Jimbos Audio ramblings

[Barry]

Sadly true!

Have you ever recorded yourself playing guitar in the same room and played it back?

[Macca]

the guitar in the room has a spherical sound field, stereo playback doesn't. So it's never going to sound the same.

[struth]

the guitar in the room has a spherical sound field, stereo playback doesn't. So it's never going to sound the same.

agreed

[Barry]

the guitar in the room has a spherical sound field, stereo playback doesn't. So it's never going to sound the same.

The player's body will distort the sound field from being spherical to something more 'cardoid' in nature. A properly miked up guitar (say using a Calrec Soundfield microphone) will correctly replicate the sound field on a two-channel system, provided there is minimal phase shift with frequency.

[Jimbo]

I have heard plenty if acoustic guitars live in concerts both miked and un miked.

I have always pondered how the sound of a guitar miked and played through a simple PA system sounds as you would expect it to live but a guitar recorded and mastered onto either a digital or vinyl format and played back through a hifi system no matter how good still does not sound like the real instrument in front of you when you do an A-B comparison. It almost gets there on big rigs but somehow even with the very best recording systems something gets lost in the electronics?

[Macca]

I have heard plenty if acoustic guitars live in concerts both miked and un miked.

I have always pondered how the sound of a guitar miked and played through a simple PA system sounds as you would expect it to live but a guitar recorded and mastered onto either a digital or vinyl format and played back through a hifi system no matter how good still does not sound like the real instrument in front of you when you do an A-B comparison. It almost gets there on big rigs but somehow even with the very best recording systems something gets lost in the electronics?

unless the venue is large and you are stood way back some of what you hear will still be the sound from the guitar body.

Otherwise it would depend on what is done to the sound in production (compression, limiting, reverb etc).

The intention of the producer of a recording is not necessarily to have the instruments sound as real as possible but to create a soundscape.


This is one reason why 'The sound of real instruments' is an unreliable benchmark for assessing playback quality.

If you record the PA amplified guitar and keep the recording 'raw', I'd say the loudspeaker used for playback would be the limiting factor in the comparison. Plus the added effects of your room acoustic. Even then the recording will still sound like it was made in a room other than your own.

[Pigmy Pony]

I have been to plenty of gigs where while the sound, though obviously 'real', had me thinking "If my stereo at home sounded like that, I'd sell it and start again". So now I'm not bothered about it sounding real, just pleasing to my ears.

[Jimbo]

I have been to plenty of gigs where while the sound, though obviously 'real', had me thinking "If my stereo at home sounded like that, I'd sell it and start again". So now I'm not bothered about it sounding real, just pleasing to my ears.

Very rare have I been to a gig and thought I would like that sound at home. Most artists especially at large venues have poor sound usually screwed up by the mixing desk/ acoustic nature of the venue. Small pub size venues with un amplified instruments can sound far better in my book.

The only gig I thought - WOW they got that right and I would like my system to sound like that were Kraftwerk at Symphony Hall Birmingham. Stunning unbelievable controlled sound, like a huge HIFI system!

But most of the time I much prefer to listen to my system at home and often feel it is more satisfying to listen to than the actual artist playing live!

[walpurgis]

The player's body will distort the sound field from being spherical to something more 'cardoid' in nature.

It wasn't something I'd considered before, but that crossed my mind too. Similar perhaps to the rear dispersion characteristics of a conventional loudspeaker.

[Jimbo]

Now had nearly a week with the new panel sitting on the rear wall behind my head. It is actually quite deep 5-6cm although difficult to see from the photos. I was a bit sceptical as to the efficacy of a rear panel especially as my sitting position is nearly 6-8 feet away from the rear wall. But I decided that if this was one of the main reflection points it must be fairly critical.

I was very surprised by how much this acoustic panel has made to the sound of the system. OK I understand and can comprehend the aural effects of the first reflection panels on the side walls but the rear wall seemed unimportant in my mind. This proved to be very wrong and just shows you don't know how something is going to work until you try it which is really the case for the whole of my acoustic panel adventures.

Translating this into what I heard again is fairly tricky. I have previously described the big differences with the front two panels namely soundstage, clarity and imaging and once again the rear panel contributed to these acoustic effects but it also did quite a bit more!

I held back writing anything for a week before I was clear and sure what I was hearing but the one two areas the rear panel excelled in were tonal quality and depth/layering of soundstage. Bearing in mind the timing alterations a room can contribute to the sound you hear I am now convinced the more you can reduce these the better. Your ears are simply picking up less reflections and therefore less timing issues especially with the critical top end information. This means your hearing/brain is working less hard to pick out what is going on in the mix. Subtleties in complex recordings are much easier to comprehend especially in vocal arrangements. multi miked and multi layering of vocals in the mix are untangled and far easier to follow.

The other main area I perceived greater benefit is tonal quality. Take an instrument like a cello and there is a lot going on with its complex sound both from the vibrating strings, bow and wooden body. This interplay of harmonics and tonal complexity is made far clearer with the acoustic panels in place. Before it was all bunched up together almost as one sound but with the panels in place I could now hear far more information going on with the instrument. Magnify this across all aspects of the recording and you can understand what excellent benefits the acoustic panels are making to the listening experience.

I literally sat there every evening enthralled at the new sound I was getting trying to comprehend what was going on, fascinating experience and one I would definitely recommend. Best thing is that it has cost relatively little compared to buying equipment and I would say it has been one of the biggest improvements I have had for years. If you like the system you have then you may like it even more with a little room treatment.

There again you might not!

6DC95D52-67E6-46AB-A7A9-A75DC32BB753 by y, on Flickr