Forget it Jake, it's Audiophile

[andromedaaudio]

So you are all set. You don't need to say anything else.

A well designed noise isolated room would be great .
Crank up the volume whenever you feel like it
Plus a movie screen that drops from the ceiling , i like movies as much as i do music

 

[Karen Sumner]

Attached is an article that discusses the differences in dynamic range for different genres. The article gets in the weeds a bit because it not only discusses music, but it discusses hearing aids and music listening (which might be interesting to some of you). For your convenience, I have highlighted the sections of the article that most apply to music listening. Please note that rock music because of the way it is produced is quite dynamically limited compared to acoustic music recordings or the spoken voice. Because there is no way to "reference" electronic music and most recordings of this genre are dynamically compressed, I believe it is a limited resource as far as helping one decide how to assemble a SOTA hi fi system or to design SOTA components. There is no question, however, that rock and other types of electronic music are totally enjoyable, and should be central in the repertoire if one prefers listening to it whether they have a SOTA system or not. If one is designing or assembling a SOTA system, live acoustic music is the best reference.

 

[PeterA]

Thank you Karen. That is a fascinating article. I long suspected that choir and opera recordings have the greatest dynamic range. I have a more difficult time setting the volume control on my system when listening to those two genres because there is such a difference between soft and loud.

I do love to listen to my early Black Sabbath records though, especially when I crank them. I just wish I had the originals and not the thicker remasterings.

 

[Atmasphere]

Attached is an article that discusses the differences in dynamic range for different genres. The article gets in the weeds a bit because it not only discusses music, but it discusses hearing aids and music listening (which might be interesting to some of you). For your convenience, I have highlighted the sections of the article that most apply to music listening. Please note that rock music because of the way it is produced is quite dynamically limited compared to acoustic music recordings or the spoken voice. Because there is no way to "reference" electronic music and most recordings of this genre are dynamically compressed, I believe it is a limited resource as far as helping one decide how to assemble a SOTA hi fi system or to design SOTA components. There is no question, however, that rock and other types of electronic music are totally enjoyable, and should be central in the repertoire if one prefers listening to it whether they have a SOTA system or not. If one is designing or assembling a SOTA system, live acoustic music is the best reference.

One of the recordings I use to demo dynamic range is the Verdi Requiem, side 1 track 2 of the Soria RCA boxset.
In the same way that the Black Sabbath Vertigo recording can shut a system down, so can this LP. The bass drum score calls has a quadruple forte (ffff); When we played that decades ago in the civic orchestra, the conductor instructed the percussion section to hit it as hard as they could.

 

[Tango]

One of the recordings I use to demo dynamic range is the Verdi Requiem, side 1 track 2 of the Soria RCA boxset.
In the same way that the Black Sabbath Vertigo recording can shut a system down, so can this LP. The bass drum score calls has a quadruple forte (ffff); When we played that decades ago in the civic orchestra, the conductor instructed the percussion section to hit it as hard as they could.

Not the same recording but allow me to make some illustration for you Ralph.

 

[Tuckers]

We used to use the word Hifi as a pejorative, in the same way as I think some people use audiophile. Saying a system or component was hifi meant that it highlighted things like a sparkly treble, tight but robotic bass, transparency and a delineated soundstage. The pejorative part was that these elements kind of obscured or overshadowed the heart and meaning of the music, the expressiveness. Usually this was used by fans of vintage gear like Garrard turntables and field coil drivers . And I do sympathize with the sentiment, but I don't have much in the way of vintage gear these days.

 

[the sound of Tao]

We used to use the word Hifi as a pejorative, in the same way as I think some people use audiophile. Saying a system or component was hifi meant that it highlighted things like a sparkly treble, tight but robotic bass, transparency and a delineated soundstage. The pejorative part was that these elements kind of obscured or overshadowed the heart and meaning of the music, the expressiveness. Usually this was used by fans of vintage gear like Garrard turntables and field coil drivers . And I do sympathize with the sentiment, but I don't have much in the way of vintage gear these days.

Great post Tucker. Robotic bass… awesomely put. Overshadowing the heart of the music and expressiveness… very much so, it’s just too easy to chase sonic highlights and throw the cohesive balance of the whole out and lose that immediate connected flow into music. That direct connection is not limited to vintage gear either… though the model for it is there back in the way that things started.

 

[Karen Sumner]

Saying a system or component was hifi meant that it highlighted things like a sparkly treble, tight but robotic bass, transparency and a delineated soundstage. The pejorative part was that these elements kind of obscured or overshadowed the heart and meaning of the music, the expressiveness.

Overshadowing the heart of the music and expressiveness… very much so, it’s just too easy to chase sonic highlights and throw the cohesive balance of the whole out and lose that immediate connected flow into music. That direct connection is not limited to vintage gear either… though the model for it is there back in the way that things started.

We seem to have forgotten that the original term was high fidelity, as in fidelity to music.