Phil Leigh;164568 Wrote: 
> As I said, most pop/rock (and some jazz/choral - even a bit of
> classical) has been treated to the addition of artifical ambience
> either at individual track level or even (gasp) across the whole mix.
> Often this will have come from a very expensive Lexicon digital unit or
> (going back in time) an equally expensive EMT plate reverb unit.
> 
> That's not say there aren't a lot of "natural ambience" recordings -
> mostly clasical, jazz etc.
> 
> The problem facing the average person is how much of the ambience of
> the original recording - artifical or real - are they hearing vs. the
> sound of their listening room being added...
> 
> The thing is, whilst a lot of producers, musicians etc can recognise
> the sound of a Lexicon (even the model in some cases) the average
> listener will never be able to tell real hall ambience from a digitally
> synthesised (very very close) approximation.
> 
> So my point is that the "precious ambience" is a bit of a red herring
> in many cases. I'm not just talking about run-of-the-mill synthesised
> pop here. Most - possibly all - of the great studio
> rock/r&b/soul/blues/etc etc tracks have some form of artificial
> ambience on them - they'd sound dreadfull otherwise.
So let recap what been said so far:
- There are some artificial ingredients added to boost pleasantry in
recorded music
- There maybe a chance to boost same from the end user (unlikely, due
to low cost non linear equipment or lack of knowledge)
- Faithfulness to the source can be hit or miss due to same
- DRC carefully applied can minimize room modes
Considering all of the above, the average consumers can end up with
systems ranging from horrible to great, just as it is now. I only
wanted to point out all the potential pitfalls. From experience, I only
used the simplest recordings of real acoustic instruments, preferably
small ensemble works, or arias with voice, from quality record labels,
to test new gears I want to purchase. This way, the least processing,
the most identifiable sounds, makes it easier to pick out the one that
sounds "right". 
I don't mean to sound preachy, but it's been a crusade for me to help
friends and coworkers understand what's needed when putting together an
audio system. It can sound oh so good in the end, for so little money...


-- 
empty99
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