Are you an audiophile?

[Dave2002]

I couldn't really hear anything wrong in the recording demonstrated here.

Perhaps that's because I don't expect musicians to always stay in one spot - which is mentioned in the explanation.

If anyone is interested enough to want to try out a vectorscope [audio] for spatial testing, here is a free one -

https://www.kvraudio.com/product/vectorscope-2-by-audec

It should work with most DAWs, but probably also with the free editor Audacity.

[smittims]

Thanks for posting this, Dave; I found it interesting. Is the speaker from Liverpool?

I'm a melomane , not an audiophile. I was brought up on some notoriously bad recordings, such as Toscanini's 1939 Eroica (that's the one where someone coughs between the first two chords). They never bothered me. I did notice the slight moveemnts in the sample, but that didn't bother me either!

In Thea Musgrave's clarinet concerto, the soloist is instructed to move around the orchestra, playing from their parts. Naturally, the orchestra found this amusing. The composer said to an old friend of mine, 'Do you know, when he got to the horn section, instead of the music they'd put up a sign saying 'Go away!'

...or words to that effect.

[Barbirollians]

Thanks for posting this, Dave; I found it interesting. Is the speaker from Liverpool?

I'm a melomane , not an audiophile. I was brought up on some notoriously bad recordings, such as Toscanini's 1939 Eroica (that's the one where someone coughs between the first two chords). They never bothered me. I did notice the slight moveemnts in the sample, but that didn't bother me either!

In Thea Musgrave's clarinet concerto, the soloist is instructed to move around the orchestra, playing from their parts. Naturally, the orchestra found this amusing. The composer said to an old friend of mine, 'Do you know, when he got to the horn section, instead of the music they'd put up a sign saying 'Go away!'

...or words to that effect.

Heavens knows what an audiophile would make of the 1965 Proms recordings of Schubert 9 and Debussy Nocturnes from the Barbirolli Society I received today - very much straightforward mono sound. Absolutely terrific performances though .

I have enjoyed Savall. Blomstedt and Bernstein greatly in Schubert 9 recently and all their recordings make this seem like dinosaur land sonically but I have never heard a more exciting account of the Finale of Schubert 9 than this - it dances like no other I have ever heard ) even Barbirolli's great studio account .

[RichardB]

So you’re testing whether or not you’re an “audiophile” using audio streaming through YouTube. Next you’ll be off to McDonalds to find out whether you’re a gourmet.

[Bryn]

So you’re testing whether or not you’re an “audiophile” using audio streaming through YouTube. Next you’ll be off to McDonalds to find out whether you’re a gourmet.

I did not bother to follow up on this but is it not really only about stereo perception? As long as 'joint stereo' is not employed in the lossy data compression for the YouTube offering, the basic sound-field of the reproduction should not be too badly affected, surely?

[Master Jacques]

It's surely quite simple. Fundamentalist audiophiles pay attention to the sound, not the music. For them, the music is the medium, not the message.

Most of us sit happily on mid-points of the spectrum, and don't get unduly fussed about (for example) tweaking our integers. In best case, the music makes us forget the medium - or possibly, as some would have it, becomes one with the medium.

[Dave2002]

I was also amused by the record label - Evil Penguin. Never heard of them before, but here is the clarinet performance used in the video - https://www.prestomusic.com/classica...as-prima-donna

[Ein Heldenleben]

A true audiophile can derive aesthetic satisfaction from distortionless 1 kilohertz tone ?

[Dave2002]

A true audiophile can derive aesthetic satisfaction from distortionless 1 kilohertz tone ?

Or maybe even a 25kHz one!

[Dave2002]

Thanks for posting this, Dave; I found it interesting. Is the speaker from Liverpool?

Perhaps - but probably not. Could be a touch of Welsh in there.

I'm a melomane , not an audiophile. I was brought up on some notoriously bad recordings, such as Toscanini's 1939 Eroica (that's the one where someone coughs between the first two chords). They never bothered me. I did notice the slight moveemnts in the sample, but that didn't bother me either!

I have a CD recording of Mravinsky conducting Tchaikovsky symphonies. The audience noise of coughing drowns out music very effectively!

In Thea Musgrave's clarinet concerto, the soloist is instructed to move around the orchestra, playing from their parts. Naturally, the orchestra found this amusing. The composer said to an old friend of mine, 'Do you know, when he got to the horn section, instead of the music they'd put up a sign saying 'Go away!'

...or words to that effect.

I was interested to note your comment on the sound quality of Beecham's Bizet Symphony recently - and that the LP is better than at least one CD remastering of that. I have noticed that with a few older recordings that in some cases the LPs really do sound better - not just a case of "audiophile/vinyl" ears.

[pastoralguy]

I have a dream that one day, when those elusive lottery numbers come up, I’ll buy a house in Edinburgh’s New Town with lots of space where I would install a fabulous system in each room so I could go from one space to another and play the same cd on each system so I could experience the difference.

I’ve always had an interest in Hi-Fi although, for me, it’s a means to an end. (I was counting pills last night whilst listening to Mr. Heifetz play the Mendelssohn concerto on my mobile ‘phone. Hardly an aural feast but I still got very involved in the performance despite the sound being quite primitive). The problem for me is that Hi-Fi tends to be dependent on prices with lots of Zeros on the end. I do subscribe to a Hi-Fi magazine and I am greatly amused by the huge prices on display but it’s rather a pointless exercise since I can’t hear the components.

I only rarely go to our local Hi-Fi shop but I always take a cd just in case they have an exotic system set up and since we purchased our current system from them they’re happy to oblige. (Actually, the last system I heard didn’t have a cd player attached since all music was streamed!) I did once venture to the Linn showroom in Glasgow where I heard a system that cost in excess of £100k! I took great delight in playing a cd of Pinchas Zukerman playing Mozart that I’d bought for 50p in a charity shop. It sounded pretty fabulous!

One day…

[Ein Heldenleben]

Thanks for posting this, Dave; I found it interesting. Is the speaker from Liverpool?

I'm a melomane , not an audiophile. I was brought up on some notoriously bad recordings, such as Toscanini's 1939 Eroica (that's the one where someone coughs between the first two chords). They never bothered me. I did notice the slight moveemnts in the sample, but that didn't bother me either!

In Thea Musgrave's clarinet concerto, the soloist is instructed to move around the orchestra, playing from their parts. Naturally, the orchestra found this amusing. The composer said to an old friend of mine, 'Do you know, when he got to the horn section, instead of the music they'd put up a sign saying 'Go away!'

...or words to that effect.

The story I heard is was the LSO , the clarinet player was Gervase de Peyer and the message from the brass section was along the lines of “why don’t you go back to the woodwinds? “

[Master Jacques]

The problem for me is that Hi-Fi tends to be dependent on prices with lots of Zeros on the end. I do subscribe to a Hi-Fi magazine and I am greatly amused by the huge prices on display but it’s rather a pointless exercise since I can’t hear the components.

Audiophilia is an addiction. And as with all addictions, addicts are forced to pay ever more extortionate prices to get their next fix.

[Serial_Apologist]

A friend of mine who is a fine and quite well-known jazz bass player told me that a recording he made in 1971 had been re-issued on CD. He was particularly pleased with how the engineer had somehow managed to bring the bass up in the mix, so that he could now hear himself in all his glory. I myself had the vinyl, but on obtaining and playing the new CD of the recording, the truth was that there was no detectable difference whatever between it and the original! Naturally, I have said nothing.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Audiophilia is an addiction. And as with all addictions, addicts are forced to pay ever more extortionate prices to get their next fix.

Alcohol and drug usually means wanting more for the same effect. An effect difficult to achieve In the audio world .Though rather like class A drugs the price of hifi has come down over the years. What the Far East is to Audio, South America and Afghanistan are to opiates.