Human voice and piano have a lot of upper partials that are out of  
tune to the primary note. This is why they can be heard against an  
orchestral accompaniment. Harpsichords at one time were what most  
would describe as a louder instrument than the early pianos yet they  
blended into the orchestral sound. Composers seemed aware of the  
above in their writing. In early electric records piano and voice  
usually doesn't sound very natural. They obviously were a challenge  
for the engineers. Perhaps this is the explanation for your comment  
below.

Malcolm Smith

On Aug 17, 2008, at 12:59 PM, Bob Olhsson wrote:

> -----Original Message-----
> From Tom Fine: "...I've never had problems with Windows Media  
> Player as far
> as playing CD's...."
>
> I also hadn't noticed any before. The particular recording  
> (Rendezvous, a
> Jim Anderson recording of Cassandra Wilson) has an extraordinarily  
> natural
> vocal quality that quite simply was missing. It's funny how the  
> human voice
> is so frequently what shows up audio problems.
>
>
> Bob Olhsson Audio Mastery, Nashville TN
> Mastering, Audio for Picture, Mix Evaluation and Quality Control
> Over 40 years making people sound better than they ever imagined!
> 615.385.8051 http://www.hyperback.com    http://www.thewombforums.com
>