Out of curiosity, how are you listening to the video?
Have you heard the original track?
Brahms, Hungarian dance no 6 - CD 9, track 9 in this album:
Open Qobuz
open.qobuz.com
Last edited:
Orchestral Music System Videos - Symphonic or Tone Poems, etc.
- Thread starter tima
- Start date
Have you heard the original track?
Brahms, Hungarian dance no 6 - CD 9, track 9 in this album:
open.qobuz.com
Funny, that’s just what the alien started out in saying just before he pulled out his very tiny probe and asked the abducted man to roll over… and so another numb ground hog day sequence of programmed performative steps as opening gambit before the snipers reveal largely to challenge someone’s perceptions very likely not just the same as yours… if we just don’t perceive similar things when we listen simply that’s all fine.
Everything is both subjective and relative… so let’s get to the big picture in the way and the what and the why I very much appreciate the zerostargeneral’s system is in that it doesn’t appear to make music sound in the so many varying fine but critical degrees to make the music it plays seem ultimately flatter and disparate in its rendering.
So of the varying journeys on display here to me Z clearly has come out of his particular pathway bringing together both an extraordinary music library and a system of great illumination. We all go valiantly into the audio fray but within the framework of the way we can evidence this Z’s system seems to simply muck up the music so much less… and after many many decades I’ve come to believe (genuinely and humbly) that’s very much the best we can aim to do.
Last edited:
Zerostargeneral's videos do sound excellent. Very natural and effortless, even across YouTube. In the room, the listening experience must be really nice with the system not intruding on the music. Well done and thank you for sharing these snippets.
Impressive! I’ve heard several highly capable systems struggle to preserve separation during the crescendos of this recording. 519 is a nice test for that.
No need for a thesis on the subject, or for speculation as to my motivation - I am just curious to understand how people perceive these videos. If you ask me for my opinon on that video - first of all, it certainly is much more impressive than on my system! No doubt about that, it is in a completly different league, as would be expected. It plays loud without too much distortion (though it is not as smooth sounding as the original track), which is more than can be said of a lot of videos in this thread. The tonal balance seems rather close to the original track, though the bass seems soft, but that's hard to judge from a phone video. Is the sound refined? That's hard to tell on a video, and listening to the original track you realize the gap in terms of resolution/finesse... I suspect this is where I would find some weakness in the system, but it is hard to judge from this video. So...impressive on some aspects (loudness), but would I find it pleasant to listen to for a long time? I don't know...
Last edited:
Certainly, all films are limited, compressed, and digitised considerably... losses from the word go. The room here is large and probably quite tricky to achieve any kind of consistent level. Having had the good fortune to sit in front of this system many times, I can say that in-room there is no issue with resolution or finesse. In truth, it is probably one of the most resolving systems I’ve ever heard — and certainly the finest when it comes to transient response.
In a rather botched attempt to reduce room artefacts for some Instagram posts, I ended up recording the following with a cheap microphone positioned one metre from the speaker, and in mono. This introduces fresh challenges — most notably, it’s not stereo — but also level issues and thanks to a poor mic a fair bit of distortion. Of the two approaches I'd say the Generals is more realistic:
Thanks for your comments. The room reflections are indeed perceived differently through a recording - and each recording will be different in that respect, depending on the directivity of the microphones.
Your recording of a single speaker up close is very nice!
More delightful music from Sibelius tone poems inspired by Finnish mythology found in the Kalevala.
Sibelius
Lemminkäinen Suite, Karelia suite
Okko Kamu and the Radio Symphony of Helsinki
DG 2530656
Here is The Swan of Tuonela, which is part 2 of S's Lemminkäinen Suite. Another flawed hero, Lemminkäinen (we'll call him L), is sent by his Queen to perform three tasks. His final task is to kill the swan in the river Tuonela which winds its way through the Land of the Dead. But the swan has guardians.
L goes to the river Tounela and tries to shoot the swan. Alas, he is shot with a poison arrow by a shepard. He is dismembered and thrown into the river. L's mother travels to the underworld and uses a magic rake to gather L's body parts. She puts him back together and nurses him to health with, voila, . the help of the gods who offer a magic salve for his wounds.
L's mother with her dead son, the Swan looks on
The music features the Cor Anglais or English Horn, which is not a horn but a double-reed instrument similar to the oboe. I can tell you it takes a really good embouchure (chops) to play the doube-reeds. This is one of but a very few compositions in classical music that highlight the instrument in a solo. The Cor Anglais is the voice of the swan.
This piece's conductor is Finn Okko Kamu who brought down the house when he won the first Herbert von Karajan Conducting Competition in 1969. von Karajan handed his young preisträger (age 23) $2500 and the keys to the Berlin Philharmonic ("Ja ja, take her out for a spin"). Untrained as a conductor he promptly recorded Sibelius' first three symphonies to be included in von K's second (and best) Sibelius cycle. His 2nd symphony recording offers (to my ears) a unique take on the work.
Sibelius
Lemminkäinen Suite, Karelia suite
Okko Kamu and the Radio Symphony of Helsinki
DG 2530656
Here is The Swan of Tuonela, which is part 2 of S's Lemminkäinen Suite. Another flawed hero, Lemminkäinen (we'll call him L), is sent by his Queen to perform three tasks. His final task is to kill the swan in the river Tuonela which winds its way through the Land of the Dead. But the swan has guardians.
L goes to the river Tounela and tries to shoot the swan. Alas, he is shot with a poison arrow by a shepard. He is dismembered and thrown into the river. L's mother travels to the underworld and uses a magic rake to gather L's body parts. She puts him back together and nurses him to health with, voila, . the help of the gods who offer a magic salve for his wounds.
L's mother with her dead son, the Swan looks on
The music features the Cor Anglais or English Horn, which is not a horn but a double-reed instrument similar to the oboe. I can tell you it takes a really good embouchure (chops) to play the doube-reeds. This is one of but a very few compositions in classical music that highlight the instrument in a solo. The Cor Anglais is the voice of the swan.
This piece's conductor is Finn Okko Kamu who brought down the house when he won the first Herbert von Karajan Conducting Competition in 1969. von Karajan handed his young preisträger (age 23) $2500 and the keys to the Berlin Philharmonic ("Ja ja, take her out for a spin"). Untrained as a conductor he promptly recorded Sibelius' first three symphonies to be included in von K's second (and best) Sibelius cycle. His 2nd symphony recording offers (to my ears) a unique take on the work.
Videos through a system never sound similar to YouTube ripped clips, anything recorded out of the phono directly never sounds remotely similar to what sounds out of a speaker.
Best way to listen is straight out of phono without using speaker or headphones.
People who incessantly argue about the same point for years should know that lifespan reduces with arguments. See other thread on audiophiles arguing.
Those who after 7 years haven’t figured out how to analyse mobile videos of speakers should pick up a new hobby as they are not making progress nor learning. Fishing is a good alternative that allows one to spend similar time alone away from family.
Bill, Agrail, Audioquattr and I have all heard that system or versions of it, over the years. It was indeed the best system in person with a couple of others and videos reflect that. Bill bought the speakers, I would if I had the money to go the whole hog, Audioquattr bought some elements of it, Ron then rated it the best he had heard. Bill sold off an entire system to get those.
It did the best large scale orchestral, small scale classical or solos, jazz and blues, with the dynamic swing quite unmatched. Only Yamamura, which was a giant single driver backloaded horn, was better in that regard. The pattern was no crossover. The flip side, every small change in set up that can make an indifferent change in other systems often resulted in make or break in both of these two. Right now on videos it is sounding great though admittedly some have the advantage of having heard it in person. More respect to those who can hear that without having heard it in person, as it is difficult to get biases out of the mind.
So if someone thinks it sucks because it does not sound same as YouTube qobuz clip, (or because it does not have a purpose built room with diffusers and absorbers, and no grounding, and no 300k digital, and multiple drivers with subs) can take the fishing rod and eat a ham sandwich with subs
Best way to listen is straight out of phono without using speaker or headphones.
People who incessantly argue about the same point for years should know that lifespan reduces with arguments. See other thread on audiophiles arguing.
Those who after 7 years haven’t figured out how to analyse mobile videos of speakers should pick up a new hobby as they are not making progress nor learning. Fishing is a good alternative that allows one to spend similar time alone away from family.
Bill, Agrail, Audioquattr and I have all heard that system or versions of it, over the years. It was indeed the best system in person with a couple of others and videos reflect that. Bill bought the speakers, I would if I had the money to go the whole hog, Audioquattr bought some elements of it, Ron then rated it the best he had heard. Bill sold off an entire system to get those.
It did the best large scale orchestral, small scale classical or solos, jazz and blues, with the dynamic swing quite unmatched. Only Yamamura, which was a giant single driver backloaded horn, was better in that regard. The pattern was no crossover. The flip side, every small change in set up that can make an indifferent change in other systems often resulted in make or break in both of these two. Right now on videos it is sounding great though admittedly some have the advantage of having heard it in person. More respect to those who can hear that without having heard it in person, as it is difficult to get biases out of the mind.
So if someone thinks it sucks because it does not sound same as YouTube qobuz clip, (or because it does not have a purpose built room with diffusers and absorbers, and no grounding, and no 300k digital, and multiple drivers with subs) can take the fishing rod and eat a ham sandwich with subs
Last edited:
Stop whining.
I did not say "it sucks", but I am not "knocked off my feet" by the video - whether you or anyone else who have heard the system like it is irrelevant. If we all liked the same systems we would not be here arguing about videos in the first place.
Whether I can "read into videos" or not is not for you to judge - there are plenty of videos that have impressed me more than those.
On the other hand, If you think that the atrocious sound of your Bionor video or your Tang video is linked to phone recordings and room acoustics only, and that anyone should be able to "hear through this", then you need to change hobbies or go visit an audiologist.
I never implied that a video should sound like a Youtube clip or Qobuz track.
Last edited:
Question is not whether you are impressed by videos. It is about whether your assessment of the system from the video correlates to the system in the room. It is very easy to make an impressive video sans correlation by processing sound, for example.
Which Tang videos do you think I liked, you weren’t on the forum when he was posting Cessaro videos
In that case, you may as well skip publishing videos and just ask those people who have heard the systems what they think.
See above, I won’t bother answering
This sounds excellent Tim. Lovely tone from the woodwinds and strings. There is also a nice flow and swell and balance between weight and lightness. I notice the phone is at a closer perspective. Are you experimenting with nearfield listening?
Thank you, Peter!
The distance of the phone to speakers is the same as my other videos. Difference here is from the camera setting.
My videos are taken from the listening position with the phone on a tripod, maybe a few inches lower than my head would be.
Sorry, what I mean is which of the camera angles looks more like what you see when you are sitting in your chair looking at the speakers
By the way, I have that Nathan Milstein LP, though my copy is not as clean as yours, and I looked for copies on Qobuz, and came across this one:
Open Qobuz
open.qobuz.com
The sound is actually quite good, and some here may be interested in browsing through that label’s catalog.
Here is the label’s website:
About-us
The Quest for Excellence CLASSICAL MUSIC//REFERENCE RECORDING is an independent classical music LABEL driven by a PASSION for EXCELLENCE, which is the key to our YouTube channel's success. We hold a DEEP RESPECT for past PERFORMERS and their work, considering it a WORLD HERITAGE passed down to...
classicalmusicreference.com
Last edited:
Similar threads
 | Steve Williams Site Founder | Site Owner | Administrator |  | Ron Resnick Site Owner | Administrator |  | Julian (The Fixer) Website Build | Marketing Managersing |