Audio connoisseur's happiness

The first time I experienced music on the Sound Reality audio system, a track from one of the CDs unexpectedly captivated me. It compelled me to set my phone aside, and soon, gentle tears welled up in my eyes—the kind that flicker softly, light and pleasant, and you don’t want to stop them

Later, I came across the same track on another disc, but this time I kept scrolling through my Facebook feed, and nothing moved me in any way, even though it was the same piece, the same artist, the same instruments, and even the same recording studio…

At that time I thought that perhaps this difference in perception was due solely to my own emotional state. But the next time, listening to the same track on both CDs, my reaction was similar…

Later, I started listening to how other tracks on different discs sound and feel, and my perception also differed, more or less significantly. Later, I started listening to how other tracks on different discs sound and feel, and my perception also differed, more or less significantly. In one case, something seems to transport you from one reality to another, you completely immerse yourself in the world of the music, enjoy its beauty and richness, as if you were somewhere right next to the musicians; in another case, you get much more superficial pleasure, or you don't get it at all, because something here and there annoys you

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At that moment, I already understood that the difference in my perception of the same track depends on the quality of the audio recording. And when the Master and I began to spend winter evenings after work purposefully analyzing the difference in audio recordings, I began to understand how enormous this difference can be!

Firstly, the lower the level of the audio system, the less noticeable the difference in the recording. And the higher the level of the audio system, on the one hand, the more pleasure we are able to get from a well recorded musical material, but, on the other hand, the more we feel even minor flaws in the recording

That's why a good high-resolution audio system requires quality CDs

And that is precisely why audio connoisseurs are very picky about buying CDs:

• Seek not only the musical genre, piece, and performers but also the specific instruments featured in the recording (e.g., which double bass was used for a solo), the uniqueness of a particular performance (as every musician brings their own interpretation to the same work), and the recording approach employed (e.g., studio recordings often capture the musicians striving for their absolute best, which isn’t always the case in live concerts)

• Know performers who pay special attention to the choice of their instruments (a basic violin, no matter how you record it, will remain basic)

• Know which of the performers was recorded with more or less quality (a guitar from Pepe Romero's collection can be recorded so bad that its sound will be indistinguishable from the simplest one)

• Pay attention to which studio the material was recorded

  • Recording studios differ not only in the quality of their work, but also in recording techniques. For example, in a recording from one studio you will hear the most microscopic details of the sound of each instrument, but you will not have a natural feeling of the integrity of the musical picture; in a recording from another studio you may hear, at first glance, less detailed sound of each individual instrument, but you will feel complete immersion in the atmosphere of the studio or concert hall where the musical event takes place

• Pay attention to the country for which the CD was released (there are markets where listeners prefer a "cleaned" sound, and there are those where they like realistic sound with minimal interference)

But even knowing a lot of nuances about how to make the best CD choice, you can rarely be 100% sure that you will get the expected quality

• On one CD, the sound of each individual instrument may be fantastic, but all together they do not create a holistic picture. Sometimes the placement of the instruments in space is so unrealistic (e.g., it seems that a cellist is sitting on a piano, one vocalist is standing on the shoulders of another, etc.) that the listener's brain feels uncomfortable, gets tired quickly, and, obviously, we do not get any pleasure from it

• In the recording on another CD, we seem to hear clearly that the instruments on stage are logically positioned relative to each other, but their sound is so cleaned that it is perceived as a simplistic soundtrack for Karaoke

• On another CD we hear all the richness of the performer's voice, but the sound of the instruments in the background is like an unintelligible bunch of sounds that incredibly spoils the perception of the work as a whole

There is an enormous amount of musical content today, but not so much material in the highest quality. Finding a CD that makes you want to put your phone aside, close your eyes, and get real pleasure is not easy. But when such material is found, it is happiness for both audio gourmets and their guests :)

So come to visit us, the Master and I are always happy to share our audio-gourmets' happiness!