Why does the music played at AXPONA suck so bad?

[Johnkeizer]

terrible music at shows?
For 20 years I was a member of our local audio club here in Newcastle.
For 20 years, 10 times per year, at every meeting, I had to endure Jazz At The Pawnshop.
I had to leave.

 

[Puddingbuks]

@Johnkeizer 200 times jazz at the pawnshop is pure torture.

 

[Johnkeizer]

Actually, once is torture

 

[Keith_W]

One thing I can't get over is how all those analog guys are so anti-DSP, yet they listen to over-DSP'ed "music". I hate the sound of autotune, I despise artificial reverb, I loathe exciters. I don't care if it's an "artistic choice", they can take all that and shove it! The DSP in my home system is designed to do as little harm to the music as possible. Those producers use DSP to cover up flaws with their singer. If someone can't sing, kick them out and get someone who can! If you want some reverb, maybe go record in a real acoustic space. </gripe>

 

[DanielT]

terrible music at shows?
For 20 years I was a member of our local audio club here in Newcastle.
For 20 years, 10 times per year, at every meeting, I had to endure Jazz At The Pawnshop.
I had to leave.

@Johnkeizer 200 times jazz at the pawnshop is pure torture.

Better to physically go to the place where it was recorded and experience live music.
My friends and I used to go there every now and then and had a beer and listen to live jazz music when I lived in Stockholm.

Stampen - Jazz & Rhythm'n'blues bar - Stockholm - Stampen

Welcome to Stampen! A world famous jazz & rhythm'n'blues bar in the historical old town district Gamla Stan in Stockholm, Sweden.

www.stampen.se

Even with modern recordings, the audience's murmur is present:

Edit:
To avoid that Jazz At The Pawnshop audience's murmur, why not listen to Arne Domnérus in a studio recording instead?

 

[Spkrdctr]

The music played at AXPONA sucks so hard because old, rich white guys have terrible taste.

Also they can't hear worth a darn. But, they do have money, so there is that.

 

[mhardy6647]

terrible music at shows?
For 20 years I was a member of our local audio club here in Newcastle.
For 20 years, 10 times per year, at every meeting, I had to endure Jazz At The Pawnshop.
I had to leave.

PTSD much?

 

[MattHooper]

I haven't seen these tracks get much play in the last 5+ years. With advent of streaming, much wider set of music is played. LP guys being somewhat an exception.

I don’t get out to the shows these days, but I do have a semi addiction to watching YouTube videos about the shows. Especially the long walk-throughs going in many or most of the rooms. (I actually enjoy watching these in my home theatre and my big projection screen and then surround sound. It can feel almost like visiting the show.)

I certainly agree that the music playlist has expanded with streaming from what I’ve seen. Especially there seems to be more electronic music than ever played at the shows.

On the other hand, there still is far too much
“ single breathy singer with sparse accompaniment” stuff being played. It drives me nuts when you encounter a really expensive system with big flagship speakers and you get that kind of stuff played, which any mini monitor could pull off, instead of more dynamic and complex music that would actually show off the design.

 

[MattHooper]

When I started off in high end audio in the 90s I included plenty of audiophile recordings which I often used to see how good a system could sound.
I transitioned from that to just playing a wide range of the music that I love, and what I care is how good the system sounds with that music not with specific audiophile demo tracks. (of course a bunch of the music I love is also well recorded so it also can bring out the great qualities in a system).

But I haven’t felt a desire to listen to Diana Krall or Patricia Barber for a long, long time.
I could also put on that list audiophile music I no longer need to hear again….
Norah Jones, Cassandra Wilson, Jacintha, Eva Cassidy, Holly Cole…

 

[mhardy6647]

When I started off in high end audio in the 90s I included plenty of audiophile recordings which I often used to see how good a system could sound.
I transitioned from that to just playing a wide range of the music that I love, and what I care is how good the system sounds with that music not with specific audiophile demo tracks. (of course a bunch of the music I love is also well recorded so it also can bring out the great qualities in a system).

But I haven’t felt a desire to listen to Diana Krall or Patricia Barber for a long, long time.
I could also put on that list audiophile music I no longer need to hear again….
Norah Jones, Cassandra Wilson, Jacintha, Eva Cassidy, Holly Cole…

That's much of the Hall of Fame right there!

I do still like the Wailin Jennys and Patty Larkin, though -- even if they both manifest some audiophile cred in terms of the quality of their recordings (or most of them, in Ms Larkin's case -- she's been doin' this stuff for a long time).

 

[scrubb]

Yes, I was at Axpona this past weekend and the music continues to be atrocious. It's almost like they're afraid to play some solid rock & roll for fear it will disrupt their precious "hi-fi" equipment. Once again - like the last two years - I walked into the room with the giant Magico speakers and the guy at the controls has it set at like 70dB with what sounded like nature sounds. Come on! It makes me think they're trying to hide some fault in their >$90k speakers. One saving grace was the "heavy metal hour" in one (turntable and tonearm?) room at the end of the day where the host was playing proper Metallica and Slayer, and handing out cheap cans of beer to people as they walked in.

 

[Descartes]

Why can’t they play diverse music such as a list like that:

From Now On - Supertramp
Careless Whisper - Wham!
Enjoy the Silence - Depeche Mode
Sultans of Swing - Dire Strait's
Cloudbusting - Kate Bush
Sun Is Shining - Bob Marley & The Wailers
La Vie En Rose - Grace Jones
Rico's Gang Suicide - Eric Serra
Dirty Laundry - Bitter:Sweet
Goldeneye - Tina Turner
Lucia di lammermoor (feat. Inva Mula) - Eric Serra
The Diva Dance (feat. Inva Mula) - Eric Serra
Who Wants To Live Forever - Queen
Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen

 

[mhardy6647]

... or maybe some Plastic Ono Band...

 

[Robin L]

... or maybe some Plastic Ono Band...

. . . with a side order of Diamanda Galás.

 

[mhardy6647]

. . . with a side order of Diamanda Galás.

I'll take your word for it -- I'm afraid to search for an example.

 

[Descartes]

 

[Frank Dernie]

The music examples Amir has posted with demo room comments confirms my long held view that recording sound quality varies more than that of the equipment we buy to listen to it on.

 

[Puddingbuks]

The music examples Amir has posted with demo room comments confirms my long held view that recording sound quality varies more than that of the equipment we buy to listen to it on.

And the point is…?

It should be all about the music. So the goal is imo to reproduce as good as possible what is in the source material.

 

[Frank Dernie]

And the point is…?

It should be all about the music. So the goal is imo to reproduce as good as possible what is in the source material.

I agree about the music, I'd prefer to listen to music I love on my phone than stuff I find banal and musically uninspiring on a superb system.
The point is many people getting their knickers in a massive twist about small deviations from perfect reproduction. Some even only listen to sh*te music or spend hours measuring and adjusting their system, and therefore not listening to music at all.

I think it comes down to the example I have used often in the past. HiFi enthusiasts exist on a spectrum from most interested in the equipment to most interested in the music.

 

[Avp1]

I agree about the music, I'd prefer to listen to music I love on my phone than stuff I find banal and musically uninspiring on a superb system.
The point is many people getting their knickers in a massive twist about small deviations from perfect reproduction. Some even only listen to sh*te music or spend hours measuring and adjusting their system, and therefore not listening to music at all.

I think it comes down to the example I have used often in the past. HiFi enthusiasts exist on a spectrum from most interested in the equipment to most interested in the music.

I cut losses on both sides of spectrum: I do not want my system to poorly reproduce well recorded music, and I do not want to listen music which was poorly recorded.