I second the human voice mention here by Frank, it is when one is "catched" by a realistic reproduction of vocals when a systems gets full attention... At least this worked for me.
What instrument is most challenging for a speaker to make sound real?
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I second the human voice mention here by Frank, it is when one is "catched" by a realistic reproduction of vocals when a systems gets full attention... At least this worked for me.
I remember this graph Gregg, do you have at hand or memory what issue of TAS published it?
Do you mean this one?
Exactly. On some systems is will sound mechanical and disjunct, as if there is more than one piano. But play it in a good system and you just astonish yourself how just a pair of hands with five fingers can play such a piece! It is one of these few occasions I would like to have a DVD of the recording.
i think I got it from a speaker manufacturer website. it definitely been circulated. been circulated
For a good quality "Vibraphone" recording; people should give this one a listen (seriously):
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Violins aren't easy either, so is Choral music with Choirs, Human voices, and like Roger said earlier, Organs with 64-foot pipes. ...Trumpets and saxophones. Even Flutes.
So, many musical instruments aren't that easy to reproduce by high res loudspeakers.
High Fidelity starts at the Microphone. Then of course the loudspeaker drivers.
Best loudspeakers to reproduce those? There are as many of them as there are musical instruments!
...You know what I mean... One loudspeaker is better at some functions, or reproducing a musical instrument(s) than another one, and others better at that, and so on... Not one specific loudspeaker best at everything. I think.
And that includes vocals, real life sound effects like real explosions, gun's shots, thunder, rain, trains, automobiles, etc.
*** By the way, a Piano is a big musical instrument with long strings and covers a wide range of the audio spectrum. And from the first hit of a note on the keyboard to the long sound decay, it is quite unique in its mechanism.
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The Piano is my favorite musical instrument by far!
The loudspeaker is not a musical instrument! I'd rather have a real Piano in my room!
The loudspeaker is not a musical instrument! I'd rather have a real Piano in my room!
The Piano is my favorite musical instrument by far!
The loudspeaker is not a musical instrument! I'd rather have a real Piano in my room!
Hi Bob
Even real piano can sound different by room and by modification, my partner's grand Stienway had been change a set of strings inside, got a better sound, ready for next recording, also can compare with the recorded sound done in before
tony ma
I totally agree with you Tony.
I play guitars myself and different brand of strings have their own sound signature!
Plus with an acoustic guitar, it'll sound different the way you aim it and at only few feet into that direction or that one.
A loudspeaker is a replica of a musical instrument in it's sound reproduction, so it has the same physical properties. ...In the aspect of sound propulsion; but not the timbre or tone from inside out.
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I don't have personal experience with the best loudspeakers; only from what I've read.
The most expensive pair (with power amps included) only cost $2 million dollars!
* I tried to find a picture of the Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt besides a grand piano and a pair of magnificent looking horn loudspeakers but couldn't find it helas!
I did stumble bumble humble on loudspeakers from:
* Moon Audio
* Grande Utopia EM by JM Labs
* Acapella Triolon Excalibur
* Vox Olympian by Living Voice
And I think that the Moon Audio loudspeakers would do just fine for me.
But I'll have to listen to them first, of course! ...Before I lay down my hard earned cash!
Anyway it's all fun, and we do have sometimes opportunities because of connections.
I play guitars myself and different brand of strings have their own sound signature!
Plus with an acoustic guitar, it'll sound different the way you aim it and at only few feet into that direction or that one.
A loudspeaker is a replica of a musical instrument in it's sound reproduction, so it has the same physical properties. ...In the aspect of sound propulsion; but not the timbre or tone from inside out.
____________________________________
I don't have personal experience with the best loudspeakers; only from what I've read.
The most expensive pair (with power amps included) only cost $2 million dollars!
* I tried to find a picture of the Canadian pianist Angela Hewitt besides a grand piano and a pair of magnificent looking horn loudspeakers but couldn't find it helas!
I did stumble bumble humble on loudspeakers from:
* Moon Audio
* Grande Utopia EM by JM Labs
* Acapella Triolon Excalibur
* Vox Olympian by Living Voice
And I think that the Moon Audio loudspeakers would do just fine for me.
But I'll have to listen to them first, of course! ...Before I lay down my hard earned cash!
Anyway it's all fun, and we do have sometimes opportunities because of connections.
Interesting thread. i always bring at least 1 piano recording with me to auditions, particularly having studied piano for 12 years. i'm terrible at playing, but i remember all the hours of the sound of a piano up close and in different environments. Also, by coincidence, i use a track from the John Williams Jurassic Park movie soundtrack...the one with the xylophone...because the range of the instrument that is used for about 8-12 seconds ranges from the metal (higher notes) down to the wooden blocks (mid range notes)...and on a resolving system you can hear more than the notes...you can tell when the player starts striking the wood blocks vs the metal bars...so by coincidence it appears i have stumbled across a track that (according to this august group of audiophiles) is a worthy auditioning track. thanks.
I would agree that the piano is quite difficult to capture, but being a jazz enthusiast, I think brass is very difficult to capture, especially its ripeness. But in general, I think so many instruments represent challenges to reproduce accurately that the question is quite difficult to answer.
Hahaha, good call Gary.
The reproductive effort of the human voice IMO can come very close to sounding real on a good system. Hearing your voice over a system will always sound off because you are (as an individual) hearing the vibrations within your head as your vocal chords are activated. In other words, you will never hear your voice accurately represented on any loud speaker.
My vote would be the Piano. John, I'd have to pay close attention to the xylophone. Interesting choice there. (Never thought about it, really)
Tom
Piano is both crossovers and an amp. Sounds best with SETS, usually. Best I heard was the crossoverless Yamamura I would take this for solo piano, piano concertos
Tympani, bass drum, kick drum, the soft bass that joins in when the orchestral bass section joins in the concerto after a few notes from the soloist - On all these, Apogees rock.
Brass - You need both continuity through crossovers and a good midbass, full sound. Horns, Apogees, in more regular speakers, the Vivids do this very well. Mahler 7 and 3 are great tests. Apogees or a couple of horns is what I would want for Mahler 7 brass
Violin - most good speakers can do it, valves on stats usually sound best here, and the wrong cartridges can be big culprits here, totally rolling off the sound
Instruments in a tutti - this is where electronics matter more in showing differences in tonal colours of various instruments and putting them in their individual dimensions - this is where the Lampi shoots ahead of all the digital - bigly. ARC Ref 10 will team up with to create that big wide space to see each instrument.
But the amp needs to control the speaker well for the instrument note to flow through its ups and downs, otherwise it is a waste of a good speaker.
Tympani, bass drum, kick drum, the soft bass that joins in when the orchestral bass section joins in the concerto after a few notes from the soloist - On all these, Apogees rock.
Brass - You need both continuity through crossovers and a good midbass, full sound. Horns, Apogees, in more regular speakers, the Vivids do this very well. Mahler 7 and 3 are great tests. Apogees or a couple of horns is what I would want for Mahler 7 brass
Violin - most good speakers can do it, valves on stats usually sound best here, and the wrong cartridges can be big culprits here, totally rolling off the sound
Instruments in a tutti - this is where electronics matter more in showing differences in tonal colours of various instruments and putting them in their individual dimensions - this is where the Lampi shoots ahead of all the digital - bigly. ARC Ref 10 will team up with to create that big wide space to see each instrument.
But the amp needs to control the speaker well for the instrument note to flow through its ups and downs, otherwise it is a waste of a good speaker.
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