|
Audio Asylum Thread Printer Get a view of an entire thread on one page |
For Sale Ads |
73.215.214.225
In Reply to: RE: Adjectives vs. Measurements posted by A.Wayne on January 30, 2016 at 12:42:23
The perceived power of a musical instrument is definitely an issue, it is a characteristic of the instrument's tone. Tone is not just spectral distribution, there's more too it. Tone is one of the four basic elements of music. Therefore if the tone is wrong, it's not high fidelity. A grand piano in a home fills up one end of a large room with sound while an expensive hi fi system no matter what its spectral balance can't. Not even close. And yes I do own a Steinway grand piano myself.
The problem of recording and reproducing musical performances with high fidelity begins with a complete understanding of the physics of sound and acoustics and ends with an understanding of the capabilities and limitations of human hearing. It has nothing to do with tubes versus transistors, analog versus digital, this capacitor versus that one. It is strictly about sound. I'd give out the answer but you can see from a certain physicist's comments earlier today that they are so snooty I figure they should get the answer themselves. If you really are a physicist, the right answer really shouldn't be that hard to find. I've known a lot of physicists in my life, even roomed with one in college for two years. Every one I knew or saw on TV including my professors were wackos.
Follow Ups:
Even a solo violin will do the job in a moderate size room that will strain many systems...but I have heard very credible reproduction of such...I know what it should sound like because I made the recordings of my ex playing a Strad. It was a pain to set the level of the equipment due to the acoustic power of the darn thing and I didn't want to use compression. Some notes made my ears pulsate! I have heard this credibly played back with large line array systems and a couple of horn systems but not with a conventional, average sensitivity speaker regardless of the size.
"It was a pain to set the level of the equipment due to the acoustic power of the darn thing and I didn't want to use compression. "There are several factors at work here. The acoustic power of a violin is the least of them. More important, with regard to the instrument, are the dynamic range and the high peak-to-average ratio of the violin waveshape.
Also, placement of the microphone is key. Too close, and it's unmanagable without limiting and compression, but, too far, and the room takes over and dominates the tonal quality and "presence". And the microphone placement with regard to the violin axis is also key, since the sound is different in different directions.
The sound of the room is also a key factor. Unfortunately, many recordings are made in rooms where the room sound is "not good". This often leads to too close mic placement, which then often leads to improper angular placement.
Lastly, the choice of microphone is important. Some of the Neumann small diaphragm mics are terrible for intruments such as violin and piano, whereas Schoeps and Sennheiser are better.
:)
Edits: 02/13/16
Wait , what ..! So it's been solved , yet Coy .... :)
When you have the wrong answer that doesn't work, instead of continuing to hit your head against a wall that won't budge, there eventually comes a time when you stop, stand back, and start with a clean sheet of paper, no preconceptions, and throw everything you think you knew away. If nothing else, your head will eventually stop hurting. This for most people is a very difficult thing to do. It means questioning your fondest prejudices. But if you can't or won't, you just keep hitting your head against that same brick wall. The technology used today by audiophiles is essentially a refinement of the same technology used 55 years ago at the dawn of stereophonic recordings hitting the mass market. IMO it has reached the limit of what it is capable of and still falls far short of its original promised goal.
Post a Followup:
FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: