Its not just about the sound, its about the various "bhaav" the composer/singer/artist experiences while composing/singing/performing. Its about whether he succeeds in portraying those very "bhaav" in its true essence to the audience / listener through his performances stored in any form, cassette, cd, mp3 etc. I think too much is made about the sound quality and all, but sadly we are least concerned about the "anubhuti" of the "bhaav".
I agree and disagree with this one. Agree with the spirit of the post. "
Bhaav" and
"Anubhuti" are essence of music that come first and foremost for many people, even before the tonal correctness. But those people are usually people who have had some
"Samgat" and have been to
"Baithaks". Most other people can't relate to this aspect of music.
And in fact this aspect doesn't depend that much on the recording quality or playback quality of a system. I can recall a
"Bhajan" compilation by Shri Anup Jalota in which there is a track where little toddler
"Kanhaiya" is having a sweet argument with
"Yashoda mayya" over stolen
"Makhan".
In the track Shri Jalota sings the same para in two different
"raagas", one a morning Ragga the other an evening ragga. The earliest memory I have of this track is was on an extremely modest system. But even then the impression that Shri Jalota's singing made on me, his rendition of the two raggas, is etched forever in my ear and heart. In fact that compilation is the biggest reason I still listen to
"Bhajans".
Back to the point, the takeaway from the above incident is that a system doesn't need to be top-notch or a recording spectacular in order to let a listener connect to the singer at a soul-to-soul level. The system should not be downright bad and recording should not be horrible. Even a modest system can reproduce the
"Bhaav" easily.
At the same time I do feel that except for listeners of certain specific genres, this may be a moot point. They would rather have the tone, timber, color and details recorded to perfection in their recordings. High end audio won't exist if people didn't look for that last bit of perfection in their music, starting from recording to playback.