Hi, Everyone: I am a relatively new poster to the WBF Forum although I have been an audiophile for over 40 years and have posted many times on other forums.
I have something on my mind after attending a couple of recent audiophile shows and also listening to systems at dealers. I am concerned that we have become permanently conditioned to "audiophile" or "hi-fi" sound.
At these recent shows I heard this "hi-fi" sound in virtually every room, as I have heard at dealers. You know what I mean: that indistinguishable bright, boomy "punch-and-sizzle." The preponderance of low treble brightness, prominent bass, those smaller-than-life pinpoint images that I maintain are an artifact of the recording process, the wide and high but shallow soundstage, the hyped up detail that sounds unnatural to me. This sound was everywhere at these audiophile shows. I found myself running quickly out of these rooms after being assaulted sonically by this "hi-fi" sound. Oftentimes it was a relief just to get out of there.
Maybe we are being conditioned to this type of sound. We certainly hear a lot of this type of sound from all of the mid-fi systems around. I hear it in my gym, in stores, etc. We often hear it at concerts that are highly amplified. I recently heard it at a local show featuring Tom Scott, Dave Mason, and Eric Burdon, one that was amplified to the point that I wore the earplugs that I brought to protect my hearing.
But I don't hear this sound at my son's high school wind ensemble concerts, nor at any of the other high school band concerts there at the same time such as choral groups, string ensemble, jazz concert bands, marching bands. I don't hear it at almost weekly musical events in my church. I don't hear it at local acoustic band concerts. I remember not hearing it at a local rendition of a children's Peter and the Wolf presentation. What I hear is a warmer, fuller, more dynamic sound, one with more immediacy and obviously presence. Bass drums don't overwhelm but have much more of a thud than an overwhelming thump. Highs are more natural and don't sound like cans of spray mist being actuated. There is much more of a robust, 3-dimensional sound.
What is funny is that I almost never hear this type of natural sound with hi-fi. Yes, we often talk about how sound systems will never perfectly reproduce live sound and this is true to some extent. However, I heard this natural sound in a few rooms at a recent audiophile show. I have heard it in the past from a few, very expensive systems. This is probably due to the fact that almost every system at shows is of the high-priced variety, shows devolving into showcases for very expensive systems only. And I indeed heard it there in a few rooms with expensive systems. Yet I also heard this non-hi-fi, natural sound in a couple of rooms that featured inexpensive speakers and even inexpensive electronics. In fact, I bought a pair of inexpensive speakers that I thought displayed one of the most natural sounds I have heard at any price.
So the question is: are we blaming this hi-fi sound on poor show room conditions as usual? You know, bad room acoustics, contaminated electricity, too many people in the room, the usual suspects? Or are equipment manufacturers deliberately targeting this sound? Are they developing, voicing, and manufacturing this bright, boomy, midrange-reticent, pinpoint image, flat soundstage, hyperdetailed type of sound because it is what sells?
What do you think? Am I correct in my reasoning or am I full of milk?
Roger
I have something on my mind after attending a couple of recent audiophile shows and also listening to systems at dealers. I am concerned that we have become permanently conditioned to "audiophile" or "hi-fi" sound.
At these recent shows I heard this "hi-fi" sound in virtually every room, as I have heard at dealers. You know what I mean: that indistinguishable bright, boomy "punch-and-sizzle." The preponderance of low treble brightness, prominent bass, those smaller-than-life pinpoint images that I maintain are an artifact of the recording process, the wide and high but shallow soundstage, the hyped up detail that sounds unnatural to me. This sound was everywhere at these audiophile shows. I found myself running quickly out of these rooms after being assaulted sonically by this "hi-fi" sound. Oftentimes it was a relief just to get out of there.
Maybe we are being conditioned to this type of sound. We certainly hear a lot of this type of sound from all of the mid-fi systems around. I hear it in my gym, in stores, etc. We often hear it at concerts that are highly amplified. I recently heard it at a local show featuring Tom Scott, Dave Mason, and Eric Burdon, one that was amplified to the point that I wore the earplugs that I brought to protect my hearing.
But I don't hear this sound at my son's high school wind ensemble concerts, nor at any of the other high school band concerts there at the same time such as choral groups, string ensemble, jazz concert bands, marching bands. I don't hear it at almost weekly musical events in my church. I don't hear it at local acoustic band concerts. I remember not hearing it at a local rendition of a children's Peter and the Wolf presentation. What I hear is a warmer, fuller, more dynamic sound, one with more immediacy and obviously presence. Bass drums don't overwhelm but have much more of a thud than an overwhelming thump. Highs are more natural and don't sound like cans of spray mist being actuated. There is much more of a robust, 3-dimensional sound.
What is funny is that I almost never hear this type of natural sound with hi-fi. Yes, we often talk about how sound systems will never perfectly reproduce live sound and this is true to some extent. However, I heard this natural sound in a few rooms at a recent audiophile show. I have heard it in the past from a few, very expensive systems. This is probably due to the fact that almost every system at shows is of the high-priced variety, shows devolving into showcases for very expensive systems only. And I indeed heard it there in a few rooms with expensive systems. Yet I also heard this non-hi-fi, natural sound in a couple of rooms that featured inexpensive speakers and even inexpensive electronics. In fact, I bought a pair of inexpensive speakers that I thought displayed one of the most natural sounds I have heard at any price.
So the question is: are we blaming this hi-fi sound on poor show room conditions as usual? You know, bad room acoustics, contaminated electricity, too many people in the room, the usual suspects? Or are equipment manufacturers deliberately targeting this sound? Are they developing, voicing, and manufacturing this bright, boomy, midrange-reticent, pinpoint image, flat soundstage, hyperdetailed type of sound because it is what sells?
What do you think? Am I correct in my reasoning or am I full of milk?
Roger
. The exception, for me, is imaging. I've heard large bipolar speakers with lots of space to play into sound very natural on good acoustic recordings. But to me the pinpoint imaging is a substitute for the visual cues I don't get when listening to recordings. I miss it.
