Does the bad recording sounds good as well as you move up value chain

[matbhuvi]

I have been in this audio-fool journey for about couple of decades now. Most of my favorite songs/music/artists are from an era what we call now as poor recordings/bad dynamic range. I used to enjoy those music even when I hear it from the tea shop radio next street. As I moved up my gear, I started to find fault in them and started to reduce the time spend in such music. Started listening to more modern well recorded music. I started focusing on dynamics, sound stage etc etc. I moved forward in the same direction. In my current state, in such revealing system I have now, I started to enjoy the same old music which I blamed earlier for not having enough dynamics and poor recording. That surprised me.


So, the question is, as u move up in this journey, do you find older recordings are also enjoyable in high end system. Or do you think that is a myth. I don't want to discuss my gear as that is not the point of this thread.

 

[bornfi]

So, the question is, as u move up in this journey, do you find older recordings are also enjoyable in high end system. Or do you think that is a myth. I don't want to discuss my gear as that is not the point of this thread.

In my case too, it is a 'yes'.

It is about fidelity, rendering something as close as it was recorded or mastered and as a listener, I will adjust my expectations. I listen to a good amount of songs from the black and white era and I love them listening on my system.

 

[spirovious]

So, the question is, as u move up in this journey, do you find older recordings are also enjoyable in high end system.

If system is honest, then it will bring up bad points in the music. When system is capable of bringing up details, then one won't enjoy bad recordings.On other hand bad music will be sounding better on coloured systems, even on mobile phone.

 

[arj]

If we look at the system in 2 different sections
1. Source: eg CD or TT which digs into the media to send the music to the amp/Speaker
2. Reproduction : ie Amplification to Speakers+Room

Of course there is a 0. Mastering ..but if the mastering itself is bad then as well as avoid the music as nothing can make it sound right/ Eg the music of Yuvraj music which was based on Beethoven 5 was so bad that an average car stereo showed its shortcomings...am sure a high end vinyl pressing or SACD could not have redeemed it.

1. will usually dig out more information even if the media is not that well done (unless the recording is mastered badly) and will only improve the sound since it will bring out more content and thats what I have experienced so far. i have seen this with both CDs and Vinyl.
2. will play out the content and will amplify both the goods and the bad but since there is more of music it should only sound better as long as it is setup well. if not you might see the nasties getting highlighted ( eg High frequency brightness etc)

Hence even with average recordings the music should sound better as long as the maximum potential of the medium has not been reached. eg a 128MP3 rip will reach that very early and playing on a high end will only show the hollowness in the mids and the highs.

 

[IndianEars]

I have been in this audio-fool journey for about couple of decades now. Most of my favorite songs/music/artists are from an era what we call now as poor recordings/bad dynamic range. I used to enjoy those music even when I hear it from the tea shop radio next street. As I moved up my gear, I started to find fault in them and started to reduce the time spend in such music. Started listening to more modern well recorded music. I started focusing on dynamics, sound stage etc etc. I moved forward in the same direction. In my current state, in such revealing system I have now, I started to enjoy the same old music which I blamed earlier for not having enough dynamics and poor recording. That surprised me.


So, the question is, as u move up in this journey, do you find older recordings are also enjoyable in high end system. Or do you think that is a myth. I don't want to discuss my gear as that is not the point of this thread.

The Subject line of your post is:
"Does the bad recording sounds good as well as you move up value chain"

But... in the concluding para of your post, you state: "So, the question is, as u move up in this journey, do you find older recordings are also enjoyable in high end system."

To me the 2 statements / queries are quite different!

I will first respond to your Query in the Subject Line, viz: "Does the bad recording sounds good as well as you move up value chain"

I have observed that there are Several recordings that sound "Bad".... congested and even dull, on a poor system. However when the same is placed on a good setup, what sounded congested, opens up as passages with complex detail and very good resolution.

Most albums by the Group "The National" come under this category. Their album High Violet is a favourite, and particularly the track "Sorrow"

So to summarise ... in some cases, what we assume to be a bad recording could well be a case of bad reproduction by a poor system. A better system will demonstrate the true quality of the recording. Such CDs can be used as a litmus test for a quick handle on on a system's capabilities.


There are also some very old recordings (1950s & Early 60s) that sound like simple old recordings on a mediocre system, but blossom with poise and reveal an old world simplicity and ambience when replayed via a Good system. This probably responds to your query in your concluding para

 

[Passive_audio_enthusiast]

In my opinion, we cannot normalize the sound of speakers with some classification like - high end / midfi or so. Depending on what our preferences, we may not even like some of the so called “high ends”.

If we are a person who wants transparency, as we go up with more accurate speakers, bad recordings would end up really bad on them than on speakers which smoothen sound the badness. It can be the opposite too, some speakers like the ones with BBC dip, makes everything easy for us. They may sound pleasing to us with bad recordings even though the same recording can be faithful, harsh on more accurate cheaper speakers.

Many speaker manufacturers know how to make a really transparent speaker but they also know it may not be the best idea for the type of music most of the audience would listen to.

 

[Hari Iyer]

IME, 23 years ago Retro bollywood sounded horrible. Screechy, fatigued, harsh. 23 years later 98% of my music consumption on almost daily basis is retro bollywood as they sound awesome on my current setup.

 

[coaltrain]

IME, 23 years ago Retro bollywood sounded horrible. Screechy, fatigued, harsh. 23 years later 98% of my music consumption on almost daily basis is retro bollywood as they sound awesome on my current setup.

That’s probably because your ability to hear higher frequencies has diminished over the years. Welcome to the 40+ club

 

[Passive_audio_enthusiast]

That’s probably because your ability to hear higher frequencies has diminished over the years. Welcome to the 40+ club

sometimes you don’t even have to be 40 to loose it.

 

[Hari Iyer]

That’s probably because your ability to hear higher frequencies has diminished over the years. Welcome to the 40+ club

You are absolutely wrong on this one