MattHooper
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Apropos of this thread, it’s always been my perception that a Soundsystem homogenizes instrumental timber. (which is also I think a general issue with what happens recording voices instruments).
This really hit home when I got a chance years ago to have a really nice audition of the famous Genesis 1.2 speaker system:
I’ve been going regularly to the symphony at that point, and so I played a number of symphonic recordings on the system. I was immediately blown away because this is the first time I’d ever heard a stereo system reproduce a symphony orchestra with something like the scale and detail of the real thing. When I close my eyes to listen (which I often did it the symphony) that’s when it really struck me. The fact that this system more closely approximated certain aspects of a real symphony made what was lacking, stand out all the more: Timbral realism. Relative to the kaleidoscope of different instrumental timbers I was used to from real orchestras, there was a homogenizing effect, almost as if every instrument had been replaced with instruments made out of the same plastic.
Through the sheer level of detail I could certainly recognize what each instrument was, but it was more like a giant black-and-white Ansel Adams photograph - extraordinarily detailed, but still black and white.
Ever since then, I’ve been intrigued with the question of why the sound through most systems fail in terms of timber versus the real thing, and why - despite the fact I can play an infinity of different recordings with different instruments - reproduced sound seems to lack the timbral nuance, variety and
“ surprisingness” of real sounds.
It was mostly on the basis of timber that I chose my current loudspeakers. I was sort of agog when I auditioned them because I heard through them what seem to be more timbral variation then the other loud speakers auditioned. I was continually getting that feeling of “ surprise” as one instrument took over from another “ wow that chime is very silvery, and that symbol is very brassy, and that top end of the violin is brilliant, but that oboe is dark and rich. Every instrument seemed particularly distinctly different in terms of what it was made of. Which is why I just had to choose these loudspeakers (and by the way, I’m not making any technical claims about the speakers , nor that in my system I’m hearing anything like the true timbral variety of real instruments… those are simply my impressions and that reproduction of instrumental timber was so important in what I was looking for).
This really hit home when I got a chance years ago to have a really nice audition of the famous Genesis 1.2 speaker system:
I’ve been going regularly to the symphony at that point, and so I played a number of symphonic recordings on the system. I was immediately blown away because this is the first time I’d ever heard a stereo system reproduce a symphony orchestra with something like the scale and detail of the real thing. When I close my eyes to listen (which I often did it the symphony) that’s when it really struck me. The fact that this system more closely approximated certain aspects of a real symphony made what was lacking, stand out all the more: Timbral realism. Relative to the kaleidoscope of different instrumental timbers I was used to from real orchestras, there was a homogenizing effect, almost as if every instrument had been replaced with instruments made out of the same plastic.
Through the sheer level of detail I could certainly recognize what each instrument was, but it was more like a giant black-and-white Ansel Adams photograph - extraordinarily detailed, but still black and white.
Ever since then, I’ve been intrigued with the question of why the sound through most systems fail in terms of timber versus the real thing, and why - despite the fact I can play an infinity of different recordings with different instruments - reproduced sound seems to lack the timbral nuance, variety and
“ surprisingness” of real sounds.
It was mostly on the basis of timber that I chose my current loudspeakers. I was sort of agog when I auditioned them because I heard through them what seem to be more timbral variation then the other loud speakers auditioned. I was continually getting that feeling of “ surprise” as one instrument took over from another “ wow that chime is very silvery, and that symbol is very brassy, and that top end of the violin is brilliant, but that oboe is dark and rich. Every instrument seemed particularly distinctly different in terms of what it was made of. Which is why I just had to choose these loudspeakers (and by the way, I’m not making any technical claims about the speakers , nor that in my system I’m hearing anything like the true timbral variety of real instruments… those are simply my impressions and that reproduction of instrumental timber was so important in what I was looking for).
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