Audio Reproduction System Flavors
OK, been thinking about the ‘Absolute Sound’ and the true ‘Real’ reproduction of what is on the source material. How a number of people focus on this as the ultimate goal of our little hobby here.
Well, I think they are wrong.
Or rather, that this goal is not the only goal.
This idea is best understood by comparing audio reproduction with visual reproduction. In particular the art of painting.
Until about the turn of the last century, as I understand it, the goal for several 1000s of years was for (most) painters to try to reproduce what they saw in a ‘photo-realistic’ fashion.
I remember there being a little renaisannce when someone discovered how to paint ‘perspective’.
It is a historical oddity that they got pretty good at it, often making a good living at portraiture, at about the same time that photography kind of made the whole point moot.
So then they came up with different kinds of reproduction. Impressionistic. Abstract. Super-realistic [not sure this is the official name, but it is when a painting of, say, fruit, looks better and more delicious and more real in the painting than in real life]. Pointalism. Cubism.
Yes, the more mundane art enthusiast still wants their art to look like photographs.
But many, many people enjoy these non-photo-realistic paintings.
And I say it is about time that we acknowledge that audio reproduction is the same.
It is OK to prefer a Sweet sound. A room pressurizing sound. A hyper-detailed sound. Whatever.
Just like it is OK to like the Impressionism of Manet and the abstract works of Picasso. I imagine that when these guys were starting out, they got the some level of flack from the traditionalists.
I think that as we get closer and closer to being able to do Real, we will also get farther as more ‘interpretive’ sound reproduction forms emerge.
It is the point of this post to suggest that these ‘interpretive’ sound reproduction forms are as valid, as enjoyable, and as worthy of a pursuit as the pursuit of the Real.
That it would be cathartic to recognize that this is happening, to embrace it, and, as a collary, to not all of us go racing off in a particular direction when we chould be racing off in all directions. To not abandon a particular art form, like Tube Analog in favor of Solid-State, LP Analog in favor of digital storage mediums, etc. All of these are valid.
Yes, the art world does the same thing, the ‘hot thing’ being Impressonism, through Cubism and Dada to Modernism and who knows what else I do not have the time. But I personally like them all, and would think the person who feels that only one of them is the One True Art Form is loosing out and a little bit of a Herbert.
So…. what do you think?
Neli came up with this one:
Digital = Cubism
my thoughts were that:
Digital = Pointalism.
I doubt if we can come up with a one to one mapping. And some of the reproduction out there is just poor. For example I think:
Bose is not equal to Velvet paintings, as Velvet paintings are clear, enjoyable and humorous, in a shallow sort of way. But not so Bose.
I’ve been thinking about this too. I don’t think our brains can process too much information at one time. To use a visual example, adding too much sharpness on a TV, actually blurs our perception. Or, sit too close to a TV screen. I guess we need to find the right distance, or focus for us to be comfortable. In art, it is pleasing to some to view the blending of tones etc in impressionistic art. It appears in most cases less focused. I understand where you are coming from, and I know that when I first started assembling a music system, I felt that finding ultimate resolution would be the path to glory. I’m finding out over time that that isn’t as important as the PACE, and flow of the music, and the relationship between the sounds, how they play off each other. So in a sense, I like impressionistic sound systems.
Hi 6eye,
Well, speaking as someone who sits 2 feet from a high-resolution TV… 🙂 … I think that sometimes it is fun to entertain our brain, which does not mean necessarily taking it ALL in, just what portion we want to enjoy at the time. Which is what our brains are going to do anyway unless we discipline them severely and make them try to ‘grok’ the whole thing in one ‘gulp’, at least from my perspective.
Anyway… I like impressionist playback too. – it seems to be the largest category and very inclusive of many personal tastes.
I think I would also like super-realistic playback: more detail, more pin-point imaging, more harmonic content, more dynamics, more delicacies, than what was recorded or would be heard at the actual recorded event.
Hard to get all those ‘mores’, all those super-realistic attributes, in a single system though, but we can keep trying, can’t we?
Take care,
Mike.