LISTENING

[jasbirnandra]

Which is better sound you being there feeling or they being here in the room

 

[bonzo75]

Feeling yourself there is the best

 

[PeterA]

What Bonzo said. It means your room is imposing less of itself on the overall sound. There is a recent thread that discusses at length this very subject. Perhaps the new search feature will find it for the OP.

 

[microstrip]

Many times the the recording will not have information enough to make you feel there - then all we get is bringing the performer to our room.

But when it is possible I really prefer being there. I am addressing mainly classical and instrumental/acoustical music.

 

[Legolas]

Agree. But a good home system can have other traits. For example the hot spot, no obstructions, play it loud (many classical concerts I have been to are a bit quiet), can concentrate with no stupid idiot looking at his / her Facebook page. But seeing live is tactile and real even if we ignore the sound of both locations (home or in concert). For rock music being there is unsurpassed IMO, regardless of the sound system being used.

 

[Number9]

Many times the the recording will not have information enough to make you feel there - then all we get is bringing the performer to our room.

But when it is possible I really prefer being there. I am addressing mainly classical and instrumental/acoustical music.

I would say more often than not it is the system that pulls us away from ‘the event’ rather than the recording. I have experienced too many times listening to the same recording in my system and then that of a nearby friends. 99% of the time the illusion of being transporting to the event occurs in his system when often in mine I am mostly listening to the performance in my room. This (imo) has way more to do with the room/setup than the equipment or the recording.

 

[Ron Resnick]

I prefer “you are there” for classical and for jazz.

For solo vocalists with simple acoustic accompaniment I am not sure. I think for that I prefer “they are here.”

 

[DonH50]

I like to be able to imagine I am at the venue, e.g. a big concert hall for an orchestra, or a intimate jazz club. I don't want to be on stage (there often enough and the back row is not good for hearing the rest of the orchestra or band), I want to be at my favorite spot in the audience. That means I want my room to disappear to be replaced by whatever venue the recording is targeting (whether it was actually recorded there or not, and of course that means it is imposing my bias on the venue -- I don't expect an orchestra in a jazz club or a small group in a concert hall, though there are alway exceptions...) My listening room is fairly dead; small venues do not sound right if my room makes them bigger places. The ambiance comes from the recording and not my room (I hope).

I am getting more into multichannel recordings for their more immersive experience. I thank Kal for that.

 

[morricab]

IMO, it SHOULD depend on the recording. A close miked studio recording with little reverb should sound like "they are here". A Jazz or classical recording or live rock recording in a big venue or at least a real space (night club etc.) should sound more like "you are there". Jazz can go either way but it really depends on how the recording is made. Rock is almost always "they are here" except the some good live stuff. Live Jazz should nearly always be "you are there". If your system cannot distinguish this and give you really what's on the recording...time to figure that out.