Linear vs Switched mode PSU

[Stratmangler]

Now that we've sorted that one, are we all shutting up shop and going home?

[Starterman]

If I'm listening to a violin or a trumpet, for example, played in the same room as me, then I want the sound my system reproduces of such (as far as possible) to 'take my head off', just as it would in real life. If something's not meant to sound 'nice', then I don't want my system making it so!

I want to hear the natural raucousness of those instruments in all its glory [as well as their timbre and tonality], simply because that's what makes a recording of such sound believable and LIFELIKE.

Marco.

My experience of pretty much all recordings is that they are quite compressed and tamed compared to the real thing. Like aTD says "it's a big fat lie". Actually I would say it's a white lie. It's there to make the sound more palateable.
I have a couple of "raw" recordings and although they are very realistic, they are just too much to listen to at home. Most recording and mastering engineers are doing us a big favour with their white lies!

[Haselsh1]

Good point. If you listen mostly to artificially created (electronic) music, for instance, then the traditional notion of 'accurate' goes out of the window, so how can one then use it as an arbiter for such?

For me, it's dead simple: the better my hi-fi system reproduces the real sound of instruments and voices (as perceived by my ears), the more I enjoy listening to recorded music featuring such. Ultimately, it's all about experiencing my notion of musical realism, and therefore what's heard in that respect, can only ever be judged subjectively by me, or perhaps also by others whose notion of such is similar.

Therefore, the enjoyment I derive from my hi-fi system is directly proportional to how well it achieves the above. I'd imagine that it's the same for most people

Marco.

OMG... It must be the second coming of Christ, I agree entirely

My music of choice is entirely contrived and has to always go through an amplification system even when 'live' so there is no real accuracy involved. My only requirement for MY system is that I bloody love the way it makes my choice of music sound. It sounds bloody sublime at the moment and I am really enjoying it and if I were to be totally honest, I don't give a flying fuck whether it is accurate or not. It truly does not matter to me.

[anthonyTD]

My experience of pretty much all recordings is that they are quite compressed and tamed compared to the real thing. Like aTD says "it's a big fat lie". Actually I would say it's a white lie. It's there to make the sound more palateable.
I have a couple of "raw" recordings and although they are very realistic, they are just too much to listen to at home. Most recording and mastering engineers are doing us a big favour with their white lies!

[Arkless Electronics]

Look lets get real here, from the beginning of the recording process, through to its end; it’s a big fat lie!
One example, one of the recording studios I go to on a regular basis has’ on one of its walls the entire string compartment of a grand piano, it is used to add echo to what is possibly an otherwise sonically underwhelming room.
Now let’s take the argument from the very beginning, would you rather listen to someone’s voice being recorded in a somewhat dead sounding room, or would it be perhaps more beguiling, or interesting, or maybe even more real sounding to use the echo effect?

Ok, now lets get on to the equipment, anything amplified will also lie, it will add to; or detract from certain sonic aspects , of the original recording, that were in the original recording after the decision was made to use the echo, or not!
Why? Because the equipment is made up of components and circuitry that will impose their own sonic imperfections/character to the original signal they were given.

Another quick example; A guitarist recently brought a vintage Fender amp to me to repair, and also to ask my opinion on different rectifiers, Now going on what some here would say, Jez included, diodes dont know, or care where their electrons come from, nor do caps, etc, etc, if that were the case, then both rectifier types would sound exactly the same, guess what, the guy was almost dumbfounded after hearing how different his amp sounded, just by changing a simple rectifier valve from one type, to another, now lets get back to it

How do we know that each piece of kit in the replay chain is accurate?
Well’ some would say, we’ll measure them, eg, take the amplifier, well test what goes in, and what comes out, and measure any discrepancies, what if you measure two different amplifiers, from two different manufacturers, and you find that there is no discernable differences in all aspects of the test procedures performed across the audio frequency spectrum?

Well, one might come to the conclusion that both amps are telling the truth, and that either amp will do the job of faithfully reproducing what it is fed’ in the context of the audio replay chain, ie; source, speakers etc.

Now what happens when both amplifiers are tested in the system, and they both produce a similar, but slightly different portrayal of the original signal being fed to the speakers? It happens, therefore; just by these couple of examples, we can see that we often need variously different approaches’ to achieve something that resembles what we feel, as individuals that which constitutes as right or wrong as far as the audio replay chain is concerned!

Guitar amps are deliberately designed to be coloured and distorted in order to impart a particular tone or sound to them so comparison with hi fi amps is meaningless.... In the case you mention it is deliberately making the PSU crap to different extents by fitting rectifiers with different series resistance.....

In mainly non classical music a recording engineer will often pick equipment with known colourations etc to get the desired sound as part of the artistic process.

In classical and similar music much less processing is generally used and a less coloured sound is usually the intention.

In either case I don't want my hi fi making further changes to the sound which were not present or intended in the recording

[anthonyTD]

Ahh but is it meaningless,,, the two rectifiers in question were well up to supplying the current needed by the amplifier, so it was not due to the fact the amps power supply was sagging, it was just a diffrent portrayal of the perceived frequency range of the amp that was observed.

Guitar amps are deliberately designed to be coloured and distorted in order to impart a particular tone or sound to them so comparison with hi fi amps is meaningless.... In the case you mention it is deliberately making the PSU crap to different extents by fitting rectifiers with different series resistance.....



In either case I don't want my hi fi making further changes to the sound which were not present or intended in the recording

[Arkless Electronics]

Ahh but is it meaningless,,, the two rectifiers in question were well up to supplying the current needed by the amplifier, so it was not due to the fact the amps power supply was sagging, it was just a diffrent portrayal of the perceived frequency range of the amp that was observed.

We'll have to agree to disagree on that one.....

[anthonyTD]

Aye, no worries.

We'll have to agree to disagree on that one.....

[Arkless Electronics]

Aye, no worries.

[Marco]

My experience of pretty much all recordings is that they are quite compressed and tamed compared to the real thing. Like aTD says "it's a big fat lie". Actually I would say it's a white lie. It's there to make the sound more palateable.

You're right, and I agree, although I may not necessarily like the effect. However, in order to judge things properly, I'd need to hear the 'untamed' thing compared with the 'tamed' version, in order to decide which I preferred. Ultimately, however, I'm of the mindset that I prefer things 'fucked about with' the least.

I have a couple of "raw" recordings and although they are very realistic, they are just too much to listen to at home. Most recording and mastering engineers are doing us a big favour with their white lies!

Not for me, as long as said "raw" recordings are produced with the goal of achieving the highest fidelity. Those types of recordings really show off what a good system can do - and I love it!

When I say "raw" I don't mean thin and hard, or distorted - I simply mean messed about with the least, much in the way recordings used to be produced in the 50s and early 60s, with valve microphones/recording desks and minimal 'bumph' in the way of the signal path.

In that respect, some of the best recordings I own are of live music from that era (on vinyl), which sound "raw", but at the same time, incredibly detailed and dynamic

Most recordings these days sound 'artificially processed', and somewhat 'soft' in comparison, thus lack the sheer unadulterated realism of the best examples from said 'golden era'. That's what my ears tell me anyway!

Marco.