Isn't it great that people can have world class sound quality for so little money!

[Anton D]

Nonsensical that live performances should be the ultimate truth when acoustics (sound quality) is often inferior there.

More internet nonsense , for sure. Read what I posted. I do get your sig line now....that is a sophist's reply!

What is your goal?

 

[Snarfie]

Basicly for less than 50,- euro you buy a measurment mic. Use your first generation i3 laptop put on foobar2000 in combination with Mathaudio audio room EQ or for that matter REW with APO both for free. Do a measurment. Hook you audio system to your laptop an you are probably in audio heaven.

 

[kemmler3D]

Nonsensical that live performances should be the ultimate truth when acoustics (sound quality) is often inferior there.

It's a philosophical adherence to authenticity, in that the proper role of a stereo is to recreate the sound of a real concert hall. This works fine for classical music fans that listen to certain types of recording, IMO it doesn't make a ton of sense for everyone else.

e: Then you have to ask what the proper role of a stereo IS? I think if you broaden it, it's just to reproduce the recording with as little deviation as possible. When it comes to FR and distortion, this is easy enough to define. Where this gets subjective and intractable is when it comes to radiation pattern and stereo image. What does it mean to "deviate" from a completely artificial stereo image, anyway? Is anything other than sitting at the same distance and using the same monitors as they used to mix the recording a "deviation"? If so, isn't that a pretty useless definition? I don't know if there is any obvious way to resolve it.

 

[Audiofire]

What is your goal?

Basically revealing Dunning-Kruger effect that people sometimes believe we know more than we do.

 

[Anton D]

Basically revealing Dunning-Kruger effect that people sometimes believe we know more than we do.

That's your sound reproduction goal?

I believe you, of course.

My goal is to have the illusion of verisimilitude regarding the illusion of reproducing a musical experience. I did not mean to imply (and certainly did not claim) that all live performances are "Hi Fi quality;" only meaning that I seek the illusion I mentioned.

It's not a zero sum endeavor. I do understand some people's internet goals of being contrary at all cost.

 

[Audiofire]

I do understand some people's internet goals of being contrary at all cost.

That's not my goal.

My goal is to have the illusion of verisimilitude regarding the illusion of reproducing a musical experience. I did not mean to imply (and certainly did not claim) that all live performances are "Hi Fi quality;" only meaning that I seek the illusion I mentioned.

You stated you don't seek hi-fi then. Read what I posted about my goal.

 

[Anton D]

You stated you don't seek hi-fi then. Read what I posted about my goal.

Ah, you are one of the arbiters of Hi Fi.

Carry on.

 

[pablolie]

Yes!

But it's made the audio/audiophile "hobby" less interesting.

It's also amazing how cheaply you can set-up a nearly-professional home recording studio. The main difference is soundproofing, which is not cheap.

Interesting take.

I'd say the democratization (I nearly used the term "proletarianization" :-D) of great sound is very freeing. I'd venture to say that collectively, the audiophile culture hasn't caught up to it. There's still pride in the "you get what you pay for" premise [1], but while that might have been truer in my young audiophile days (but I admit at the time my budget didn't allow me to explore the high-end stuff, which also didn't seem to be as extremely priced as it is now?), I think -and this site proves- that these days you cannot trust there's a direct correlation between $-spend and SQ-heard.

I "downgraded" from a $50k or so system to a $6k or so system, and I could not be happier, but wasted quite a few $ on the way, oh well. It also reflects a personal evolution to more minimalism, but high music quality is something I am still very willing to shell out for - if I really think it's a hearable improvement. Living in the ZIP code I do, I also get the chance to regularly listen to extremely expensive showoff systems, and you would not believe how often I think they sound pathetic (they are set up criminally wrong as a rule despite the high 6 figure-ish price tags) - a well set-up and thought-out budget system will easily murder an indifferently set-up piece of audio jewelry that's just there to impress visually.

[1] Law of Increasing Results in Absolute Sound, the worst piece of audio trash writing I read in a while...

 

[pablolie]

My future fantasy...

Totally not reality based, just yacking.

A consumer buys any number of transducers and places them all over the room: wherever! (Buy ten, buy a hundred!)

Then, the transducers all 'talk to each other' and calibrate themselves to each other and to the room and the consumer determines where he/she/they would like the sound field to take place, then BOOM! Immersive sound as the consumer prefers.

Tastefully hidden subwoofers, of course.

Anybody remember those wall mounted speakers made to look like paintings? They didn't sound so great, but the idea of hiding the system within a given environment was cool.

So, massive DSP and tech that conceals the transducers: walls, ceiling, art, anything, yet remains sonically high quality will be cool.

Fully auto, or tweakable, we really just need more of what we almost have.

This indeed is the future of audio - no doubt.

Easy self-calibration. Then just fun to play around with customization in a playful way when we feel like it. We still live in the era of "set it up and leave it the *ff alone after all that work", but it'd be fun to move to the era of ""I have a reference config but I feel like playing around" with zero risk of screwing up stuff.

AI has a role to play like that (not hype AI, just the real big data crunching stuff that eases insights): you could totally automate blind-testing, for one, anytime you are curious about hearing differences.

 

[Brian Hall]

Is anyone being fooled into thinking they are in the presence of live musicians paying live music yet?

I don't think anyone would really want that.

I've played on stage in live bands under hot lights. The sights, smells, etc. are often not very pleasant. Especially when wearing too much leather gear that doesn't get cleaned anywhere near often enough. The thick smoke of various substances, spilled beer and worse.

I sometimes miss those days, but then more memories come back and while it was great at the time, I'm glad to be done with it.

*I know that isn't what you meant, but still...

 

[pinger]

I think solo piano recordings can come very close to Piano in the room sound quality.

 

[Brian Hall]

My future fantasy...

Totally not reality based, just yacking.

A consumer buys any number of transducers and places them all over the room: wherever! (Buy ten, buy a hundred!)

Then, the transducers all 'talk to each other' and calibrate themselves to each other and to the room and the consumer determines where he/she/they would like the sound field to take place, then BOOM! Immersive sound as the consumer prefers.

The way drone technology is advancing, we could have everything you mentioned with smaller speakers mounted on drones that hide in cabinets until they are needed and then come out and position themselves around the room for perfect sound. Give them active camouflage so they can blend in to the room.

 

[pablolie]

I don't think anyone would really want that.

I've played on stage in live bands under hot lights. The sights, smells, etc. are often not very pleasant. Especially when wearing too much leather gear that doesn't get cleaned anywhere near often enough. The thick smoke of various substances, spilled beer and worse.

I sometimes miss those days, but then more memories come back and while it was great at the time, I'm glad to be done with it.

*I know that isn't what you meant, but still...

Indeed, I always laugh when audiophiles call the live concert the ultimate real experience and goal, when the fact is live performances are 90% of the time sub-optimal in many ways. For a balanced music presentation, I'll take a great recording and my listening environment at home every time. And before someone tells me I have never been to a decent concert venue - I have. For classical, venues are often great... but you have to sit in the right spot. For jazz... you're often in venues that are overwhelmed by the sheer sound volume in a smaller space. For popular music - you're too often listening to how poor their live vocals are, how annoying concert goers can get, what inconsiderate *ss*s the performers are for thinking showing up two hours late is "cool", how overdriven the music is... etc etc

 

[Anton D]

The way drone technology is advancing, we could have everything you mentioned with smaller speakers mounted on drones that hide in cabinets until they are needed and then come out and position themselves around the room for perfect sound. Give them active camouflage so they can blend in to the room.

That is awesome!

You get my Philip K Dick for brilliant future vision!