In article , Dave Plowman (News)
wrote:
In article , Jim Lesurf
wrote:
OTOH if you just want a 'music box' that plays studio creations that
were laid down track by track, say, then I'd agree the above would be
irrelevant. But that means you want a music box not a high *fidelity*
system. *And* this can be relevant for 'studio creations' which aim at
an effect other than replicating being in the venue.

Not quite, Jim. Pop type recordings are mixed by their engineers for the
very best sound they can get in their control room. To say they will
sound just as good on a 'music centre' or whatever isn't the case.

I'm using 'music box' more generally to mean a system which plays music in
a way that suits the user from info that is abstracted from the effects of
being performed live in a real acoustic venue. i.e. the parallel in my mind
is with old mechanical music boxes, not 'music centers'. So I'm using
the term with what you describe included. However it hinges also on just
what 'best' means in the minds of those creating recordings, etc. They
don't all use the same meaning or want the same results.

The point here is that for some listeners and types of music, the optimum
is whatever the user finds 'nicer' without any need to consider a 'real'
source event's sound. As distinct from wanting to hear, warts and all, what
a live performance of something like a Prom would have sounded like if
you'd been standing or sitting in a suitable point in the RAH.

Similarly, some popular music creators want a result that 'sells' by
whatever means. From EQ to compression to soupy added reverb. Whatever
they think the target audience will want to buy. A R3 engineer might
have something else in mind, etc...

I'm not saying there is anything wrong about the 'music box' approach. Just
that it means the user has a different requirement to someone who wants to
'be at the hall'. Hence for them, the sound of a hall won't directly
matter, but for others, it will.

A poor sound system will degrade everything. Likewise, a good one will
get the best from everything.

Agreed. But one effect of a poor system can be to blur distinctions.

Jim

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