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….Specifically the concept of there being an “absolute sound,” as opposed to The Absolute Sound magazine. (With all apologies to the late Harry Pearson whom I sure would have enjoyed debating this subject.)
High-end audio is a constantly evolving journey and the more we listen, the more we should question things. It’s become increasingly apparent as I continue my evolution and delve more deeply into the music that musical timing, rhythm, etc. was a quality that HP missed, ignored, didn’t appreciate, etc. and that continues in high-end audio to the present day. No, we’re not talking about in the old days where PRAT was largely an exaggerated quality and resonance that gave the appearance of timing.
It was largely through the efforts of people such as Gordon Holt and Harry Pearson that we have an audiophile language/vocabulary to assist in communicating what we hear. That is with eyes wide open that that reductionism isn’t perfect and comes with its own sets of issues. But in this case focusing on one quality at a time when listening to something so highly complex as music (with so many things happening at one time) allows for greater perceptual ability. At the same time, however, a listener can become too fixated on a few qualities—take imaging or dynamics—to the detriment of other qualities.
HP defined the term the “absolute sound” as being the sound of unamplified live instruments. But is that necessarily correct? Partially correct? Is there an “absolute sound?” Was it about HP being a classical snob? Did HP also miss the boat when it came to musical timing? Was it as a manufacturer recently shared with me, “He (HP) was more locked into soundstage, timbre, and resolution but it is musical timing that let's your brain relax and think it is real.”
Regarding an”absolute sound.” It’s not a stretch to say we can all agree that our systems should be able to reproduce the recording as it occurred. That includes the timbre, dynamic range and full frequency response of the performance. Admittedly a daunting, if not impossible task.
But that’s where things get sticky because what’s recorded and comes out the other end aren’t necessarily the same. Hence the push for purist recording. But even those producers and engineers knew—just as the people who gave us the recordings from the Golden Age Of Stereo—that some tarting up was always necessary. After all, they were at the recording. So is the absolute fidelity to the actual performance or to the master tape or digital file?
HP also felt that for many reasons that amplified instruments were not up to the task of reviewing audio equipment. Who knows what they are supposed to sound like? Truth be told every amplified and unamplified instrument sounds different so maybe an “absolute sound” gets you at best 75% of the way there. A violin should sound like a violin; but a truly revealing system should tell us what kind of violin.
Truth be told many of these amplified instruments take for electric guitars do have a sound. (The sounds good vs sounds pretty school shall be left to another time.) Just ask musician who plays them. The electronica so to speak just gives a musician a greater language with which they can express themselves. And make no mistake. Music is as much of a language as is English, Spanish, German, etc.
That brings us to the topic of musical timing and the ability of our equipment to reproduce that ever so important and sometimes elusive quality. Timing is everything in music. Proper timing gives life to the music. So why don’t audiophiles pay more attention to it? Because it’s easier to perceive soundstaging and dynamics? Because soundstaging and dynamics smack us over the head?
Perhaps the first consideration of the importance of timing was Tom Miller’s review in the pages of conrad-johnson’s Premier Seven preamplifier. Here was a product incorporating new (in the sense too of large values) Teflon capacitors that brought home the importance of musical timing. Why? Because this dual mono preamplifier didn’t smear notes like earlier generations of high-end audio equipment. The lack of smearing also now pointed out the importance of transient attack attack, musical silence and and in the end the perception of rhythm.
Timing isn’t simple and incorporates many qualities including the solidity of, length of, silence between, attack of and consistent decay of the notes played. Can you for example tell if the musician is playing a note (not just chord) on a guitar with an up or downstroke (there is a difference, nonetheless, as much as musicians practice)? To wit, quarter notes with downstrokes and eighth notes with upstrokes. How easy is it to hear phrasing or musical motifs? Those silences are periods in the music and time for a breath. Or a response.
Where does timing make its presence felt? Take for instance jazz. Sure the concept of syncopation can be traced back to the days of Mozart and Bach. But it’s the concept of timing, up and downbeats, off beats, triplets, playing slightly in front or behind the beat that gives jazz its uniqueness. This concept all begins with the front-end and certainly differentiates good from great turntables. If the musical timing is messed up here, there’s nothing you can do after to resurrect it. Or take a piano or guitar. When the timing is off, the music loses its bounce, articulation and solidity of notes and free decay of instrumental overtones.
Further thought?
High-end audio is a constantly evolving journey and the more we listen, the more we should question things. It’s become increasingly apparent as I continue my evolution and delve more deeply into the music that musical timing, rhythm, etc. was a quality that HP missed, ignored, didn’t appreciate, etc. and that continues in high-end audio to the present day. No, we’re not talking about in the old days where PRAT was largely an exaggerated quality and resonance that gave the appearance of timing.
It was largely through the efforts of people such as Gordon Holt and Harry Pearson that we have an audiophile language/vocabulary to assist in communicating what we hear. That is with eyes wide open that that reductionism isn’t perfect and comes with its own sets of issues. But in this case focusing on one quality at a time when listening to something so highly complex as music (with so many things happening at one time) allows for greater perceptual ability. At the same time, however, a listener can become too fixated on a few qualities—take imaging or dynamics—to the detriment of other qualities.
HP defined the term the “absolute sound” as being the sound of unamplified live instruments. But is that necessarily correct? Partially correct? Is there an “absolute sound?” Was it about HP being a classical snob? Did HP also miss the boat when it came to musical timing? Was it as a manufacturer recently shared with me, “He (HP) was more locked into soundstage, timbre, and resolution but it is musical timing that let's your brain relax and think it is real.”
Regarding an”absolute sound.” It’s not a stretch to say we can all agree that our systems should be able to reproduce the recording as it occurred. That includes the timbre, dynamic range and full frequency response of the performance. Admittedly a daunting, if not impossible task.
But that’s where things get sticky because what’s recorded and comes out the other end aren’t necessarily the same. Hence the push for purist recording. But even those producers and engineers knew—just as the people who gave us the recordings from the Golden Age Of Stereo—that some tarting up was always necessary. After all, they were at the recording. So is the absolute fidelity to the actual performance or to the master tape or digital file?
HP also felt that for many reasons that amplified instruments were not up to the task of reviewing audio equipment. Who knows what they are supposed to sound like? Truth be told every amplified and unamplified instrument sounds different so maybe an “absolute sound” gets you at best 75% of the way there. A violin should sound like a violin; but a truly revealing system should tell us what kind of violin.
Truth be told many of these amplified instruments take for electric guitars do have a sound. (The sounds good vs sounds pretty school shall be left to another time.) Just ask musician who plays them. The electronica so to speak just gives a musician a greater language with which they can express themselves. And make no mistake. Music is as much of a language as is English, Spanish, German, etc.
That brings us to the topic of musical timing and the ability of our equipment to reproduce that ever so important and sometimes elusive quality. Timing is everything in music. Proper timing gives life to the music. So why don’t audiophiles pay more attention to it? Because it’s easier to perceive soundstaging and dynamics? Because soundstaging and dynamics smack us over the head?
Perhaps the first consideration of the importance of timing was Tom Miller’s review in the pages of conrad-johnson’s Premier Seven preamplifier. Here was a product incorporating new (in the sense too of large values) Teflon capacitors that brought home the importance of musical timing. Why? Because this dual mono preamplifier didn’t smear notes like earlier generations of high-end audio equipment. The lack of smearing also now pointed out the importance of transient attack attack, musical silence and and in the end the perception of rhythm.
Timing isn’t simple and incorporates many qualities including the solidity of, length of, silence between, attack of and consistent decay of the notes played. Can you for example tell if the musician is playing a note (not just chord) on a guitar with an up or downstroke (there is a difference, nonetheless, as much as musicians practice)? To wit, quarter notes with downstrokes and eighth notes with upstrokes. How easy is it to hear phrasing or musical motifs? Those silences are periods in the music and time for a breath. Or a response.
Where does timing make its presence felt? Take for instance jazz. Sure the concept of syncopation can be traced back to the days of Mozart and Bach. But it’s the concept of timing, up and downbeats, off beats, triplets, playing slightly in front or behind the beat that gives jazz its uniqueness. This concept all begins with the front-end and certainly differentiates good from great turntables. If the musical timing is messed up here, there’s nothing you can do after to resurrect it. Or take a piano or guitar. When the timing is off, the music loses its bounce, articulation and solidity of notes and free decay of instrumental overtones.
Further thought?
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