"Andy Evans" wrote in message
ups.com...
I'm not sure what you mean by detail and clarity. Detail - hearing
everything on the recording depends to some extent on the level you
listen
to it at, as any external background noise can mask things. Clarity?
Isn't
that the same thing? (Dave)

Hello Dave - I'd probably agree with you that detail and clarity are
pretty much the same,


Nope.

A lack of treble might result in the loss of detail but it won't necessarily
mean there is no clarity. OTOH, excessive 'loose' bass will kill both in one
go...


and also that level and background noise affect
it (commonly a computer on in the same room).


Take it from me, Lowthers will cut straight through any such background
interference!


I think the interesting
thing to pursue is the "internal" (to the reproduction system) blurring
between distinct sounds, and on the other hand masking of very low
level sounds. I think it's progress with these that gives clarity (no
blurring) and low level detail (emergence of previously unnoticed
information). I'd add timbre as important for those whose listening is
predominantly to acoustic instruments. I'm not sure that any of the
above terms are free of subjective qualities, or meanings personal to
those who use them, but we need some sort of language to communicate in
the first place.


Sure, this group isn't entirely populated by 'audio engineers' and in any
case discussing stuff like 'sound quality' in quantative terms only doesn't
help anybody much!

(Tickles me how many 'scientific types' hafta have the soppy bar graphs and
pie charts as well as the numbers...!! ;-)