sharkmouth
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Thats because you keep yanking on that big tube in your avatar
Ha, you think thats good, hell, I aint even excited in that one,try this one.......:fingers:
Do you want accuracy over musicality?
- Thread starter joeinid
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Ha, you think thats good, hell, I aint even excited in that one,try this one.......:fingers:
the professor
Well-known member
Toe tapping does it for me.
That and giggling while I listen.
That and giggling while I listen.
BlueFox
New member
I want my stereo to reproduce what is being played with no added distortion. Some call that accuracy, I call it expected behaviour. I do not want it to add any more distortion to what is being played, other than what is recorded. While some think more distortion is 'musicality', in the end it is just distortion.
rrwmd
Member
The problem is, how does one truly know whether there is distortion or not?
Some say tubes add a level of distortion....but oddly, those making the music prefer amps with tubes. So, who knows?
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Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
Myles B. Astor
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If you read some of Ralph Karsten's posts, he points out that the ear is extremely sensittive to the order of the distortion. One interesting article he mentioned talked about how "bad" order distortion made things seem louder.
BlueFox
New member
Yes, that seems reasonable. Ideally, that is what the recording should convey, and the gear reproduce. I'm not sure how accurate and musicality can be seperated. If the recording is accurate then, by definition, it must be musical since it represents what was being played. The same goes for the reproduction. If it is accurate then it must be musical since it represents what was being played. However, I can certainly understand how a less accurate reproduction can still sound good.
MDP
Behavior Moderator (be nice police!)
I don't think they have to be mutually exclusive of each other.
Not that I've given it much thought before but my own trend in putting together gear over the years has always been with a bent to target both accuracy and musicality together. One without the other seems like a sacrifice on some level. I prefer both and don't think I could live with just one or the other.
Not that I've given it much thought before but my own trend in putting together gear over the years has always been with a bent to target both accuracy and musicality together. One without the other seems like a sacrifice on some level. I prefer both and don't think I could live with just one or the other.
JJinID
Member
+1 and very well said Mike - I don't think they have to be mutually exclusive either.
My current thinking on this topic is that I hear a lot of hi-end dealers and sometimes even owners brag about how much better music sounds on certain gear than if you went to a concert, show, performance, etc. and heard it live and in person. I'm not sure I get that line of thinking. I want my audio experience to sound as close as possible to a live performance, or at least how I would imagine it would sound when it was recorded, especially if it is an acoustic performance. I want my gear to sound "accurate" in that sense so that I can be transported to another venue, or feel like there is a performance in my listening room, and experience those goose bump moments as much as possible.
sharkmouth
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I am guilty of the same. The reason being I have been to so many bad sounding concerts that I have just about given up on big live performances, the last being Springsteen 2012 MetLife Stadium NJ. Since then have seen numerous very small/intimate venues & was absolutely stoked with the sound & performance of the different artists. If someone asked, as I have told my wife many times, "I'd rather stay home & listen to my own system, it sounds better!"
JJinID
Member
Kev - I totally get what you are saying. I usually end up wearing earplugs to big live performances like rock concerts. I'd much rather listen to them at home too!. On the flip side, I've been to many performances at concert halls and small jazz clubs that sounded phenomenal. That's what I want to hear and feel as accurately and as much as possible when I listen at home.
Dpod4
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+1
CPP
Active member
I have been thinking this a little more. Sure I like the musical accountability and the feeling I get or the experience from listening to good recorded music , but as a few have noted, there has to be some sort of accuracy involved or one might as well be listening to music on a Bose Wave music system. If our equipment is not "up to the task" how does one really know how good the experience can be. Most of the normal people work within a budget and can't afford $30k speakers, $10k amps, but are they really missing any accuracy or enjoyment in their music experience ?
Does accuracy mean spending top dollar or the more you spend mean your getting the best sound you can, it's good right ? I say not really. I've seen $100k system sound like crap as the equipment room are not matched or does accuracy really mean matching the equipment you have (this is my take on it) to your listening environment and music taste that will allow you to achieve that experience you want and obtain the musical goodness from the music.
Does accuracy mean spending top dollar or the more you spend mean your getting the best sound you can, it's good right ? I say not really. I've seen $100k system sound like crap as the equipment room are not matched or does accuracy really mean matching the equipment you have (this is my take on it) to your listening environment and music taste that will allow you to achieve that experience you want and obtain the musical goodness from the music.
the professor
Well-known member
Thinking about this a little.
The human ears and mind are amazing in converting a sound that is recorded/reproduced badly and we think of it as the instrument. For example, in an original AM radio blasting in a 1965 convertible, a cymbal crash actually sounds like a trash can lid being hit, but our ears/mind tell us that it is a cymbal and we enjoy it in the music. Obviously a drastic example.
So with that preface, isn't musicality a better choice to have?
I do, however, think that the more accurate a system is, the less the ears/mind have to fool us, so it is easy to enjoy the music.
The human ears and mind are amazing in converting a sound that is recorded/reproduced badly and we think of it as the instrument. For example, in an original AM radio blasting in a 1965 convertible, a cymbal crash actually sounds like a trash can lid being hit, but our ears/mind tell us that it is a cymbal and we enjoy it in the music. Obviously a drastic example.
So with that preface, isn't musicality a better choice to have?
I do, however, think that the more accurate a system is, the less the ears/mind have to fool us, so it is easy to enjoy the music.
I think the idea that musicality and accuracy are inversely related is a misconception. This is because people often associate uber detail with accuracy. I do not believe that hyper detailed speakers are actually more accurate. I think they are typically less accurate. This is why they sound good on a few recordings, but bad on most. They are inaccurately balanced and that odd balance highlights certain parts of the frequency range. That highlighting can be amazing to listen to on just the perfect recording, but is painful on most. Therefore a highly accurate speakers can also be highly musical which everyone would know had they been to my house. : )
MDP
Behavior Moderator (be nice police!)
Good post !
Mike Lavigne
Member
as one approaches the ideal, accuracy and musicality both are realized.
my viewpoint is that if one rationalizes going away from neutrality as one builds their system, at some point there is a balancing of colorations involved to push for higher performance. and this balancing has a price of reduced information and even more colorations.
so when some sort of non-linearity is revealed in my system i will try and eliminate that piece so balancing can be avoided.
essentially my efforts are to get out of the way of the music to allow it to shine thru the system. i want to hear everything the media has to offer, and i want every piece of media to sound as distinctive from another as possible. i don't want any sameness to be coloring my music.
so i want my system to have accuracy to the media source.
so if the recording is accurate, or musical, or whatever....that is what i will hear.
this is just my viewpoint, and YMMV.
this is not to say that i don't include naturalness, or tonal weight and body, or a strong pace and tempo to be part of what i consider neutrality. neutral is not sterile. when i say accuracy, i don't mean it as one might assign digital to be accurate, and vinyl to be musical. i would not associate those terms like that.....although some do.
my viewpoint is that if one rationalizes going away from neutrality as one builds their system, at some point there is a balancing of colorations involved to push for higher performance. and this balancing has a price of reduced information and even more colorations.
so when some sort of non-linearity is revealed in my system i will try and eliminate that piece so balancing can be avoided.
essentially my efforts are to get out of the way of the music to allow it to shine thru the system. i want to hear everything the media has to offer, and i want every piece of media to sound as distinctive from another as possible. i don't want any sameness to be coloring my music.
so i want my system to have accuracy to the media source.
so if the recording is accurate, or musical, or whatever....that is what i will hear.
this is just my viewpoint, and YMMV.
this is not to say that i don't include naturalness, or tonal weight and body, or a strong pace and tempo to be part of what i consider neutrality. neutral is not sterile. when i say accuracy, i don't mean it as one might assign digital to be accurate, and vinyl to be musical. i would not associate those terms like that.....although some do.
Hi Mike - welcome!