As audio reproduction fans, we are always debating whether the endgame is to emulate the experience of hearing music live. When I sit down to hear something well-produced in the Classical genre, yes, I can imagine being the the best seat in the house, seeing the conductor, musicians. If it’s well-recorded jazz, I can imagine being in a nightclub in New York City, bluegrass in a small country store.
But I’m not sure a recording, no matter how good, could ever truly capture the beauty and elation of this experience.
I think there would need to be a lot more senses involved in the reproduction system - incredible fragrances, a visual filter that puts tattoos on everything, a system that creates the feeling of being kicked by steel-toed boots. What about taste?
What would be cool is concerts recorded in hi def or at least a flac level recording combined with a VR experience. On goes the VR and great headphones. You walk in the front door. Mingle a bit. Find your seat or ANY seat. The orientation and music space changes as you go front back or left right. You can walk past security and head back stage.
Ben Webster “Live in Copenhagen” sounds awfully impressive, and with pre and power amps that contain tubes, and good speakers, it can be quite convincing. You can hear glasses clanking at various tables in the room, people talking, people coughing, and a vibrancy with the saxophone sounding like it is there in the same room. I admit this is the exception and not the rule.
Beethoven Septet performed by the Vienna Octet is also quite spectacular, where violins sound quite real, and with pre & power amps that contain tubes, and good speakers that have magic, is simply wonderful.
If I wasn’t feeling so lazy, I’d set up a poll:
Do you want your system to sound live?
Would you want a switch that would take you back and forth between live and as is now?
You guys! Leave it to an audiophile forum to take my totally ridiculous post and get serious about it! Of COURSE a recording could never duplicate the live experience 100%, probably not even 82.67%. But I’ll be looking for the Ben Webber and Beethoven Septet recordings. I have to say the closest to truly live I’ve ever experienced is a James Taylor DVD concert called “Pull Over”. JT’s recordings are almost always good, and this doesn’t stand out necessarily for its “audiophile” quality, but the way it’s captured, sweetened, mixed, and filmed just “puts me there” like no other I’ve experienced. But full disclosure - I’ve not really heard THAT many concert DVDs.
Hey, just want to make sure I get hold of the right recordings. For the Ben Webster Copenhagen recording, apparently he lived the last 8 years of his life there, so there are several recordings of him “in Copenhagen.” I believe some are studio, but this is the one I found truly called “Live in Copenhagen.”
For the Beethoven Septet played by the Vienna Octet (I guess one of their players had the night off), is this the one?
Thanks much. I probably rave TOO MUCH about TOO MANY recordings. Maybe my standards are not high enough - I’m willing to give high marks to stuff, as long as they’re trying. Back when I was quite the wine aficionado, my ex-wife used to say, “Jon’s favorite wine is the one he just had.”
Out of curiosity, I found those two recordings on a site called High Definition Tape Transfers. I read their “About Us” info, but I’m wondering whether these are recordings that never hit vinyl or CD, or does it mean they went back to the tape masters to transfer or re-master to digital? Part of why I’m asking is that I couldn’t find either of your recordings available through common channels.
@Rushton is probably THE one to answer your question. So far, I have not been able to find, or have others find, any music that is on Highdeftapetransfers.ca on streaming music souces.
I have one I like even more than the HDTT DSD256 Ben Webster Live in Copenhagen. The HDTT DSD256 version of Bill Evans’s Live in The Village Vanguard brings me right to the recording site. The mingling of the backgroung sound and space is so eerily real. I feel I am actually there.
JLawry, welcome to the PSAudio forums! Great to have you sharing with us.
As to High Definition Tape Transfers (HDTT), their digital transfers are only available from the HDTT website, not any other platforms or streaming services (as far as I know). The majority of their releases have been commercially released in past decades and many have been reissued by other companies multiple times. Some of the classical music labels: Decca, RCA Living Stereo, Mercury Living Presence, Deutsche Grammophon, Philips, Columbia, Desmar, Readers Digest. Some of the jazz labels: Blue Note, Verve, Prestige, Riverside, Columbia, Storyville, Limelight, FM Records.
Some of the classical recordings are listed by HDTT under a different album name than used for the original album, although this practice seems to have become less common in recent years.
In some cases, HDTT has released recordings not otherwise commercially released, e.g., some of the Judy Garland material. As to the Ben Webster Live in Copenhagen album, this was originally recorded by Black Lion Records at Montmartre Jazzhus and has seen a number of releases/reissues under the “Live at Montmartre” moniker.
it seems that an acoustically heard concert is better than…
one heard in a concert with electronics of microphone(s) amplifiers, cabling, speakers, etc… Then,
i find the sound is better on concert recorded on Blu-ray & playback/pause/repeat on my (comfortable & quiet/no clapping in my ears) home system…
And before heading off to the bathroom, with my eyes closed, I can smell the cigarette smoke in the room and see the attractive woman at the bar smiling at me, while she raises her single malt in my direction.
Gonna dream? Dream big!
