...Is it a nice sounding from a system or what intended by the singer/recording engineer wanted to be.
Some of you will ask how we gonna know what is intended to be as we are not in the studio.
My post in 2009 stereotype audiophiles, I have wrote about few issues of being so called "music lover". Not many of us really love music since young, some of us attracted to music through system that they have heard from friend's setup or a hifi show. Being limited reference in music playback, or listen to almost same setup or level will not give you any idea how the music should sound. In this case experience does helps into finding what is right to suits what you are looking for in sound reproduction. If you have knowledge about music/instruments always an added advantage.
I have friend that asked me how did I know to mix n match the components that I have use. Again, this is due to long years in listening music through a various system, setup and to many places. I don't have high end system, I can't afford but I matched carefully at my level.
Back to the issue, playback is always a playback and you can never re-create the actual recording or event in your room. Having said that, the least you can do is to try to re-create the closest possible within your system capability. How?...have you heard of components has a character?...being natural, revealing, warm, sweet high, laid back, mellow mid and whatnot.
These are all the preferences that many looking for a playback, but in my case I'm looking for a natural sounding system. You need a good source as I always believe in analogy of garbage in, garbage out. You need an amplifier that capable to deliver what has been pass through it and amplify at flat bandwidth as close as possible. Speakers are the most obvious sound change in a system than a components. If you got all things right but not at the speakers end, it's a waste. So how do I make my choice of component?. For the last 26years, I have listen a lot, to many systems and many places. This is how I learn about system interaction between components.
Next, the demonstration disc that has inlay notes or recorded voice telling how the sound should be heard is actually a great help for setup analysis and how your system perform. For example, Chesky The Ultimate Demonstration Disc. There is lots of audiophile jargon, terms in the disc, Depth, Atmosphere, Midrange purity, Transient, Holographic, Naturalness etc (some has used these jargon and know nuts). If you system can deliver 70-80% of the disc content, it already great and your system is enough as reference standard at your level (or my level). This is not your everyday listening disc or demo for a friends visit..😜.
It will be a great help and a must (for me) to listen this cd in high end system so that you get an idea how those jargon should sound. Although it is not 100% accurate (playback is still a playback) but at least a point of reference, if not your analysis is baseless.
A "natural reference" system will depend mostly on what has been feed at source level. If the recording is good or bad it will show accordingly and that is natural reference system. The bad side is, you'll be picky on recording but that is fine as I appreciate good work than mediocre. If your system sound equally the same on most recording, then it's your system character/quality.
You don't need to be in the studio. Preference to listen to what singer/recording engineer intended to is not 100% from the studio to your room, a sensible thinking would understand this.
Experience is the most invaluable and thanks for reading this.
