>>>>Was just referring to our general discussions about
whether some systems " sound" better.And I don't mean frequency
response at all.<<<<
I guess I missed the thrust of the post. (Currently in bed with the stomach flu and assorted problems).
But on that point of what "sounds" better, I recall buying the Nikko along with a pair of Advent speakers, after a display in the showroom. Nothing ever beat that combination for me. I tend to think we lose an awful lot as we get older, as our hearing ability decreases by the slightest of increments. Wham, there goes the "color" of the music. Or maybe we just don't listen the same way we used to, because our minds are so full of other items that prevent us from getting inside the music.
I am just overcome by the starkness of the "new" audio technology on contemporary music. I downloaded Johnny Cash's new album off Napster. No echo on the vocals. No echo anywhere. The guitars are brittle sounding, like wires uncoiling. These kind of mixes would have been unacceptable in the Fifties, there's no warm mid ranges, just brittle highs. And unfortunately, as sickly as Cash currently sounds, the engineering didn't do his voice any favors. Digital Wheezing. Funny thing is, with a different mix, the album wouldn't be half bad, the new songs are well written. (Somebody has to shoot the chorus though. With Anita Carter dead, they've replaced her with someone who sings as offkey as June, but in the higher ranger. Sounds like someone skinning cats...
Ah, the digital honesty of it all......
al |
