The term organic sound has been used to describe how a piece of
gear sounds.
Some folks dislike the use of the term…others use the term…
So how would you describe “organic sound”
Best wishes
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The opposite of flat/lifeless tonal colors, but not (over) „colored“ or just „warm/rich“.
Providing non fatiguing, natural tonal colors together with maximal openness, transients/speed and dynamics.
My first CD Player in the 80’s, halfway enabling organic CD sound with many compromises was an Ariston CD1, the second a Gryphon, the third an Accuphase DP-75 (all with too many compromises in openness and other characteristics) and I assume also what Paul means with „the Octave DSD recordings on vinyl still sound better than the file“ is just that more organic sound (at least that’s what I hear). Even if it’s mechanical, positively perceived distortion…it seems to somehow compensate for things lost in every recording. But that’s not the essence of playing vinyl, just one characteristic, which should only be present very slightly on a good rig for my taste. It’s too much, the lesser the quality.
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For me it would be described as music having meat on the bone with a natural tone that can sound real at times and not canned in the least…
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I honestly have no idea. I have never related to that expression and I have never uttered it when trying to describe something I am hearing.
If I recall correctly, this turn of phrase is rarely elaborated upon.
I am interested in the responses you might get here.
Cheers.
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My interpretation of organic sound from a system has to have these attributes that are outstanding: layers, textures, richness, and of course naturalness. If your system got these right than you are close to hearing organic sound. By no means these factors can define the term, but they are the most important ones in my book.
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Similar thoughts here about that “organic” thing. Some words can become so all encompassing and over used that they lose real meaning and are often used as a short cut descriptor, rather than going deeper to illustrate something’s merit. In music, it might conjure up ideas of being “closer to the source”, “without artifacts”, or “natural in timbre”. Whatever. We have been given a great vocabulary, use it. Don’t get lost in the fog of a “one word fits all” universe.
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Timbre. The quality of a note, a voice, a sound that has natural overtones.
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Count me as another audiophile who has never described or encountered a description of sound as organic. As an aside, I have used that term to describe a certain style of architectural design. One of the few contexts where it has clear, unambiguous meaning: architecture inspired by the natural environment. Even those not schooled in architecture can immediately spot an organic structure. It is often considered the antithesis of modernism and has gained momentum in recent years as a statement by architects tired of, or perhaps just wanting to explore something different from minimalist modernism. I’m lucky to be surrounded by both here in downtown Chicago. We’re a case study in those very different design approaches.
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Hi David,
I would describe organic is the same as the word “natural”. A sound that is free from distortion and artifacts. Good vinyl can give you this organic feel more easily than digital. You would have to reach a very high level in your DAC or digital to give you this feeling of ease and naturalness of a real live sound. Maybe if you use the right fuse, it will help you get this organic sound you’re looking for. Just kidding. 
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i.e. grown without added chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, or genetic modification! Nothing omitted, nothing committed! Could we say unadulterated?
Organic growth in organisations means growth using internal capacity and developing existing resources (human or otherwise)! 
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Pretty soon we can use it to distinguish human made music from AI made music.
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The best description of sound I ever came across was by a guy called John Dryden, and it’s been downhill ever since.
Let’s face it, the vast majority of these terms audiophiles use are utterly meaningless, or mean what you want them to mean. The worst is “musical”, which can mean absolutely anything. The best is Ted’s “foot-tapping” because, whatever it is, you’ve good a good chance of enjoying it.
Usually these terms don’t describe sound, but a possible emotional response to sound, and as our emotional responses differ they mean different things to different people.
Most of these words exist to fill columns of audio magazines and for no other reason.
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That is why when I describe the sound of my gear I say “it seems nice”.
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There’s a thread on Whatsbestforum called “Natural Sound”. It is currently 225 pages long. That should give us a hint about consensus on terms like these. 
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Organic sound…“you say tomato and I say tomatoe”…who cares…its just audio terminology and that’s it…no big conspiracy going on…
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And one more…Towmater from Cars the movie… 
Best wishes…
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Appreciative thanks to all who chimed in with their perspectives.
As Al pointed out “seems nice” nice summary…
For some time have been trying to grasp what was meant
by the term organic sound…
Had a rough idea, but to help clarify my understanding of
how this would apply to the sound our systems render.
Please keep posting your insights on this topic…
Again thanks everyone
Best wishes
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Hi Clifton…
You hit it right …natural sounding…
Often though hard to know what the musical performance actually
sounded like. Then how the recording engineer treated the mastering
and mix. Difficult as well to hear what the sound was like in the mastering
studio, then the final product.
Of course Octave recording studios have no such problems… 
Ah yes da fuzes er fuses …
So the overall sound my system delivers is very pleasing, to quote Al the wabbit man
sounds vewy vewy nice!!!
Thanks Clifton…
Best wishes
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Organic as in a certain naturalness in presentation, preserving timbre, tonality, dynamics and coherence. Expressed with a certain naturalness and sense of ease. No small order IME.
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“Organic” to me means grown in poop.
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