Heard a live band today

[Bloodstriker]

I finally heard a live band today for the first time since I setup the audio gear at home. Wow. I have to say, I can't imagine anything replicating the feel of the drums. Just... wow.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I finally heard a live band today for the first time since I setup the audio gear at home. Wow. I have to say, I can't imagine anything replicating the feel of the drums. Just... wow.

You mean the Live Band Drums just sound a lot more Tight & less Boomy?
That is one reason I love my BP7000SCs. I imagine nothing will ever be 100% like the real deal Live Band, but my BP7000SCs come close enough for me.

 

[Warpdrv]

I love concerts.... they really bring the pounding of the double kick drums...

 

[OttoMatic]

Are we talking about amplified music here? I think it's much easier to recreate largely amplified music more than it is to recreate less amplified music like a jazz combo (even though they may be using amplified instruments). It's that "real thing" that's hard to come up with at home...

 

[Gimpy Ric]

I always wear musician ear plugs when I listen to live music. I didn't spend $8000.00 plus on my gear to loose my hearing by over driven mains at concerts. Two months ago I saw Alice in Chains and Velvet Revolver, and the sound guys had it cranked all the way up. The bottom end wound up being muddy at times.

The best sound I ever heard live was Metallica. In the Tallahassee Civic Center (all steel and concrete, crappy venue), but they got the big bucks, and the sound was damn near recording studio quality. Best concert I've ever attended.

On my wheelchair, I carry a set of Peltor 10 over the ear hearing headphones. In my small backpack I carry 25-30 pair of foam earplugs, plus my triple flange concert plugs.

Guys, please watch out for your hearing and everybody else's too. ALWAYS WEAR HEARING PROTECTION!

 

[Bloodstriker]

It was semi-amplified I guess. Electric guitar, electric bass guitar, drums, two singers. Cool part was that this was in a lounge, so I was only about 10 ft away from the drums.

I noticed a few things when comparing to my speakers+subs to the drums:

- Much, much, tighter and more punchier with the real thing.
- Sounds more tactile. Hard to explain - the real thing actually sounds like a cylinder with canvas being hit with sticks. I felt like the drums where sending shockwaves to me. Whereas, the speakers+sub sound more like...hmmm... just thuds?

I'm going to my car to get YYZ so I can hear the drum solo right now.

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

- Sounds more tactile. Hard to explain - the real thing actually sounds like a cylinder with canvas being hit with sticks. I felt like the drums where sending shockwaves to me. Whereas, the speakers+sub sound more like...hmmm... just thuds?

This is a problem of sound recording. Your stereo is fine, but there are only a handful of albums in the world where the drum track is recorded to accurately sound like actual drums. Case in point all 100 songs on Billboard's 'Hot/Top 100' (for 11/10/07) have a poorly recorded drum track. People want that quasi-synthesizer wood spoon hitting mashed poatos drum-like noise.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

It was semi-amplified I guess. Electric guitar, electric bass guitar, drums, two singers. Cool part was that this was in a lounge, so I was only about 10 ft away from the drums.

I noticed a few things when comparing to my speakers+subs to the drums:

- Much, much, tighter and more punchier with the real thing.
- Sounds more tactile. Hard to explain - the real thing actually sounds like a cylinder with canvas being hit with sticks. I felt like the drums where sending shockwaves to me. Whereas, the speakers+sub sound more like...hmmm... just thuds?

I'm going to my car to get YYZ so I can hear the drum solo right now.

I think I know what you mean.

That was one reason I got rid of my NHT SuperZero +SW2P Sub.

The bass output from the subwoofer can shake the walls, but it was NOT as tight and punchy & fast like live kick drums.

I think my current full range speakers are a lot closer to the real deal than my previous NHT system.

 

[moreira85]

how do most of you holics listen to concerts? 2.1 i assume???

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

how do most of you holics listen to concerts? 2.1 i assume???

Some like 5.1 SACD or DVD-A, but I definitely prefer 2.0 with a full range tower speaker & a clean & powerful stereo preamplifier and amplifier.

 

[Bloodstriker]

I would have to say I prefer 2.0 for sound quality. I haven't had a chance to hear TrueHD yet though!

 

[Highbar]

I love my Paradigm/Rotel combo. I used to use my movie set up (below) to listen to music but it lacked almost all of the mid-bass. I played with it on and off for almost a year before I got the new setup. The Digms hit every note I ask them to, from club beats to Feist, and when you ask them to put out bass they sure can. 2.0 for me, maybe with some better bookself speakers a 2.1 setup would work but not now.

 

[moreira85]

so when you listen to music how do you put it in 2 channel and shut the sub off. i usually put my receiver in 2 channel stereo and the sub still stays on. do you manually turn off the sub or just hit pure direct which is a feature on my yamaha. i just listen to phil collins true colors in pure direct, man do those VR3s kick it. i think i really like the 2.0

 

[cornelius]

When I was still in the demo period with my current speakers, I would record myself with bands and check those recordings between my old and new speakers as a sort of test. I've been pretty happy with my rig for the last few years now, and I can get a taste of that "real thing" when I hear my drums played back on a recording. But, only a TASTE of the "real thing"! I definitely need better recordings, and a better system at home to really get it.

I'm going to have to spend a LOT more dough to get a little bit of improvement, but I know I can get more live oomph - I've heard it in studios and much more expensive consumer systems. Once you hear it, you get why we get so geeked out over all of this gear - it's really fun to hear!

BTW, I picked up a new DAC recently, and that helped a lot in the "live" vibe - more than I thought it would.

 

[davidtwotrees]

I'm going to have to spend a LOT more dough to get a little bit of improvement, but I know I can get more live oomph - I've heard it in studios and much more expensive consumer systems. Once you hear it, you get why we get so geeked out over all of this gear - it's really fun to hear!
BTW, I picked up a new DAC recently, and that helped a lot in the "live" vibe - more than I thought it would.

So, Cornelius, what are you running in your rig. I had a MSB Link DAC III
and a Pioneer Elite player running for awhile. Sounded nice, but the DAC was old technology, so I'm not sure if I was getting the most from the setup.

 

[Highbar]

I don't have to worry about turning the sub off. I have the Onkyo DVD hooked to the Sony (which the sub is hooked to) via COAX and to the Rotel analog. I hit the button on my Harmony 880 and everything is good to go.

I can't wait to have the money to get rid of the Sony/JBL combo and get a surround set of Digms (I love the sound and I'm only running the Monitors not the Studios) and a good Denon or Rotel receiver. Love the Rotel sound but Denon is not far behind and has way more features for the money.

T

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

so when you listen to music how do you put it in 2 channel and shut the sub off. i usually put my receiver in 2 channel stereo and the sub still stays on. do you manually turn off the sub or just hit pure direct which is a feature on my yamaha. i just listen to phil collins true colors in pure direct, man do those VR3s kick it. i think i really like the 2.0

Yeah, 2.0 Pure Direct Music w/ tall towers are great, huh? I love it.

 

[moreira85]

Yeah, 2.0 Pure Direct Music w/ tall towers are great, huh? I love it.

absolutely, what a difference in the towers when your in pure direct, the mids, lows, precision is so much better when listening to music. i put in some norah jones which my wife loves and the detail was incredible.

WHAT ABOUT CONCERT DVDS? 2 CHANNEL OR 5.1???

 

[cornelius]

Hey David - I have a Pacific Valve modified Lite Audio DAC AM - very cheap... The improvement was so great, I think I'll eventually try a Benchmark or Lavry.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

absolutely, what a difference in the towers when your in pure direct, the mids, lows, precision is so much better when listening to music. i put in some norah jones which my wife loves and the detail was incredible.

WHAT ABOUT CONCERT DVDS? 2 CHANNEL OR 5.1???

I think the surround sound gives us more ambience, but not any more details or better sound quality than high quality uncompressed 2.0 PCM music.

If it is intended to be 5.1 music, then I will listen to 5.1 (SACD/DVD-A).

However, I still prefer all my music listening to 2.0 Pure Direct/Full Range Towers.

I have the Peter Mallick New York City featuring Norah Jones CD. Great live jazz.