Live vs HiFi

[PHC1]

Very often one sees a reference to "live music" as a compliment to one system or another, their own, or someone else's. It seems that often "Live Music" is the benchmark above which there is nothing higher.... Perhaps I am the minority but I beg to differ and would have to say it is not always true...

Let me elaborate.

I don't go to every live performance that happens around me but... I've been to plenty of Live performances. Many Rock and Pop concerts in the '80's and '90s, some classical music, many Jazz shows, some Blues... heard plenty of great piano playing at jazz bars and night clubs, etc..

From ears ringing for days from Rock concerts from exposure at over 120dB's for a few hours, to very poor acoustical halls to noisy jazz and blues sessions, to poor performances, poor equipment or setup, not so great seats, crowds, rudeness, yelling, pushing, clouds of smoke (all kinds of smoke... ) booze, traffic, terrible parking situations, etc, etc, etc..

But never mind all that. The primary goal of course is the fidelity of sound after all but this is where I also very often find a discrepancy... I often find that the carefully recorded material, be it a more intimate or dryer sounding studio recording to a better recording at a better venue somewhere, doesn't matter, it often sounds simply better than what I have experienced in the past at a live venue. Vocals that come across so much clearer, instruments that play much more in sync and are recorded and mastered with utmost clarity and fidelity on a CD or LP as compared to a show I had seen in the past.

At home, I dim the lights, I listen and there is a spacious soundstage that opens up in front of me. The walls dissolve, the instruments appear in front and to the sides of me and they play just for me. Vocals that float center stage, so palpable, so real, I can just reach out and touch the performers. I can stop, pause, rewind, restart, adjust the volume to a comfortable setting, pause again, grab a beer, sit back down and continue without all the trouble and drawbacks associated with driving to a Live Performance.

Don't get me wrong, I love a good live show when it is convenient to see it and I feel that a great performance is almost guaranteed. For example, I loved all of Vegas shows for the most part but was often disappointed with many I saw in NY, Philly and many of the jazz bars. I think I mostly prefer HiFi at home! Is it me or do others sometimes feel this way too?

[metaphacts]

Originally Posted by PHC1

Don't get me wrong, I love a good live show when it is convenient to see it and I feel that a great performance is almost guaranteed. For example, I loved all of Vegas shows for the most part but was often disappointed with many I saw in NY, Philly and many of the jazz bars. I think I mostly prefer HiFi at home! Is it me or do others sometimes feel this way too?

I much prefer live music to hifi. There's much more to music for me than a note perfect performance with great sound recording technology. I must say I am far more often disappointed by a hifi system than I am a live performance.

[PHC1]

Originally Posted by metaphacts

I much prefer live music to hifi. There's much more to music for me than a note perfect performance with great sound recording technology. I must say I am far more often disappointed by a hifi system than I am a live performance.

Bill, if it's not note perfect performance with great sound, what is it for you? The atmosphere? The people? Seeing the musicians?

I remember seeing Al Di Meola live and was not impressed at all by the performance. I bought a CD shortly thereafter and really enjoyed it and explored much more of his work after. Same thing happened with Jean Luc Ponty....

[Pider]

Perhaps it's the venue and/or music genre. I know more about attending classical than any other type of live performance. Might be that if I sat in Ivan's room, I might be transported to Boston's Symphony Hall, but I can't even come close with my setup, or any setup that I might be lucky enough to own, ever. So, for me, certain performances are best live. I agree with the smokey, packed small Jazz Club. No thanks. Cool every so often, but not on a regular basis.

[jdandy]

Serge.......I fall somewhere in the middle. Some of the best live performances I have enjoyed were intimate jazz clubs, no PA system, just the small amps on stage and the musicians. There is an immediacy about these kinds of events and the audience feedback when things really click. It is infectious and memorable. On the other hand, I am always ready to press the power button that fires up my system, selecting a particular artist to enjoy, sitting in comfort and solitude enjoying the special nature of a private home performance. I find both events to be exciting and satisfying.

[PHC1]

I have to say, now that I have a dedicated theater in my basement and I can watch the superb video and sound quality of Blu-Ray concert anytime I want, as many times as I want at any time of day or night, I find less and less reasons to go out to any venue.

I'm not even going to mention all the Madison Square Garden Rock concerts that nearly left me deaf.... That I am not a huge fan of the Philadelphia Academy of Music.... nor the Mann Center and many love them. I don't know, maybe I am weird.

[metaphacts]

Originally Posted by PHC1

Bill, if it's not note perfect performance with great sound, what is it for you? The atmosphere? The people? Seeing the musicians?

I remember seeing Al Di Meola live and was not impressed at all by the performance. I bought a CD shortly thereafter and really enjoyed it and explored much more of his work after. Same thing happened with Jean Luc Ponty....

I'll take the note perfect performance if it happens but it's not critical. I'm more interested in what the musician(s) have to say about the music they are playing at that point in time. That changes as state of mind and venue changes. So each performance, even with the most professional of musicians, has the potential for new meaning. That anticipation is exciting to me. Am I ever disappointed? Sure but that won't cause me to listen at home if I have the chance to hear it live.

This attitude also affects my preferred types of recordings at home. I listen to a lot of live or straight through performances. They have a better chance of communicating a coherent message, imo. Often a modestly recorded live performance can be far more compelling than it's studio counterpart. I really think humans prefer to play to humans rather than mikes in an empty hall or studio. For me recording after recording shows it.

In our trainings, we often do a segment on how to choose demo material. As a way to get trainees to expand their thinking, we will often compare a studio, note perfect recording to a life performance with all it's warts. One track in particular is Annie Lennox' Why from her Diva album. This is a well done good sounding recording though some systems can have a tough time with it. Note Perfect. The contrast is Annie singing the same song at the Montreaux Casino complete with noise and a 50Hz hum in the background. However 3 notes in and you realize how little you know about the song from the Diva version. You realize just how talented Annie really is and how much more compelling a performer she is when she's singing to an audience. Can you live with the hum and the noise? For what I get musically, I can. Do I wish it was better recorded? Of course I do. But that's not one of the choices in this case.

Long way to say I'd rather hear it live.

[howiebrou]

For me live concerts with amplified music are not really about note perfect reproduction but about the event, the venue, the atmosphere and your fellow fans. E. g the Eagles at Wembley Stadium you would never recreate the atmosphere there even with the best home theatre system in the world. Without smell there can never be that live feeling.

With classical music the difference is even greater. Being in the Musikveirein in Vienna is an occasion which can not be reproduced. It gets worse with Opera. The number of times I have sat in Opera houses like La scala, Covent Garden, the Lincoln Centre, and even the Verona amphitheatre whilst listening and thought to myself, that my system was crap compared to this is a lot!! Whilst opera is my favourite form of music, I don't listen to it much with my system because it does not move me like the live thing

[metaphacts]

Originally Posted by howiebrou

For me live concerts with amplified music are not really about note perfect reproduction but about the event, the venue, the atmosphere and your fellow fans. E. g the Eagles at Wembley Stadium you would never recreate the atmosphere there even with the best home theatre system in the world. Without smell there can never be that live feeling.

With classical music the difference is even greater. Being in the Musikveirein in Vienna is an occasion which can not be reproduced. It gets worse with Opera. The number of times I have sat in Opera houses like La scala, Covent Garden, the Lincoln Centre, and even the Verona ampipheatre whilst listening and thought to myself, that my system was crap compared to this is a lot!! Whilst opera is my favorite form of music, I don't listen to it much with my system because it does not move me like the live thing

[bradleyc]

I can go either way on this.... went to a Stones concert at Soldier Field in the late 70's, performance was exciting to watch but could hardly recognize the songs and lyrics the sound quality was so bad

On the other hand, went to a Judas Priest Concert in the early 80's. Very small crowd drove threw a blizzard, 2-level stage, dual guitars (Tipton and Downing), great sound. The band kicked a** like never before, better than any of their albums. This was an inspiring performance with music you could really feel, they rocked us to the bone

Maybe the band appreciated that we risked life and limb to attend their concert