On 13/02/2013, Tom Fine wrote:

> This gets right at the heart of why "reviews" of audio gear in the
> "high-end" mags are so useless. All they amount to are one person's
> subjective impressions of what he's hearing, in his listening room,
> with his choice of other components. So, it's pretty much useless to
> you as far as know if it will sound good to you. I do think it's more
> helpful to have measurements of the gear, with uniform methods used
> for similar pieces, as is done in Stereophile mag. But that's not
> really helpful in answering "will I like the sound of that component
> or will I prefer it to what I have already?" I'm also pretty sure many
> of the currently accepted standard measurements don't tell you very
> much about overall sound quality or "personality." Indeed, something
> that measures grossly out of the norm may not sound "bad," just
> "different."
> 
> I assume all of us are careful listeners, but I bet all of us have a
> different idea of what sounds "good." It's totally subjective, based
> on our own tastes, experiences and physical/psychological hearing
> capabilities. I've long been convinced that "good" or "bad" sound has
> nothing to do with the popularity of a recording, it's always the
> musical effect. Music taste seems to be subjective but perhaps with
> some universal parameters, and some artists know how to check off
> enough boxes with enough people to create popular music.
> 
> Peter also hits on a very profound point -- no recording sounds like a
> live performance, not even recordings of live performances.
> 
> 
It is subjective, but it is not totally subjective. 

Given very bad and very good equipment (playing the same recording), or
very good and very bad recordings (on the same equipment), I am certain
that everyone here would agree on which was which.

Disagreements come over more subtle differences, such as an early versus
a recent transfer from the same tape, or two different large
loudspeakers.


I find real difficulty with recordings of the clavichord, because I've
never heard a real one. It is always described as a very quiet
instrument - but how quiet? Where do you set the level control? 

Regards
-- 
Don Cox
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