Does the hardware that you use have an influence on the genres you listen to?

[Martin Takamine]

music genre? No
music format? Yes

 

[Wunderphones]

You know... we should never have to use "of course" at the end of YMMV @asr...
Dang, we should not even have to use 'YMMV' because we are amongst more rationally inclined peeps, that always have their BS protectors handy.
But use; we must...

As Hemingway once pointed out, "The main thing [about writing] is to know what to leave out."

 

[David Harper]

For audiophile reasons I bought a Diana Krall album. I think I listened to it once. The sq is, admittedly, good. But the music...............
This is a good example of what's wrong with audiophilia. It's not about music, it's about the gear. Which doesn't make a lot of sense IMO.

 

[Robin L]

For audiophile reasons I bought a Diana Krall album. I think I listened to it once. The sq is, admittedly, good. But the music...............
This is a good example of what's wrong with audiophilia. It's not about music, it's about the gear. Which doesn't make a lot of sense IMO.

I happen to like Diana Krall. "Non gustibus" and all that. Also, Claus Ogerman arrangements.

However, I find that most audiophile "demo" records usually have relatively thin arrangements. "Kind of Blue" would be a strong example of this. When it comes to things like "chamber jazz" or solo guitar, "audiophile" LP gear can more easily produce a sonically plausible result than in attempting to reproduce, say, a Bruckner Symphony, with lots of dense orchestration, probably too much brass and peak loudness at the end of a record side, a formula for sonic disaster. Some of the earliest sonically pleasant recordings are the early electric recordings of Segovia.

 

[MattHooper]

For audiophile reasons I bought a Diana Krall album. I think I listened to it once. The sq is, admittedly, good. But the music...............
This is a good example of what's wrong with audiophilia. It's not about music, it's about the gear. Which doesn't make a lot of sense IMO.

On one hand, audiophile music has been an easy target for a long time.

I got sucked in to buying audiophile favorites early on, but found I never really listened to them for the music, and eventually gave up ever buying an album for the sound quality. Which is one reason why I made sure my system sounds satisfying with just about anything I buy.

On the other hand, I have no qualms with anyone who likes audiophile music, or even with the idea someone is getting more kicks out of the gear, seeing what it can do, than the music itself. I mean, look at the amount of time some folks on here put in to gear, learning, measuring, critiquing, etc.
And many of us swing back and forth between how much we might be thinking of the gear at one point, or the music at another.

I'm not going to say my way to bliss is any more noble than someone else's. It's pretty much a form of Virtue Signaling in the audiophile world (especially "subjective" world) to diss the "other guy" as "being in to the equipment" while "I'm in it for the music...maaan...!"

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

I'm into both the music and the equipment in about equal portions. Both are involving and satisfying on their own levels and when they can work together, all the better.

I admit to listening to 'audiophile' music because it can specifically highlight the work I put into futzing with crossovers and such, but the musical quality is admittedly pretty dismal on most of these albums. When I want to delve deep into just the music, I usually stretch out on the listening couch and put on some good classical or jazz - and most of these don't sound all that great; they were never recorded for my type of system.

I've been following in amazement PS Audio's Octave Records - there is so much there that looks like a total money suck for no good purpose. The music is firmly audiophile quality (pejorative sense) and the recording quality is pretty good but still not as naturally recorded as some other audiophile recordings. Paul must not care how much money he ultimately looses, because he surely will.

 

[sonitus mirus]

Perhaps I am being bit of a genre bigot, but this hardware screams "K-Pop" to me.

 

[Kevbaz]

No, I would say the opposite. If the hardware does not work with the style of music I listen to I move on and buy new hardware

 

[DanielT]

However, I find that most audiophile "demo" records usually have relatively thin arrangements. "Kind of Blue" would be a strong example of this.

Aha.If anyone can give tips I would be grateful.

Best Recording of four jazz classics

If you have any recommendations tips and advice to give, I would be grateful!:) I watched this documentary and it struck me that I just have to have the four records! I can guess that they are available in different versions,, hi-res "and CD remasters for example. But I want to get as close to...

audiosciencereview.com

By the way, I like Diana Krall too.

 

[MattHooper]

Nuthin' wrong with Kind Of Blue!

As I've aged I've grown less fond of "wanking" on instruments - generally speaking I prefer some structure to music and there are lots of musicians, from rock guitarists to jazz players, who for me just don't have enough of interest going to keep me rivetted as they go on and on soloing. But I never get tired of Kind Of Blue.

 

[Robin L]

Nuthin' wrong with Kind Of Blue!

As I've aged I've grown less fond of "wanking" on instruments - generally speaking I prefer some structure to music and there are lots of musicians, from rock guitarists to jazz players, who for me just don't have enough of interest going to keep me rivetted as they go on and on soloing. But I never get tired of Kind Of Blue.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with KOB. I'm saying it's an audiophile favorite on account of sounding good on most gear because it doesn't offer any real audio challenges. Particularly for LP playback. Most of the music is on the low end of the dynamic scale. One side is about 24 minutes long, the other about 20. 24 minutes is longish for an LP side, but the low dynamics makes that easier to play back. There aren't too many instruments playing at once, so textures don't get clotted. The same applies to most of the Diana Krall records.

 

[Wunderphones]

Kind of Blue sounds good on lots of gear. It is and album which serves to bask in the glory of high-end gear, not to see whether the gear is capable.

 

[Inner Space]

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with KOB. I'm saying it's an audiophile favorite on account of sounding good on most gear because it doesn't offer any real audio challenges.

It has one geeky challenge ... it was recorded at Columbia's "Church" on 30th St, which was a huge, clear acoustic, and you can hear people walking around during the recordings - not footsteps as such, but moving "holes in the air" as they got nearer and further from the ambience mikes. At least that's how it sounded to me, but I couldn't believe it could be true - what kind of floor discipline was that? But I had a job there in its final year and met Teo Macero, who had been a junior engineer on the sessions (although he claimed more than that in public) and he confirmed yes, all kinds of extra people were there, wandering about, allegedly adding to the vibe. So that's the challenge - can you sense them in the ambient field?

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

It has one geeky challenge ... it was recorded at Columbia's "Church" on 30th St, which was a huge, clear acoustic, and you can hear people walking around during the recordings - not footsteps as such, but moving "holes in the air" as they got nearer and further from the ambience mikes. At least that's how it sounded to me, but I couldn't believe it could be true - what kind of floor discipline was that? But I had a job there in its final year and met Teo Macero, who had been a junior engineer on the sessions (although he claimed more than that in public) and he confirmed yes, all kinds of extra people were there, wandering about, allegedly adding to the vibe. So that's the challenge - can you sense them in the ambient field?

What track(s) are you referring to?

 

[Inner Space]

What track(s) are you referring to?

The March session, which was all of side 1 on the original. Side 2 - the April session - was reportedly more private, and I don't hear anything on that.

 

[MakeMineVinyl]

The March session, which was all of side 1 on the original. Side 2 - the April session - was reportedly more private, and I don't hear anything on that.

I'll give it a listen and see if I can hear that.

 

[MattHooper]

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with KOB. I'm saying it's an audiophile favorite on account of sounding good on most gear because it doesn't offer any real audio challenges. Particularly for LP playback. Most of the music is on the low end of the dynamic scale. One side is about 24 minutes long, the other about 20. 24 minutes is longish for an LP side, but the low dynamics makes that easier to play back. There aren't too many instruments playing at once, so textures don't get clotted. The same applies to most of the Diana Krall records.

Agreed.

And of course the old Jazz At The Pawnshop can be played on almost anything and it will sound impressive.

 

[pseudoid]

Even my history crystal-ball is getting hazier.
SheffieldsLabs, D2D, "Thelma Huston and the Pressure Cookers".
I had landed a new copy way back, when a friend w/cash was dying to buy [yuk]Bose 901s[yuk].
I 'negotiated' with the naive salesman that the cash sale of the [yuk] 901s[yuk] also HAD to include that LP.
First listen to that Thelma Houston LP raised the hairs on my back, and I had never heard a voice and instruments recorded live and/or direct to disk.
I can't remember the equipment we had used for that first listen.
No! I refused to listen to them thru those yuckie 901s.
Perhaps a Thorens/ShureVME, w/a MC275 via AR18s.
It was not the equipment but Thelma that taught me to up my game and hardware.
Could have been the other way around; who knows, it was the 70s...

 

[LTig]

I suppose once you off-load some of the bass duty to another driver that makes sense. Even my Joseph Perspective speakers, which are a design I often see referred to as a "2.5-way" (tweeter w two "mid-woofers") manage to sound clean in complex music.

One of my favorite pieces of music, and one of my torture tests for this, is this recording of the Conan The Barbarian soundtrack:

Kicks in just over 55 seconds:

And starting around 2:52 to the end the orchestra is blowing it's brains out dynamically.

Here is the spectrogram:

 

[MattHooper]

Here is the spectrogram:

View attachment 167250

Thanks. Is that from the original CD or the youtube file? Also, what's it telling you in particular?