O:

I always find the idea of Hifi recreating the live music sound an amusing one.

What does live music mean? I mean if you were in a recording studio would the sound behind the mixing deck be the same as the sound if you were actually standing in the studio without the effects, backing tracks, and mixing etc. I'm not an expert and haven't been to a recording studio but i imagine the sound is quite different. Going a step further if the band were playing in your front room it would sound different again.

So what does getting close to a live recording mean? The mixing deck version, or the recording studio version, or the standing in front of you version?

As with live recordings can these ever come close to being there? I don't think a home hifi could ever come close to reproducing the depth and power of a live performance with a huge pa system. And even if it could i doubt the size of rooms at home, and the fact that we don't want to be deaf would restrict it.

For me hifi is all about getting something extra from music which a normal system won't give you. Whether thats excitiment, emotion, better tone or simply hearing music and wanting to start dancing! I think it is this which makes Hifi worth it.

I was referring to a quote made by WHFI, so my question was: are there modern amps that create the same or similar traits to the Kandy MKIII?

I agree - how do you define a live sound?

 

[Anonymous]

But Rich does have a point here doesn't he ? What is the definition of live ?

Standing infront of a performance - in a studio, probably great .

A hifi system may never have the scale of live performance in a concert hall or something - but often, such performances are hardly known for their audio quality !!

 

[idc]

Schbeemb:

A hifi system may never have the scale of live performance in a concert hall or something - but often, such performances are hardly known for their audio quality !!

I have been to one 'rock' concert where I thought that actually sounds very good; Yes 'The Ladder' tour at the Armadillo, Glasgow. All of the classical concerts I have been to, the pipe bands, the bit of jazz and the one ballet and one opera I have also seen all sounded very good. I think that the likes of orchestras and opera pay more attention to the sound and accoustics of their venues.

Rock and pop etc is as much about the whole occasion, the light show, the volume and the showmanship when live. The best a hifi can be and should be expected to do, is produce a realistic sound of the recording intended for release. For an orchestra that will work in a concert hall and for most rock, pop etc that will be in a studio.

I can think of one band who sound the same live as in the studio and that is Kraftwerk. On the studio and live albums I have their electronic keyboard and sound effect style sounds the same. A friend saw them live and he agrees. I think that put the band on a stage and then have a hifi (with lots of power to run the same speakers) in their place and Kraftwerk would be hard to tell apart in a blind test.

 

[Anonymous]

idc:I can think of one band who sound the same live as in the studio and that is Kraftwerk. On the studio and live albums I have their electronic keyboard and sound effect style sounds the same. A friend saw them live and he agrees. I think that put the band on a stage and then have a hifi (with lots of power to run the same speakers) in their place and Kraftwerk would be hard to tell apart in a blind test.

is this a good thing? yes the sound quuality aspect of it is obviously inportant, but does it also mean they play all the songs the same? I go to Gigs in order to hear the band 'playing' the songs often with different twists to them rather than just reproducing the album version on stage.

 

[idc]

fast eddie:idc:I can think of one band who sound the same live as in the studio and that is Kraftwerk. On the studio and live albums I have their electronic keyboard and sound effect style sounds the same. A friend saw them live and he agrees. I think that put the band on a stage and then have a hifi (with lots of power to run the same speakers) in their place and Kraftwerk would be hard to tell apart in a blind test. is this a good thing? yes the sound quuality aspect of it is obviously inportant, but does it also mean they play all the songs the same? I go to Gigs in order to hear the band 'playing' the songs often with different twists to them rather than just reproducing the album version on stage.

I picked Kraftwerk purely because they are the best example I can think of where live and studio sound the same, so they are the best example of 'is it live....?' where hifi really can reproduce the music as it is played.

 

[Anonymous]

Octopo:
I saw that, it was quite interesting apart from the presenters being goons.

Edit: The speakers were KEF Reference and MS Mezzo by the way. I can't remember what amplification they used.

Goons indeed. Proven by their test where MP3 came out ahead of CD and Vinyl !!

Sorry about the aside to what I find an interesting discussion.