Loudness issue between 7-ch and straight settings (1 Viewer)

[JohnRice]

As usual I missed the sarcasm. Maybe I need to make a sarcasm bbcode to help dense folks like me realize!

I still don't like surround music. Even when it's mastered that way. When I started getting SACDs, I listened to a couple of the 5.1 mixes, and never had any interest to hear any others.

 

[Dave Upton]

I still don't like surround music. Even when it's mastered that way. When I started getting SACDs, I listened to a couple of the 5.1 mixes, and never had any interest to hear any others.

Most of it is not to my taste either. The exception being some electronic music that is designed for surround from the start.

That said, particularly with some older classical/jazz recordings, a subtle surround element can return life to a recording that has a "flat" soundstage.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Most of it is not to my taste either. The exception being some electronic music that is designed for surround from the start.

That said, particularly with some older classical/jazz recordings, a subtle surround element can return life to a recording that has a "flat" soundstage.

Don't you find the cleaned up, "restored" sound of most of such (particularly from the mono and early stereo eras) a bit sterile, etc though?

Of course, I suppose some recorded performances are unique and great enough to deserve some love despite the otherwise compressed, rather lifeless (by more modern standards), noisy, etc sonics...

Anyway, maybe I'll give the Anthem Logic mode a try at some point for such older classic recordings... maybe some Maria Callas from her best (mono) years or some Toscanini or Rachmaninoff's own performances for instance... What such old, classic jazz recordings do you recommend? I could certainly use more good jazz...

Cheers!

_Man_

 

[Dave Upton]

Don't you find the cleaned up, "restored" sound of most of such (particularly from the mono and early stereo eras) a bit sterile, etc though?

Of course, I suppose some recorded performances are unique and great enough to deserve some love despite the otherwise compressed, rather lifeless (by more modern standards), noisy, etc sonics...

Anyway, maybe I'll give the Anthem Logic mode a try at some point for such older classic recordings... maybe some Maria Callas from her best (mono) years or some Toscanini or Rachmaninoff's own performances for instance... What such old, classic jazz recordings do you recommend? I could certainly use more good jazz...

Cheers!

_Man_

It depends on the engineer who did the mastering or remastering. I've encountered many that are a bit sterile or suffer from digititus like you decribe, but there are some great examples out there also. One example that I really enjoy is this collection of Coltrane recordings in Mono. Since most of these albums are "converted" to stereo in the studio anyway, I often prefer to listen in original mono when I can.

See on Amazon

A lot of the mono music I enjoy is actually vinyl that has been digitized in a very careful manner by hobbyists. There are also some rare copies of classical recordings, like the below that are wonderfully recorded and in mono sound better than some more modern stereo versions:

 

[JohnRice]

To continue the diversion, classic Jazz is classic Jazz. I mean nobody can duplicate Django, for instance. So you have to go with the recordings that exist. As far as classical, I'm a huge classical fan and I simply don't subscribe to the belief that a certain performance is the definitive one. I have some historical recordings for curiosity sake, but there are a lot of ways to interpret that music, and I have found there is almost always an exceptional, modern (let's say mid '70s or later) recording that is also sonically exceptional. The are plenty of 21st Century performances which are as good as anything I've ever heard, with mind boggling technical quality. Explore the Järvi boys, in particular.

 

[Dave Upton]

To continue the diversion, classic Jazz is classic Jazz. I mean nobody can duplicate Django, for instance. So you have to go with the recordings that exist. As far as classical, I'm a huge classical fan and I simply don't subscribe to the belief that a certain performance is the definitive one. I have some historical recordings for curiosity sake, but there are a lot of ways to interpret that music, and I have found there is almost always an exceptional, modern (let's say mid '70s or later) recording that is also sonically exceptional. The are plenty of 21st Century performances which are as good as anything I've ever heard, with mind boggling technical quality. Explore the Järvi boys, in particular.

No disagreement there, in fact most of my favorite recordings are from the 90s or later because let's face it, microphones, recording gear and technology have become better.

The only real reason I like listening to some older recordings is that I have yet to find a performance from the last 20 years that I consider similar or superior. That's mostly due to my lack of trying, more than a real gap.

As a total sidenote, there are also a ton of different ways to mic and record an orchestra or jazz band. Each has its merits, but part of the fun for me is hearing how these engineering decisions affect the playback experience. I had the pleasure of meeting the recording engineer for the San Francisco symphony at a Dolby event back in 2012, and I recall him going into great detail about how he preferred to hang condenser mics above the orchestra, while close mic'ing the first chairs. Funny enough, to date I find San Francisco Symphony recordings to be some of my favorites.

 

[JohnRice]

No disagreement there, in fact most of my favorite recordings are from the 90s or later because let's face it, microphones, recording gear and technology have become better.

The only real reason I like listening to some older recordings is that I have yet to find a performance from the last 20 years that I consider similar or superior. That's mostly due to my lack of trying, more than a real gap.

As a total sidenote, there are also a ton of different ways to mic and record an orchestra or jazz band. Each has its merits, but part of the fun for me is hearing how these engineering decisions affect the playback experience. I had the pleasure of meeting the recording engineer for the San Francisco symphony at a Dolby event back in 2012, and I recall him going into great detail about how he preferred to hang condenser mics above the orchestra, while close mic'ing the first chairs. Funny enough, to date I find San Francisco Symphony recordings to be some of my favorites.

I have several SFO recordings, including the entire Mahler cycle. My favorites remain a simple dual mic setup, ala Telarc.