i think 4 audiophile like us.... how the original is supposed to sound is not that important...cos we will never know....

 

but i do belive we do have some reference...

 

1.by live music or live vocal...its only a basic ref. cos by attending live concert AT LEAST we can know ....eg.how people play piano...n...how piano look like ;D..

 

thus easyer 4 us to imagin how it surppose 2 sound like...

 

 

 

 

2.by using a pair of good headphone to compare with you hifi system....the sound from headphone is a very good ref. point 4 us becos it went thru the less electronic component and do not affect by the room....

 

thus it the closer way to know how the CD(...n not the original sound in the recoding studio,remember the CD itseft already pass thru at least 7..8..layer of sound processing/tranfer b4 it sell it 2 u.. :-[)...surpose 2 sound like.....yes, different CDP and headphone do sound a bit different,but at least by these way we can know how the rest of the system(cable,pre-amp,speaker,room accoutic....etc)"distorted" the original CD sound.... :D

 

 

anyone have any other better way pls state out 4 discussion.. :)

I sure am encouraged that such a "flammable" topic has thus far remain amiacable! If I were to summarise from the posting so far, I would say there are some very different target objectives to pursue for different people. Some seek to achieve their perception of live music and some seek to achieve technical precision. Whereas for me I seek to achieve a sytem that allow me over extended period to feel closer to the music. For me it is the feeling that counts.

May this forumn continue to remain a place for open and frank dicussion!

 

 

 

Regards

Yes discussions are meant to air our views rightly or wrongly and stand corrected if we are wrong. But upfront I would like most people who intend to spend good money to really consider the listening space as part of the system and make prper provision to incorporate it so that the reproduced sound can be optimized.

Trying to put a Genesis 1 into a 12ft by 10 ft HDB room is inviting trouble and really unnecessary and good sense plays a very important part in hi fi system selection.

And if u are spend $X in hardware, ask yourself how much are u spending on software?

And whatever criteria u use or objectives u set up for your hi fi system, the most improtant thing is to listen to it, not left it standing there 'showing off' to others. The value of the sytem comes from the music it reproduced and the joy it brings to u and your guests. That is why it is there in the first place!

And may the music be with u forever, live or 'can'.

Cheers

Good piece of advise from HIFI1. I agreed totally with him.

 

Look good may not sound good. No point buying all 5stars rated system and in the end find out that the sound doesn't blend well. It always good to take ur time to seach for match system.

 

I took abt almost 7mths to setup system. Reason 1 is money factor, reason 2 is to have advise from ppl in the forum or from the shop, and reason 3 is to audit system.

 

Just my 2Cents.

I would not like my system to sound like live music in most cases as I find live music to be too forward, bright, harsh for my liking. In a pub for instance, a live band's sound or even a jazz vocalist's voice often leave me "gelak" after some time. I prefer a smooth, warm and laidback sound, which can soothen my nerves cool my temper but unfortunately, this is not what i hear in real live music!

 

but what the hack! i paid for my system and it should sound good to me, never mind what others think.. ;)

 

Forward, bright, harsh......PA speaker sound? :)

 

 

Nope, PA spkrs sound will not sound like that, they are torture to my ears! ;D I have never heard live music sounding warm, or did i miss something?

ok for a start, most of these bad sound comes from pubs and lounges, cos i seldom patronize "high class" places. ;D Better places like Sunset Bar (?) at Westin or Victoria Concert Hall or the Theatre in Superstar Virgo sounds ok, not harsh but definitely not warm too (to me). Maybe live sound, because they are amplified loud most of the time, will not sound warm to my ears.

As opposed to subjectivity or idealization, a truly high-fidelity audio system should render what we hear closely and in comprehensive detail.

 

Realistic sounds reproduction avoids the sensational and dramatic elements. I admire naturalism, the quality of in deliberate defiance of conventional distinctions between ‘sweet' and 'harsh' and 'bright' and 'warm'.

 

When auditioning, I often deem the most shiok and exciting component as unnatural.

I've came to a point whereby i stopped thinking of whether my system can sound like life music. I just assume that in my room, live music sounds like that! ???

Rookie..that's a good one!

 

personally i just can't be too bothered with "being there" or they (the musicians) "being here".

 

as long as i can feel shiok, and remain shiok throughout the whole listening session without fatigue.. i'd be satisfied (like what I've been the last 3 years).

 

my only irritant...the constant fear of my precious woofers distorted beyond hope... but that problem will be eradicated soon! kekekekek..

 

I've came to a point whereby i stopped thinking of whether my system can sound like life music. I just assume that in my room, live music sounds like that! ???

"COMPLETELY" only if those jokers DON'T play any materials that is higher than my normal SPLs :P

put it this way.. it's not easy to come to a compromise with my CFO... she has higher demands on vocals than me, and i want more "power" than her. You tell me how to get that kinda sound from my measely budget?

 

 

she understands that her type of "power" can be easily obained with a minicompo :)

 

DBT????? u think it's shopping at Takashimaya ah????

 

.....

 

 

time for u to get out of the room and try to understand women better..hahahahahaha

 

 

 

3. Live music has no relation to helping 'reproduced' music. Liking live music does not make u 'better' in 'tuning' your system. Knowing 'live' music does not help u either. U may 'know' how real 'music' sound like but do u 'know' where to start tuning your system or how to?

 

3. BTW I use to believe listening to live music will help but after years of attending SSO and hotel lounges, I really enjoy my hi fi system with her 'can' music much more than live concert. Others may experience differently but for me, sitting in my chair and listening to whatever I fancy at night is the most enjoyable thing, not to drive down Nicoll highway, find a carpark, mix with lots of 'fellow' music fan (true or false), get a bad seat and listen to 'live' music and repeat the process after the concert.

 

4. I do not slam live music, mind u and going out with a group of friends to a lounge is certainly great where u share and enjoy each other's company. What I am trying to say is attending or not attending live music performance has absolutely NO impact on enjoying your hifi system.

 

Enjoy

 

 

 

My sentiments too. Let me go with another view ... IMHO, one category was forgotten - "better than live music". For commercial popular or rock music, it is most often that reproduced music will sound better than live. That's where the recording engineers help, to make it really sound good, and help make superstars :)

 

Another mixing example is Pantera's guitarist Dimebag Darrell who played 3 different guitars and had it mixed together, and he was really proud of it in an interview. One can't do that live :) And he's not the only one using this technique ...

 

Anyway, it's a mixed bag ... Classical, audiophile, classic jazz, and other simpler acoustic recordings I guess would have less manipulation and may sound better. Of course, the hifi may also be better like in cases when the owner wants a warmer sound which can be achieved with different tubes,etc., when in reality it's not really "warm" ...

 

However, with live music, the main difference is the live ambience, the interaction with the other audience, seeing the performer. The smell, the smoke, the shouting, etc .... But hifi's edge is that one can listen to one's favorites any time of the day, when one feels like it - especially those performers long gone from earth ...

 

Live is great, but the reproduction is not bad at all. Music gets preserved ... so sit back and enjoy, whatever one's system is ... Just my view ... of course, it helps if the hifi sounds good :)