Live acoustic combos make sense to us not because our ears are superior, but because our brains both see and hear the musicians and process together what we see and hear.
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That’s valid for every live event I’d say.
I mentioned the small (unamplified) jazz combo listened from from near, because this is demanding and hard to beat by a recordimg‘s playback. More than a string quartet from near or a symphony from far.
Having recorded all three, I find they all have their challenges and also some aspects which are straightforward. A jazz ensemble is not uniquely difficult.
I don’t have your experience in that.
What I meant is, in the jazz combo example (related to the challenge of recording a combination of different instruments so their individual character is captured) we hear a piano a drum set, and a sax or whatever, as they sound and should sound. All three together with few mics are harder to record with their individual, very different sound than a string quartet I thought.
But another example I’d name is solo instruments in a symphony concert. Rarely on recordings they sound as we hear it live. Either a solo clarinet or a harp is too thin related to the orchestral sound (because the far away mics don’t catch nuances and richness anymore) or if close mic‘ed, not rarely too prominent and less integrated. Few recordings get the balance right.
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Again, our brains inform us as to what we are hearing.
The oboe solo sounds full and rich in concert as we project these characteristics upon what sound is actually there. It is a neat phenomenon.
A string quartet is difficult because of the subtlety in changing timbre and the tremendous nuances in microdynamics.
Recording a full orchestra is mind bendingly difficult to do well.
The greatest challenge for me in recording a jazz group is capturing the punch and energy
Try this one played loud…not the most macro dynamic, but full of energy and punch. Most of it is in the music 
That makes sense to me. The dynamics and “liveliness” of listening to a jazz quartet (especially if there is some trumpet and trombone) is hard to experience on a recording through a stereo system. There is just something about the “jump” during great jazz performances that seems to be only available in person.
I imagine the full energy of an orchestra (which I don’t have as much experience listening to live) during the performance of a crescendo is similar in nature.
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That’s why I mentioned “listening from near”.
Distance (especially in case of unamplified performances) destroys energy and dynamics and also damps and in most live concerts we sit at quite a distance.
Dynamics and energy not rarely is much higher from recordings than live due to the distance aspect. But it can be the opposite, the example just has to be well chosen (I tried with the jazz combo and close by listening).
This question of distance has been on my mind lately as I struggle a bit to dial in speaker placement. I’m new to this level of detail and have what I’m coming to believe is an unhealthy obsession with soundstage presentation; width, height, depth, layering, and separation. Besides dynamics it seems reasonable that distance would tend to effect all aspects, especially separation.
Welcome to the club
Exactly. The “jump” is hard to capture while at the same time presenting the ensemble as a balanced blending whole.
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