Natural Sound

[Blue58]

Sorry if I misinterpreted some of your comments.

Concerning this last point, it is difficult with this Peggy Lee track. I found two very different versions on Qobuz:

Listen to Fever by Peggy Lee on Qobuz https://open.qobuz.com/track/3561689

Listen to Fever by Peggy Lee on Qobuz https://open.qobuz.com/track/1056575

The first is a stereo version with a wide sound. The second is a mono version. On my speakers, I prefer listening to the mono version. With the stereo version I get a muddier sound (this is due to issues with my system). Her voice is a little softer (drier, less reverb) on the stereo version, but it's also presented further away. There are pros and cons to each.

How can I compare either to "live music"? This is difficult, especially with this track. In both cases I hear "artefacts" in the recording which don't seem to be very natural to me.

Ask the same question about a system video and I'll give you the same answer as before - they are a pale copy of what we hear in our rooms, so the comparison to live music is even more tenuous. Go to a concert, record it with your phone, and listen to it after...

How about you?

I prefer the stereo with the reduced reverb.
Here’s some reading. Skip down to part 21.https://peggyleediscography.com/p/LeeResearchFever.php

 

[hopkins]

I agree. We can all find more realistic sounding vocal tracks in our collections or in the ether. I chose it simply because I like the music and I recorded this track when I visited David Karmeli the first time and that recording became for me a kind of benchmark system video of how this track could sound over a stereo system recorded on a phone. It is fun music, and I happen to prefer it to some of the other popular pop female vocal tracks that people use for such system videos. I also like Dusty in Memphis singing “Windmills of your Mind” for processed female pop music.

Totally understand. I have similar tracks that I have heard in others' systems and listened to in mine over the years. Whatever you enjoy playing is fine. Maybe Peggy Lee's voice simply got a bit tiresome after listening to the track 20 times...That "Windmills" song has more intimate vocals.

 

[hopkins]

I prefer the stereo with the reduced reverb.
Here’s some reading. Skip down to part 21.https://peggyleediscography.com/p/LeeResearchFever.php

Very thorough write-up, thanks.

 

[PeterA]

I prefer the stereo with the reduced reverb.
Here’s some reading. Skip down to part 21.https://peggyleediscography.com/p/LeeResearchFever.php

Interesting article. Thank you. It appears my LP is “duophonic” (part XXII) It is “Peggy Lee’s Greatest!” from 1969.

 

[CorDn]

Hello Peter, Since yesterday I am new on this forum.
I have read your story / Musicaltrip, what a beautiful trip you have made! So nice to read and I can also learn from your story. No cost or time saving at all! I will follow your story, but first I have to read 300 pages. Thanks for sharing!

 

[hopkins]

By the way, finger snapping is interesting - it seems so simple, but yet so difficult to get to sound "right".

Ellington was famous for his "finger snapping". He had a routine about it where he explained that it was "cool" to snap off-beat:

He included it in some studio recordings. In this track you can hear what I find to be a pretty "natural sounding" finger snap on the left channel, heard most clearly at the beginning and end of the song:

You can compare it to the finger snapping on the Peggy Lee track.