Do you want accuracy over musicality?

joeinid

joeinid

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Lately I find that I ask myself basically one question when listening to my (or anyone else's) stereo. Do I like/enjoy what I am hearing? Yes? Then I just enjoy the moment and what I have.
 
Never accuracy over musicality. If the toe's not tapping then it ain't enjoyable.

I have many cassette tapes that I made back in the 80's - 90's that I would never consider playing on my main rig. I only break them out occasionally to listen to on my portable walkman on my way to work. They are far from accurate sounding, many being rolled off after the years of many playsbut I just love the music, much of which is not replaceable.

It's all about the music!
 
BobM said:
Never accuracy over musicality. If the toe's not tapping then it ain't enjoyable.

I have many cassette tapes that I made back in the 80's - 90's that I would never consider playing on my main rig. I only break them out occasionally to listen to on my portable walkman on my way to work. They are far from accurate sounding, many being rolled off after the years of many playsbut I just love the music, much of which is not replaceable.

It's all about the music!
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I could not agree more!! Just let me enjoy the music!
 
I want the music to engage me. It is the performance and not the quality of the recording that grabs me. With my current set-up I feel I am getting both accuracy and musicality but I would put a slight premium on accuracy.
 
My findings have been that a system that is build around uber resolution can be ruthless on those recordings we love the most, limiting the listener to those select audiophile recordings. Often, when you strive for "accuracy", or what I prefer to call "resolution", you end up stripping away the texture and richness in an effort to eke out that last bit of resolution or accuracy.

To me, musicality is accuracy.


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Mike
If I ever purchase music because of its "audiophile" quality rather than the artists "performance" just shoot me. :panic:

An example of why I don't own Diana Krall music.
 
still-one said:
Mike
If I ever purchase music because of its "audiophile" quality rather than the artists "performance" just shoot me. :panic:

An example of why I don't own Diana Krall music.
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Ha! I'm a huge Diana Krall fan (she is Canadian you know!) ;). But, I scan Spotify for artists I like and listening on computer speakers isn't going to give me any indication of audiophile quality or not. If I like the tunes....I'm buying.

But my point is that I know of some folks with highly resolving systems and they have only a small collection they will play.
 
I will take good music over accuracy because I want to experience/feel the music. You know sometimes you get that feeling and smile ( no its not gas mep) that the experience of a good tune, good toe tapping music that makes you want to listen to more. Now in golf or shooting I will take accuracy each and every time.
 
I like to listen to system makes me say "Ahhh....." vs "Wow!" For me the word "Wow" is just short term of expression. It's still good but nothing like when you have a big smile on your face and express your self with "Ahhhh....." Hmmm I hope it makes sense. :dunno: However for me the musicality is Ahhh....and the Accuracy is Wow. ;)
 
While I may agree with you all to a certain extent, I can really enjoy an accurate system too, and I would not dismiss what can be achieved in a detailed and accurate system. Just listen to a well balanced system with a pair of Raidho D1s, D3s or D5s. IMO, there is nothing that compares to pair of D5s for realism and excitement (and D3s come close) You have to hear it to believe it. I think that sometimes we just need a change, and change sometimes seems better, but for me, I could never say never when it comes to accurate or musical.
 
I've been striving for accuracy until perhaps the last year or so. As my system improves, some recordings that were very listenable became less so and, surprisingly, some became more listenable. Go figure. At any rate, I'm satisfied enough with my system that I'm tweaking it for musicality at this point.
 
Maybe we need to better define the words "accuracy" and "musicality" because with regards to audio, they mean one and the same thing to me. If your source material sounds great (or musical if you prefer), an accurate system will faithfully portray that inherent musicality. To me, it's systems that aren't accurate that cause problems.

Now, if you like your bass hyped up on every recording you play for instance (or treble, or midrange) and that is your idea of "musicality" and you build your system around components that give you that boost you desire, then your idea of musicality doesn't coincide with my definition of musicality.

One thing that I have noticed in my system since I added the ARC Ref 5SE and Ref 75 is how much music I own actually decays further (and for a longer period of time) into the very low noise floor than other components I have owned. If the ARC gear wasn't accurate, it could never do that. Because I can hear instruments playing on longer than I could before, to me that increases the overall musicality because I simply have some more music to listen to that I didn't even know existed previously. Is that little bit more of information earth shattering? No, it's not. Does it contribute to enjoyment? Yes, I think it does. I smile and shake my head every time I hear it.
 
Thanks Mark. I know my terms could be a little misleading but everyone's input is much appreciated. Thank you for some additional thoughts and insight. I am so happy you love the ARC gear. My friend wants me to try ARC when I get my Strads.
 
mep said:
One thing that I have noticed in my system since I added the ARC Ref 5SE and Ref 75 is how much music I own actually decays further (and for a longer period of time) into the very low noise floor than other components I have owned. If the ARC gear wasn't accurate, it could never do that. Because I can hear instruments playing on longer than I could before, to me that increases the overall musicality because I simply have some more music to listen to that I didn't even know existed previously. Is that little bit more of information earth shattering? No, it's not. Does it contribute to enjoyment? Yes, I think it does. I smile and shake my head every time I hear it.
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While some argue (think PP on WBF) that tube decay is actually distortion and hence, less accurate of all things.

I'm not sure what accurate or musical means these days. I don't find Halcro or Soulution "accurate" for example. High negative feedback amps are very inaccurate to me the more I hear them, but people call them that because they are sterile. Real, live instruments are not sterile.

Alternatively, people talk about SET amps and unending decays...well, I think they carry it too far and hence aren't really accurate either.
 
If accuracy means "true to the source" then no, not for me.

The problem is that the "source" is the recording, and so many recordings are less than perfect (whatever your definition of perfect is).

Or maybe a better way to put it is that recordings vary so much in their presentation (e.g. dry, lush, bright, dark, flat, etc.) that many of us don't want to live with a system that is overly accurate. So we're mostly on a trek to find a system that has a character (some would say coloration...) that makes the majority of our recordings sound enjoyable to us -- i.e. musical.

Having said that, most of us also need a certain degreee of detail to make our system enjoyable and that can take you further towards accuracy.

Yin and yang...
 
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