Does what you listen to really affect how you listen?
http://www.pstracks.com/pauls-posts/but-does-it-sound-like-music/13172/
J.P.
Paul observes:: When I audition a stereo system using popular music I seem to focus most on imaging. Does it feel like I am in the space it was recorded in?
When I audition using classical music the space becomes less important and what I seem to focus on is the sound of the instruments. Do they sound right?
While this makes sense in that pop music instruments typically do not have a real world analog to which we can compare, the ambient space of a pop recording is also entirely synthetic. There is no "space" in which it was recorded.
Hahax's comment that he listens for "dynamic linearity, linear changes of level from micro changes to macro" interests me. The lack of dynamic linearity may well be one of the largest reasons our systems do not sound like real instruments.
Elk said: the ambient space of a pop recording is also entirely synthetic
I knew Elk would nail this and this is largely true of acoustic instruments used in pop music as well, aside from recordings made in an "old fashioned" space :) like the Cheskey recordings, for example.
Elk said: The lack of dynamic linearity may well be one of the largest reasons our systems do not sound like real instruments.
That is an interesting thought. I suppose that I would assign the majority of the blame to the speaker. The digital domain seems to have plenty of dynamic headroom(!) and my thought is that many high quality amplifiers should be able to handle this task but signal transduction is where I would put my money.
It would most often be the speakers, but I imagine it can also be the amp - especially if the amp and the speakers are mismatched or the amp simply is not capable.
It is a compelling concept.