Musical use and abuse

[Mike Reed]

I've never had an original thought in my life!

That's an original if rather self-deprecating retort !

Using adjectives rather than nouns, I'd proffer 'emotive', which can, in music, depend upon a number of mental (e.g., mood), geographical and audio factors. 'Hairs on your chest' stuff, I s'pose, except that I don't have any.

Conversely, can anyone come up with an adjective (or noun?) to denote excellence in audio playback but lacking that emotive factor ? Linn amplification tended to define that at audio shows in the eighties/nineties for me.

[jandl100]

"Musical" is just a sound presentation that you happen to like, based on experience, prejudice, arbitrary preference, current mood and whim of the moment.

[Yomanze]

"Musical" is just a sound presentation that you happen to like, based on experience, prejudice, arbitrary preference, current mood and whim of the moment.

Excellent description. One person’s musical is another’s forward and dry; one person’s natural is another’s smoothed over and too warm.

[anthonyTD]

Although every system has the potential to play the same music, we all hear that music diffrently, hence why we design our systems around what we want to hear, and thus what sounds apealing to us' as individuals [Musical ?] although I am pretty sure if most of us heard a system that we all agreed was un-appealing, we may feel or describe the reason being; down to the system as a whole" sounding un-musical ?
So I think the term Musical is a very good term to describe what we hear, and why it is used so often to describe the sonic virtues of a system, or a part in that system!
Just my Ramblings...
A...

[Spectral Morn]

To me its a type of presentation that isn't sterile, bright, thin, isn't spotlit, not in your face or fatiguing and not hifi sounding. Its a sound that is natural, and just sits to the warmer side of neutral. Of course this is a personal thing and one persons musical could be anothers idea of not being so. I guess to a degree it is a somewhat nebulous term.

[Barry]

To me its a type of presentation that isn't sterile, bright, thin, isn't spotlit, not in your face or fatiguing and not hifi sounding. Its a sound that is natural, and just sits to the warmer side of neutral. Of course this is a personal thing and one persons musical could be anothers idea of not being so. I guess to a degree it is a somewhat nebulous term.

Precisely - which is why I wouldn't even attempt to define it.

I go for a system that is 'warts and all' so that, by most people's definition, could not be described as "musical" if it is playing something that is poorly recorded.

[walpurgis]

My usual spanner in the works.

Try thinking of all the negative terms people use to describe equipment they don't like or are unimpressed with. Like 'grey sounding' 'dull' 'uninspiring' 'flat' 'uninvolving' 'two dimensional' and so on. Then think of words or terms that mean the opposite and you may end up with a decent enough description of 'musical'.

[Mike Reed]

My usual spanner in the works.

Try thinking of all the negative terms people use to describe equipment they don't like or are unimpressed with. Like 'grey sounding' 'dull' 'uninspiring' 'flat' 'uninvolving' 'two dimensional' and so on. Then think of words or terms that mean the opposite and you may end up with a decent enough description of 'musical'.

Let's try that. Rosy sounding, bright, inspiring, uneven, involving, three dimensional......tricky one, that .

[Oddball]

Tis a good job , we are all a tad different

[jandl100]

Tis a good job , we are all a tad different

Aye, true that!

Most of the descriptors folks are coming up with are highly subjective and so are no different to being just what happens to sound good to you!