Clarity or Forgiveness

A bit of a strange topic I possibly think, being as this is a hifi website, but I've found that having a really revealing setup can be a mixed blessing. I refer mainly to my headphones, the Sony MDR-CD3000 are *extremely* detailed, and revealing. I'd really miss them now if I didnt have them, but I'm also glad that I've got my Beyer DT531s and also my speakers.

Looking at my music collection, it seems to me that good recordings are the exception rather than the rule. When I have good recordings then its better to use the Sony's I find, however they *brutally* and ruthlessly let you know when a recording is bad, and when that time comes, my speakers and DT531s are a much better compromise I feel.

So, if you could have just one, what would you prefer to have? A system that has excellent clarity and detail but one that rendered not so hot recordings unlistenable? Or a system that was not the last word in detail and clarity, but still has a very enjoyable sound and one that was a lot more forgiving to poor recordings?

I'd probably choose the latter system (enjoyable sound, but not the last word in detail and clarity) simply because I feel that a fair majority of my music is not so hot quality. What about you?

 

"A system that has excellent clarity and detail but one that rendered not so hot recordings unlistenable? Or a system that was not the last word in detail and clarity, but still has a very enjoyable sound and one that was a lot more forgiving to poor recordings?"

It's not an either-or.

You can have both excellent clarity and detail and still have a very enjoyable sound.

As I've ascended the kit & Mana ladder I've been surprised many times with what I had always thought were 'poor' recordings. Improve the clarity, and it becomes apparant that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the recording at all. What I had been hearing before was distortion in the system rather than in the record/CD.

I feel that a fair majority of my music is not so hot quality.

No I don't agree, most recordings are very, very good.

 

I guess so, but the most revealing systems would also reveal all the flaws in a recording, and depending on the nature of those flaws it can completely spoil the enjoyment of the music for me. The worst flaw for me is muffled sounded recordings.

So in your opinion the higher you go, the more things are listenable, even bad recordings? I guess you have a bit of a point there, but you can still tell bad recordings from good IMO.

Notice I said MY music, I cant really speak for anyone elses music. If you listen to a lot of dance music, you'll find that many are recorded badly. Ministry of Sound seems to be the worst culprit.

 

... the most revealing systems would also reveal all the flaws in a recording

Yes I used to believe that, too.

There are occasional clumsy tape edits which can be a bit disconcerting, but for the most part most music is recorded & produced very well.

Didn't notice the 'my', could you give some examples of what you think is recorded badly? If it's dance music, it might well be EQ'd for a club horn-loaded PA system. A lot of domestic hi-fis can't cope with the heavy bass, and the speakers will tend to lose the plot, giving the false impression of a poor recording.

I have a couple of CDs which will 'fark-out' 99.9% of hi-fi systems. Most amusing it is too! :JOEL:

 

My experience is that the better the system, the easier it is to enjoy the music, whatever the recording quality.

 

Its a very tough question for me, for things like Joy Division you need a very revealing system as it won't sound right. However for things like Elton John's earlier stuff it can be unlistenable on a revealing system. I guess its very hard to get that balance on a budget.

 

I would agree that, based on my fairly limited experience of budgety 'kit', I found that the stuff which is more transparent and clear/detailed makes a much better job of supposedly bad recordings. Stuff which isn't detailed and transparent can sound harsh and (i believe the term is) 'congested' and to me that is fatiguing, not 'detail'.

I'd also agree that there aren't really that many bad recordings. The first 'Bad Brains' album isn't too great though!

 

Try Ikurus and cafe duo - 'Spanish wind'.

This track starts off with some innocuous spanish guitar, then the bass comes in after about 20 seconds or so, there is absolutely no warning, and it will bottom-out your bass drivers, so go easy on the volume to avoid permanent damage.

Higher intelligence agency is another, fox farked out my ATCs with this one some time ago. They'll play both this & Spanish wind now quite happily at high levels. It's all a question of control.

 

If you are hearing early EJ on compilations, then they may be dodgy mixes. But early EJ, like much 70s adult rock, is superbly recorded, and is crying out for big bass speakers.

Bad side of the moon, Take me to the Pilot etc have seriously healthy bottoms. Something which I'm sure Elton is proud of..

 

I was refering to the 1992 Elton John's greatest hits CD. They have that on 12" at my local record shop for £1 as well so if its not to crackely I might by it. I am guessing the problem is more due to the way the CD was compilied than the recordings itself.

 

I'm with the Devil on this, and he always has the best tunes.

Just to prove it to myself, I selected my favourite dance music compilation, selected track two, 'an der schoenen blauen Donau' and advanced the volume. This bangs along at 3 beats to the bar in a most satisfying way.

Paul

 

Well, pretty much any recent Ministry of Sound has a fair old mix of crappy recordings on it, and the album Travelling by Paul Oakenfold has pretty poor quality in places too.

There are different types of poor recordings. The main one that gets my beef is the muffled ones, the ones that seem to have little treble or detail and flat, weak bass. I suppose they are possibly better to listen to on a better system than on a poor system, its just that I guess a poor system, any differences can be masked.

Funny thing is, my headphones are super revealing and some things arent listenable on them, yet they are capable of stunning quality with the right recording. My speakers are also capable of really excellent quality on a good recording, but they seem a bit more forgiving of things that arent so stellar.

See what I mean?