Human voice is not the litmus test. For obvious reasons. It has a limited band of frequency. BBC used that all the time again for obvious reasons. You need piano, brass instrument, cello, percussions, bass guitar/double bass, cymbals … there so many actually.
Thanks, Paul - your answer is brilliant! This same very sensible approach for evaluating audio systems by listening to the human voice is also valid, I believe, for judging (in a non-technical way) the accuracy of video displays by looking at images of human faces. Just as we have an innate sense of when human voices sound "right" or "wrong", we also have an innate sense of when skin tones are being faithfully reproduced on a TV or computer monitor.
I like to listen to a specific recording of two voices, one male and one female both with a wide dynamic range. Specifically, "My Favorite Things" sung by Al Jarreau and Kathleen Battle that is just magical to my ears as I can hear any incredibly wide range of frequencies and loudness levels intertwined between the two singers that is incredibly revealing of the way my system sounds.
I never thought about this much but what you say makes sense. After all, detecting the human voice, its frequency and its intensity are pretty much what drove the evolution of our ears. This makes total sense.
1000%! Especially female vocals! I find that most ease to decide weather the sound is right, a human voice, or not. As you say, every version of every instrument sounds different. Including the human voice. But none of the others has an obviously not right version. Where the human voice does. I promise people when they come to hear my system for the first time that if they close their eyes I will have an artist standing in front of them singing to them personally. People have commented years after while in a group and it is brought up that they were amazed that they could almost see the face even. I call it "face time". Yes it takes the right, very limited selections, source.
Steinway pianos from Hamburg differs bigtime from those made in New York. US-made is buzzing when played soft. German-made is clear and crisp. Visit a piano store or classical concert and you will hear what I mean.
Instruments and voices sound amazingly realistic on well kept full analog reel to reel and cassette tapes and well cleaned amd maintained decks. Like being in a studio or concert hall warts and all with all the nuances amd ambience
Steinway is the standard for grandpianos, the Yamaha is a good one but not nearly as good as the Steinway. 😊 I know, i was an piano technician, tuner and seller back in the day.... And thank you Paul for all your work, i follow you already for a very long time and you're almost always right. ❤
When I read the title of this video my own opinion was that it would be the human voice. Go back and listen to "Close to You" by the Carpenters. Karen is singing on either a Neumann U47, Telefunken ELAM 251, or an AKG C12 (and that's been amplified through a discrete mic preamp)... both amazing mics with TREMENDOUS detail. Listen to her breaths and the subtleties in the vocal up close... on a wonderful system they will evoke very deep emotions. It's the subtleties of the vocal in any excellent recording that can bring one to tears... no matter what the performance is... when it's been recorded through the right mic and amplified through a discrete, minimum parts count signal chain. BTW, concerning piano... when the group Oregon came to the studio I was working in years ago, they not only requested a Steinway piano, but one with a particular serial number that they knew of because it had a specific tone that they were after. Yes... pianos are very personal... pop music tends to love a Yamaha C-7, while jazz often loves something else... Steinway, or others... because it's what the SONG BEGS FOR!! Needless to say, the way that any piano is mic'd will also make a HUGE difference, so even the same piano mic'd and recorded by someone with their own way of setting up the mics can and will make a real difference in the final recorded sound of the piano. Great video, Paul! Thanks for these wonderful videos.
It's difficult to answer this question for me. There are many instruments that I like to use to test out an audio system but in the end human, the voice is probably the best instrument to use for evaluation.
Voices are also critical to record und process. So you could make all kinds of mistakes as a recording engineer - long before someone can hear these on a published song and wonder why it doesn't sound very good on its own audio equipment. So if you want to judge your home stereo by the reproduction of human voices: Be sure you do it with the very best vocal recordings available.
I personally don’t care enough about vocals to get overly hung up on vocal reproduction. Not that I don’t appreciate good vocals and my system/speakers reproduce vocals very well. However I’ve been blessed with what I consider a gift of being able to feel, hear and interpret what a given piece of music has to say on an emotional level which more often than not has a lot more to say than any written vocal. Because of that most of what I consider to be the world’s most precious musical compositions are entirely instrumental. Even the vocals I enjoy the most have very little to do with what’s being said and more to do with do I enjoy the sound of a given voice in the context of an instrument. Probably sounds a little crazy but it’s just how and in what way things speak to me musically. A particular tone or even just the way a particular note is played or sang by someone can invoke so much more emotion than anything anyone will ever be capable of composing lyrically in my opinion. Words simply mean very little and thankfully I recognize their insignificance. It’s the music itself in which the true power to invoke all human emotion lies. At least for myself anyway. Once again it’s not to say I don’t love and appreciate a great voice and lyrical flow in the context of an instrument. As far as the actual words themselves playing much of a role in regards to dictating how I should feel and or do feel emotionally, they simply have very little impact in comparison to what the music itself has to say the majority of the time.
I agree with Paul. Better even if it could be known and memorised well voice of known from real contacts person. I remind such case when my beloved aunt which I often visited was apparently answering in radio to radio reporter and I heard her in my speakers. It stunned me and since then I started to trust that reality in audio reproduction is possible .Instruments cover very wide band and it is hard to tell if we hear not too much harmonics. If it i sadequate with voice then it complays to instruments too. The main problem is with low bass - If it's too much in musical instruments we are usualy glad and no complain - only in human voice it is noticeable as not to be there.
Speaking of listening to the human voice, have you heard of the young Russian singer Diana Ankudinova?? She's a very rare contralto and polyphonic I stream a lot and listen to all kinds of amazing female singers from around the world, but Diana is on a completely different level to my ears She has an album on Spotify, but also millions of views on RUclips I love watching vocal coaches reactions and try to analyze Diana's singing I think she can sing in 5 different octaves
Yes, she sure can sing MUCH lower notes than most women can! (Occasionally she even sounds more like a MALE singer when she's digging down into those lowest notes!)(I'm not sure if I like that about her or not though, but regardless, she sure can do it better than most other women can, that's for sure!) Now, if she can ALSO sing the highest vocal notes as well as say Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston can/could, for example, then maybe this girl you're talking about actually COULD have a 5 octave voice. That's extremely rare, but possible... I need to listen to more of Diana's songs though before I could totally agree with that. I only wish I could actually understand her lyrics though, as I only know English and some Spanish.
As only a few singers like Geoff Castellucci and Tim Foust can sing notes like A0 I suggest to additionally use records of church organs. Preferably of a events you attended yourself. A church organ reveals how clean and low your system works in base range.
Although many stereos will reproduce a human voice that sounds very good and pleasing to our ears, it is not realistic enough to make you believe that the person is actually there. A stereo that makes your head turn, thinking that the artist is really there, is very hard to do. The recording needs to be top notch, too (and few are). I heard such a reproduction on a set of Vandersteen Quatros in a high-end audio store. They were streaming a song (don't recall the name) via Qobuz through an Innuos Statement transport (I do not remember the rest of the gear). It was enough to fool my ears.
Great video Paul. Although t don't agree with all of your audio perspectives vi believe you are very knowledgeable. I find the 45 tube very great a producing piano in an SET type configuration. Just my 2 cents....
Yes, the mid-range response of a speaker is all important in reproducing the human voice. A speaker may initially sound impressive with deep bass and sparkling treble but will not sound good without an excellent mid-range. For example a quality electrostatic speaker can have a mid-range that reproduces a human voice with startling reality. 65 year old Quad electrostatics are still regarded as a top speaker due to their mid-range clarity and realism. Many Audiophiles regard the electrostatics lack os deep bass and lack of extended treble is more than compensated for by low distortion, smooth mid-range and the ability to reproduce the human voice that no box speaker can match. We hear real human voices frequently and we can instantly tell if we are hearing a real person or a loudspeaker wit a poor mid-range.
Paul, you're right, but it's only worth for the speakers, and they have to be on a gooood amplifier. And that's where the trouble with measuring begins. I prefer 10kHz square and on the oscilloscope. With a little experience that says it all.
I remember, decades ago, Harmon Kardon had an advertisement that bragged that they had the best square waves in the industry. Their amplifiers were rated flat out to 100 khz.
I don’t agree with Paul. I would in the remote instance where the listener knows what that singer sounds in real life unamplified. (A rare privilege). For me the piano is a much harder instrument to reproduce and although there are differences in models and makers, these differences are minute compared to voices from different singers.
I use classical symphony’s to test the space’ness, how huge can the speakers go! And yes piano’s are grate to test frequency response. If you wan’t to test trebles, you should really try chineese music…😃🎶
If there is somebody into Indian classical or Carnatic music, could you please recommend me some good sounding recordings? It's such beautiful music but usually the sound quality isn't good.
The only instrument I thrust to evaluate my system is the human voice ! All the other factors are secondary to me. It's really easy to know if a human voice is reproduce well or not ! And the human voice is extremly hard (almost impossible) to reproduce perfectly. ................. I wrote my comment before watching the video !! ^^
How do you really know what is true on any recording, even Hi Res recordings. It all comes down to what “you” like to hear with “your” ears. It’s “your stereo” you are listening to, not someone else’s. Just about everyone has their own test they run with what they are listening to and from what sources they get that test from. It all comes to personal opinion in what they deem accurate and acceptable to them.
You only know how something sound when you heard it live. Without amplification if possible. Just listen to a voice or a acoustic guitar in a city street.
Part of the difficulty is that most recordings have some level of compression involved, whether that is peak limiting or overall compression, or a combination of the two. Sometimes (particularly on older recordings, pre-digital) it could also be due to the limitations of using magnetic tape, or on records, the need to keep the stylus from jumping out of the track on the record. With digital recording technology, you can record pretty accurately what was done live. However, the recording engineer still has to deal with the background noise getting into the studio from outside, and then create a final product that will present adequately in a number of different environments. As an example, I have some noisy neighbors so the solution is to turn up the volume, but not so high as to damage my hearing. A car stereo has to overcome road noise, wind noise, car vibration, engine noise, and noise from other vehicles. Bob Carver of Phase Linear fame stated that there isn't enough power to accurately reproduce the sound of scissors. On one hand, that's just a funny statement, but it's true. Live music is always different than recorded. Part of that is the fact that you can do multiple takes in the studio, then mix the tracks to get a particular blend. Live music is affected by the number of people in the venue, just to start with, and temperature and humidity can affect the instruments.
From the title of the video, I thought a Klippel Analyzer and an Audio precision system would be good answers but Paul, you don’t seem to have these instruments which I believe are essential for an high end manufacturer.
None of the music system so far in the world can reproduce Original sound of it instruments or vocals. Even the best and most expensive system make listening to music enjoyable and convey emotions, rather sometimes they may sound even better than than mixing studio or artists would have expected, something like in a blind test the Tropicana orange juice taste better than real to most people, but seldom music system can fool someone to believe what’s been played is live, we are still far from it. May be in few decades or years to come we may be able to understand complex nature of sound reproduction and are able to match to believe it’s real.
Yes definitely the human voice, the most naturally sounding of all instruments. As a man made instrument I would say the Violin has to be the hardest for a system to reproduce correctly. If it doesn't sound right to your ears it can sound terrible. Surely it's all about the harmonics of the individual instrument being correct also!? Listening to a Brass Band recording is good too! Listen to the sound of a Euphonium, Baritone, or Tenor Horn. Can the system create and pick out the sound of these instruments accurately!? As individual instruments listen to how a Cornet sounds different to the harder, brighter sound of a Trumpet. A good system should be able to do that. As a side note Trumpets are NOT used within Brass Bands, they are Cornets!
I've been playing drums for 50 years and I will say cymbals are without a doubt one of the most difficult. It's very very rare they sound right. And when I hear electronic drums and cymbals I want to throw up!
Electric Bass guitar is the best, I play it myself and it is awesome! Jokes aside I think Cello is a good instrument because of the midrange but the combination is key I think.
Organs especially huge pipe organs are a great way to test very low frequencies to high frequencies. Some organs can go down to 4hz which you can't even hear. I love trumpets too especially if it's a player like Miles that has an amazing tone.
Agree with pipe organs. The sheer size, and the fact that each organ is/should be made for each specific church/concert hall, and tailored as a bespoke suit is difficult to get right in music reproduction (both recording and playback system). Often I find that the Mixtur ranks are especially difficult to get right. Many speakers/microphones can make the Mixtur quite fatiguing to listen to in playback, but in real life the Mixturs are divine, and is the true test for organ builders to get right - get it wrong and you’ll be out of Business fairly quick, get them right and you’ll soon become a master of the trade.
You can reproduce the symbol exactly with authorities I've managed to achieve it on a dome tweeter. Try a plasma tweeter or horn loaded super tweeter crossover about 7k or 8k
Human voice is not the litmus test. For obvious reasons. It has a limited band of frequency. BBC used that all the time again for obvious reasons.
You need piano, brass instrument, cello, percussions, bass guitar/double bass, cymbals … there so many actually.
Thanks, Paul - your answer is brilliant! This same very sensible approach for evaluating audio systems by listening to the human voice is also valid, I believe, for judging (in a non-technical way) the accuracy of video displays by looking at images of human faces. Just as we have an innate sense of when human voices sound "right" or "wrong", we also have an innate sense of when skin tones are being faithfully reproduced on a TV or computer monitor.
I like to listen to a specific recording of two voices, one male and one female both with a wide dynamic range. Specifically, "My Favorite Things" sung by Al Jarreau and Kathleen Battle that is just magical to my ears as I can hear any incredibly wide range of frequencies and loudness levels intertwined between the two singers that is incredibly revealing of the way my system sounds.
I never thought about this much but what you say makes sense. After all, detecting the human voice, its frequency and its intensity are pretty much what drove the evolution of our ears. This makes total sense.
Best instrument is the instrument you play. As a drummer i listen to drums and cymbals. Voice can really show harshness
I agree! Human voice has to sound natural and has to touch the heart directly. Greetz from a speaker builder from 🇨🇭
My favorites are guitar, cello, double bass and piano.
Yes, and violin too!
1000%! Especially female vocals! I find that most ease to decide weather the sound is right, a human voice, or not. As you say, every version of every instrument sounds different. Including the human voice. But none of the others has an obviously not right version. Where the human voice does.
I promise people when they come to hear my system for the first time that if they close their eyes I will have an artist standing in front of them singing to them personally. People have commented years after while in a group and it is brought up that they were amazed that they could almost see the face even. I call it "face time". Yes it takes the right, very limited selections, source.
Steinway pianos from Hamburg differs bigtime from those made in New York. US-made is buzzing when played soft. German-made is clear and crisp. Visit a piano store or classical concert and you will hear what I mean.
Paul, I can’t agree more with you. The variations between the voices it’s incredibly vastly different.
From my amateur record days I found harps, harpsichords, and handbells were also a little challenging to record.
Great answer! Perfectly nailed it Paul!!!
Instruments and voices sound amazingly realistic on well kept full analog reel to reel and cassette tapes and well cleaned amd maintained decks. Like being in a studio or concert hall warts and all with all the nuances amd ambience
To notice differences in DAC’s and digital artifacts I listen to the audience clapping between songs.
Thanks! I'll try using that test. I bet you're onto something with this and it makes sense.
Steinway is the standard for grandpianos, the Yamaha is a good one but not nearly as good as the Steinway. 😊 I know, i was an piano technician, tuner and seller back in the day.... And thank you Paul for all your work, i follow you already for a very long time and you're almost always right. ❤
I would think the instrument(s) you have listened to LIVE the most often . We do hear voices every day , but not necessarily the same one .
I have heard that horns and brass instruments are some of the toughest instruments for a system to accurately recreate. So that’s one of my go to’s.
I found that, for speakers… voices… but for the room… piano!
When I read the title of this video my own opinion was that it would be the human voice. Go back and listen to "Close to You" by the Carpenters. Karen is singing on either a Neumann U47, Telefunken ELAM 251, or an AKG C12 (and that's been amplified through a discrete mic preamp)... both amazing mics with TREMENDOUS detail. Listen to her breaths and the subtleties in the vocal up close... on a wonderful system they will evoke very deep emotions. It's the subtleties of the vocal in any excellent recording that can bring one to tears... no matter what the performance is... when it's been recorded through the right mic and amplified through a discrete, minimum parts count signal chain.
BTW, concerning piano... when the group Oregon came to the studio I was working in years ago, they not only requested a Steinway piano, but one with a particular serial number that they knew of because it had a specific tone that they were after. Yes... pianos are very personal... pop music tends to love a Yamaha C-7, while jazz often loves something else... Steinway, or others... because it's what the SONG BEGS FOR!!
Needless to say, the way that any piano is mic'd will also make a HUGE difference, so even the same piano mic'd and recorded by someone with their own way of setting up the mics can and will make a real difference in the final recorded sound of the piano.
Great video, Paul! Thanks for these wonderful videos.
It's difficult to answer this question for me. There are many instruments that I like to use to test out an audio system but in the end human, the voice is probably the best instrument to use for evaluation.
Voices are also critical to record und process. So you could make all kinds of mistakes as a recording engineer - long before someone can hear these on a published song and wonder why it doesn't sound very good on its own audio equipment. So if you want to judge your home stereo by the reproduction of human voices: Be sure you do it with the very best vocal recordings available.
Hello to you sir and all I agree with voice is my 1 and my number 2 is piano 🎹 as I worked at Steinway and son's piano for years thanks again.
I personally don’t care enough about vocals to get overly hung up on vocal reproduction. Not that I don’t appreciate good vocals and my system/speakers reproduce vocals very well. However I’ve been blessed with what I consider a gift of being able to feel, hear and interpret what a given piece of music has to say on an emotional level which more often than not has a lot more to say than any written vocal. Because of that most of what I consider to be the world’s most precious musical compositions are entirely instrumental. Even the vocals I enjoy the most have very little to do with what’s being said and more to do with do I enjoy the sound of a given voice in the context of an instrument. Probably sounds a little crazy but it’s just how and in what way things speak to me musically. A particular tone or even just the way a particular note is played or sang by someone can invoke so much more emotion than anything anyone will ever be capable of composing lyrically in my opinion. Words simply mean very little and thankfully I recognize their insignificance. It’s the music itself in which the true power to invoke all human emotion lies. At least for myself anyway. Once again it’s not to say I don’t love and appreciate a great voice and lyrical flow in the context of an instrument. As far as the actual words themselves playing much of a role in regards to dictating how I should feel and or do feel emotionally, they simply have very little impact in comparison to what the music itself has to say the majority of the time.
I agree with Paul. Better even if it could be known and memorised well voice of known from real contacts person. I remind such case when my beloved aunt which I often visited was apparently answering in radio to radio reporter and I heard her in my speakers. It stunned me and since then I started to trust that reality in audio reproduction is possible .Instruments cover very wide band and it is hard to tell if we hear not too much harmonics.
If it i sadequate with voice then it complays to instruments too. The main problem is with low bass - If it's too much in musical instruments we are usualy glad and no complain - only in human voice it is noticeable as not to be there.
I use the triangle and cowbell.
Speaking of listening to the human voice, have you heard of the young Russian singer Diana Ankudinova??
She's a very rare contralto and polyphonic I stream a lot and listen to all kinds of amazing female singers from around the world, but Diana is on a completely different level to my ears She has an album on Spotify, but also millions of views on RUclips I love watching vocal coaches reactions and try to analyze Diana's singing I think she can sing in 5 different octaves
Yes, she sure can sing MUCH lower notes than most women can! (Occasionally she even sounds more like a MALE singer when she's digging down into those lowest notes!)(I'm not sure if I like that about her or not though, but regardless, she sure can do it better than most other women can, that's for sure!)
Now, if she can ALSO sing the highest vocal notes as well as say Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston can/could, for example, then maybe this girl you're talking about actually COULD have a 5 octave voice. That's extremely rare, but possible...
I need to listen to more of Diana's songs though before I could totally agree with that. I only wish I could actually understand her lyrics though, as I only know English and some Spanish.
@@JoeJ-8282
Do you listen to Japanese ENKA singing.
@@davidfromamerica1871 No, why?
As only a few singers like Geoff Castellucci and Tim Foust can sing notes like A0 I suggest to additionally use records of church organs. Preferably of a events you attended yourself.
A church organ reveals how clean and low your system works in base range.
Yes it’s always been the voice for me too.
Although many stereos will reproduce a human voice that sounds very good and pleasing to our ears, it is not realistic enough to make you believe that the person is actually there.
A stereo that makes your head turn, thinking that the artist is really there, is very hard to do.
The recording needs to be top notch, too (and few are).
I heard such a reproduction on a set of Vandersteen Quatros in a high-end audio store.
They were streaming a song (don't recall the name) via Qobuz through an Innuos Statement transport (I do not remember the rest of the gear).
It was enough to fool my ears.
Real instrumental music .. but you have to attend live unamplified music to know..
Great video Paul. Although t don't agree with all of your audio perspectives vi believe you are very knowledgeable. I find the 45 tube very great a producing piano in an SET type configuration. Just my 2 cents....
Yes, the mid-range response of a speaker is all important in reproducing the human voice. A speaker may initially sound impressive with deep bass and sparkling treble but will not sound good without an excellent mid-range. For example a quality electrostatic speaker can have a mid-range that reproduces a human voice with startling reality. 65 year old Quad electrostatics are still regarded as a top speaker due to their mid-range clarity and realism. Many Audiophiles regard the electrostatics lack os deep bass and lack of extended treble is more than compensated for by low distortion, smooth mid-range and the ability to reproduce the human voice that no box speaker can match.
We hear real human voices frequently and we can instantly tell if we are hearing a real person or a loudspeaker wit a poor mid-range.
Paul, you're right, but it's only worth for the speakers, and they have to be on a gooood amplifier. And that's where the trouble with measuring begins. I prefer 10kHz square and on the oscilloscope. With a little experience that says it all.
I remember, decades ago, Harmon Kardon had an advertisement that bragged that they had the best square waves in the industry. Their amplifiers were rated flat out to 100 khz.
The Theremin! Have you heard the Bösendorfer Paul? Now that is a Piano. It'll cost you more than a house.
I don’t agree with Paul. I would in the remote instance where the listener knows what that singer sounds in real life unamplified. (A rare privilege).
For me the piano is a much harder instrument to reproduce and although there are differences in models and makers, these differences are minute compared to voices from different singers.
…making it easier for the listener to evaluate how far from a ‘standard’ piano is the reproduce sound.
I tune my speakers to Paul’s voice with a BS meter.
Sometimes the BS meter will max out. 🙄 That is when I know my system is tuned correctly.😀😎🤗
Smart choice!
I use classical symphony’s to test the space’ness, how huge can the speakers go! And yes piano’s are grate to test frequency response. If you wan’t to test trebles, you should really try chineese music…😃🎶
If there is somebody into Indian classical or Carnatic music, could you please recommend me some good sounding recordings? It's such beautiful music but usually the sound quality isn't good.
The only instrument I thrust to evaluate my system is the human voice ! All the other factors are secondary to me.
It's really easy to know if a human voice is reproduce well or not !
And the human voice is extremly hard (almost impossible) to reproduce perfectly.
................. I wrote my comment before watching the video !! ^^
Ya, voice is an instrument as well
How do you really know what is true on any recording, even Hi Res recordings.
It all comes down to what “you” like to hear with “your” ears.
It’s “your stereo” you are listening to, not someone else’s.
Just about everyone has their own test they run with what they are listening to and from what sources they get that test from. It all comes to personal opinion in what they deem accurate and acceptable to them.
You only know how something sound when you heard it live. Without amplification if possible.
Just listen to a voice or a acoustic guitar in a city street.
Part of the difficulty is that most recordings have some level of compression involved, whether that is peak limiting or overall compression, or a combination of the two. Sometimes (particularly on older recordings, pre-digital) it could also be due to the limitations of using magnetic tape, or on records, the need to keep the stylus from jumping out of the track on the record. With digital recording technology, you can record pretty accurately what was done live. However, the recording engineer still has to deal with the background noise getting into the studio from outside, and then create a final product that will present adequately in a number of different environments. As an example, I have some noisy neighbors so the solution is to turn up the volume, but not so high as to damage my hearing. A car stereo has to overcome road noise, wind noise, car vibration, engine noise, and noise from other vehicles.
Bob Carver of Phase Linear fame stated that there isn't enough power to accurately reproduce the sound of scissors. On one hand, that's just a funny statement, but it's true.
Live music is always different than recorded. Part of that is the fact that you can do multiple takes in the studio, then mix the tracks to get a particular blend. Live music is affected by the number of people in the venue, just to start with, and temperature and humidity can affect the instruments.
From the title of the video, I thought a Klippel Analyzer and an Audio precision system would be good answers but Paul, you don’t seem to have these instruments which I believe are essential for an high end manufacturer.
Alan Shaw of Harbeth fame does the same!
None of the music system so far in the world can reproduce Original sound of it instruments or vocals. Even the best and most expensive system make listening to music enjoyable and convey emotions, rather sometimes they may sound even better than than mixing studio or artists would have expected, something like in a blind test the Tropicana orange juice taste better than real to most people, but seldom music system can fool someone to believe what’s been played is live, we are still far from it. May be in few decades or years to come we may be able to understand complex nature of sound reproduction and are able to match to believe it’s real.
Thanks Paul😄
very much violin Cello and piano
Paul, is there a speaker fatigue? Especially some that rockers always play loud!
Yes definitely the human voice, the most naturally sounding of all instruments. As a man made instrument I would say the Violin has to be the hardest for a system to reproduce correctly. If it doesn't sound right to your ears it can sound terrible. Surely it's all about the harmonics of the individual instrument being correct also!? Listening to a Brass Band recording is good too! Listen to the sound of a Euphonium, Baritone, or Tenor Horn. Can the system create and pick out the sound of these instruments accurately!? As individual instruments listen to how a Cornet sounds different to the harder, brighter sound of a Trumpet. A good system should be able to do that. As a side note Trumpets are NOT used within Brass Bands, they are Cornets!
I've been playing drums for 50 years and I will say cymbals are without a doubt one of the most difficult. It's very very rare they sound right. And when I hear electronic drums and cymbals I want to throw up!
Thank U
Electric Bass guitar is the best, I play it myself and it is awesome! Jokes aside I think Cello is a good instrument because of the midrange but the combination is key I think.
Organs especially huge pipe organs are a great way to test very low frequencies to high frequencies. Some organs can go down to 4hz which you can't even hear.
I love trumpets too especially if it's a player like Miles that has an amazing tone.
Agree with pipe organs. The sheer size, and the fact that each organ is/should be made for each specific church/concert hall, and tailored as a bespoke suit is difficult to get right in music reproduction (both recording and playback system). Often I find that the Mixtur ranks are especially difficult to get right. Many speakers/microphones can make the Mixtur quite fatiguing to listen to in playback, but in real life the Mixturs are divine, and is the true test for organ builders to get right - get it wrong and you’ll be out of Business fairly quick, get them right and you’ll soon become a master of the trade.
You can reproduce the symbol exactly with authorities I've managed to achieve it on a dome tweeter. Try a plasma tweeter or horn loaded super tweeter crossover about 7k or 8k
Contrabassoon. Bassoon and Contrabassoon
JL Audio MAXX
Simple answer don't limit to one thing, use many instruments, surely?
EARS & BASSOON for me
I got u Paul!
Symbols are the hardest I think
Math symbols? XD
Big pipe organ