Rerurn to Romy the Cat's Site
In the Forum: Playback Listening
In the Thread: It takes balls to shop (never mind the nuts)
Post Subject: "Differences" versus "contrast"Posted by Paul S on: 12/27/2006
I do not mean to set up a discussion about apriori categories, etc. Rather, I mean to drag the notion of differences back to audio and some of my original observations. I am thinking of systems I have heard that seemed to heighten one's sense of certain differences by various means - say, "contrast" - and how unatisfying this approach has been for me over time. At the same time, I can't think of a system I have heard that resolves/realizes more/better than mine the sort of information I am looking for, or perhaps the balance of informational cues I expect from music, and without producing "too many" of its own gratuitious and/or annoying sounds/sound effects, either. (I will be happy to grant rather than argue about it that this is "subjective", by the way. Also, ask me again tomorrow...)
Although we could probably fill pages with what constitutes "differences", I think it's easy to understand that the notion is not limited to SPL/dynamics. The many shades and subtlties of music are not only temporal or tonal, but also relational on many different "levels" (which is another trippy topic) that inhere in existance and are showcased in music. A stupid but also clear example of this is to imagine Beethoven's 9th done on the kazoo. I hope this illustratioin finally puts to rest the chestnut that all hi-fi components/sytems are "equal", "if you like it", etc. Not to be a pill, but I can't imagine myself being baited into that discussion.
I was saying that I do expect my hi-fi to remind me of music, and I do not think I want a particular reproduced sound because I don't know anything about music. I am remembering that my listening, itself, to hi-fi and live performances, becomes more "alike" when my system is "on". I do know what I'm listening to/for, apart from when something much better just whups me upside the head, like the ML2s, which just came to me from out of Nowhere; but now I "get" them, too.
I agree with yoshi that listening to "live" is certainly no guarantee of musical satisfaction; and - just to provoke - perhaps it is less so because we can pretty much at any time dig out Callas/De Sabata/La Scala, "Tosca", etc, etc., just as mood and circumstances appeal to us. Yes, it's "cheating", etc., but we wouldn't be here if we didn't get something out of it.
So, just to further the discussion, consider the rendering of "differences" as part of the journey-with-a-destination that is hi-fi.
To close, I am entertained rather than enthralled by 20th Century French philosophy, even though I grant them much of what they say, particularly within their own eliptical contexts. Anyway, I do not mean by this post to repeat the notion of "The Play of Differences" as a "core concept", either. Just the hi-fi, folks.
Best regards,
Paul SRerurn to Romy the Cat's Site