Any classical music lover here /.

[chuckyworld]

Really depends on the piece. For most light pieces, you can listen on your car stereo with all the noise around you. But for some serious works with a wide dynamic sound range, you really need a good hifi system and acoustically controlled environment to fully appreciate the music, otherwise the softer passages will not be perceptible or the loud passages will be too loud for your neighbours.

I listen to classical music or opera at home, in the car only heavy slow rock....., do have a set of Paradigm in my bedroom to serenade me to dreamland...

 

[blackmondy]

Hey all you Classical music Bros, do you listen to your music on HiFi home stereo like amp, cd or turntable & speakers or mp3 or on computer or car stereo? Do you use headphones or speakers? I have to wait until my family goes out or on holidays, neighbours not around, not too late at night.. then i can blast it out. Even then i'm always worried someone might complain it's too noisy or kaypoh come & see who playing loud music. So much stress just to be able to play the music i love.

I use desktop hi-fi and portable iPod rig. My humble setup here :

 

[blackmondy]

I try & listen to all my music regardless of styles & genres on my HiFi, if a piece of music is made by someone, it should be given a chance to be heard at it's best or optimum, sadly that choice is down to us & the artist have no say or control over how we play it back. I see people these days using MP3s for all of their music, i really SimTiah for the people making music, top end & bottom end already chopped off in MP3, how are you going to appreciate the full dynamic range let alone the subtleties of timbre?

No choice brudder. End of day it's still a business.

Even hi-end hi-fi companies have to kow-tow to compressed formats by supporting iPods and what-nots. A lot of reputable British hi-fi brands have folded to sold off to China and Hong Kong companies cos of the stubborn pound. And not many people appreciate uncompressed music 原汁原味.

I used to dabble with British hi-fi like Cyrus CD-players, amps and Epos speakers in the early 90s but now relegate to headphone rigs. It's a lot cheaper and takes up less space. Times have changed, unfortunately so must we :(

 

[blackmondy]

One thing about this Gardiner recording is that the orchestra used original period instruments which gave it a different sound compared to many orchestras using modern sonically enhanced instruments.

Period instruments tend to sound dry with no decay but Gardiner's Beethoven did not betray that fact. However listening to Mozart symphonies on period instruments by Hogwood or Pinnock can be a quite a pain with the shrilling strings.

 

[blackmondy]

Yes Karen Carpenter with her easy style of singing. Amazingly many of her songs are cover versions but she popularized the songs more than the original singers so much so that these got to be associated with her more than the original singers. Do you like Anne Murray?

A good example here. I feel she sings better than the original singer Dionne Warwick.

[video=youtube;eyjRerglqeA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyjRerglqeA[/video]

 

[GOD IS MY DOG]

Any bro who's into classical music can recommend the best Beethoven symphonies complete cycle ?

suffering from insomnia huh ?

take sleeping pills lah.........or watch those Taiwanese soap opera lor............more effective than classical music

 

[GOD IS MY DOG]

Period instruments tend to sound dry with no decay but Gardiner's Beethoven did not betray that fact. However listening to Mozart symphonies on period instruments by Hogwood or Pinnock can be a quite a pain with the shrilling strings.

buy tube cd player and amplifier lah......................plus pure silver cables confirm no longer dry and shrill liao............

 

[GOD IS MY DOG]

I use desktop hi-fi and portable iPod rig. My humble setup here :

View attachment 7367

Schiit Valhalla..............but this brand selling very expensive in S'pore compared to US pricing leh..........


suffering from insomnia huh ?

take sleeping pills lah.........or watch those Taiwanese soap opera lor............more effective than classical music

 

[Fook Seng]

I try & listen to all my music regardless of styles & genres on my HiFi, if a piece of music is made by someone, it should be given a chance to be heard at it's best or optimum, sadly that choice is down to us & the artist have no say or control over how we play it back. I see people these days using MP3s for all of their music, i really SimTiah for the people making music, top end & bottom end already chopped off in MP3, how are you going to appreciate the full dynamic range let alone the subtleties of timbre?

If the piece is listenable in an environment, I will listen to it. This way I have the chance to listen to it a lot more often. If you really like that music, you will listen to it regardless of equipment.

An audiophile, however, must listen to it with the best equipment. But even with the best equipment, one can never be sure if that is what the composer and the performer intended it to sound because both the recording equipment and the playback equipment alter the sound to a perceptible degree.

When we describe a set of equipment as bright or mellow or airy, this is an indication of the imperfections in the equipment or some deliberate attempt to control its response characteristics. A really flat piece of equipment can sound quite dry and lifeless for some music.

 

[zhihau]

Do you like Anne Murray?

was she the one who sang something that went along the lines of "you needed me, you needed me"?

 

[roadrunner]

No choice brudder. End of day it's still a business... Times have changed, unfortunately so must we :(

Not necessarily true if you're rich & a keen music collector, i got invited to a rich client's house for dinner party, these angmo types, they have library in their house, but this guy had a music room only he is allowed in & not his kids, inside got limited edtn. 180 & 200gm weigh vinyls, the room was A/C controlled & had mood lighting, one whole wall was covered from floor to ceiling with his music collection, mainly vinyl & CDs, ask him if he uses MP3s he said only got his iPhone or Laptop but he comes home & unwinds in his music room. KNN ok for some who have lots of money & a passion for their music collection. He joke with me & said, wait till you see my wife's shoes & clothing collection!

 

[Fook Seng]

I used to dabble with British hi-fi like Cyrus CD-players, amps and Epos speakers in the early 90s but now relegate to headphone rigs. It's a lot cheaper and takes up less space. Times have changed, unfortunately so must we :(

Although headphone has its dynamic range and response limitation and "in-the-head" sensation, it does eliminate the cross channel effects in using loudspeakers which should result in improved imaging.

 

[Fook Seng]

was she the one who sang something that went along the lines of "you needed me, you needed me"?

You had me there. Don't know her songs that well to remember the words but can recognise them. She has a deeper voice than Karen Carpenter. So while Karen's voice is clear and pierces the air, Anne's is deep and sonorous. Both are good vocalists but in a different way.

 

[roadrunner]

If the piece is listenable in an environment, I will listen to it. This way I have the chance to listen to it a lot more often. If you really like that music, you will listen to it regardless of equipment.

That's very true.

An audiophile, however, must listen to it with the best equipment. But even with the best equipment, one can never be sure if that is what the composer and the performer intended it to sound because both the recording equipment and the playback equipment alter the sound to a perceptible degree.

True again but at least one is trying to listen to the piece as best as you can, short of having the musicians in front of you. I had the opportunity of being in a recording studio & even the mastering studio & seen how engineers work, it was a revelation & remember we had discussions about quality. At the end of the day, artists & engineers will do their best but once it's out there, joe public will play it how they want & there's nothing you can do. That's why if there's a piece of music i really like, i'll make an effort to listen to it on my HiFi.

When we describe a set of equipment as bright or mellow or airy, this is an indication of the imperfections in the equipment or some deliberate attempt to control its response characteristics. A really flat piece of equipment can sound quite dry and lifeless for some music.

I guess it all comes down to intent & purpose, a period of lull or flatness before the storm of a crescendo always gets the blood rushing

 

[chuckyworld]

was she the one who sang something that went along the lines of "you needed me, you needed me"?

Me like Sarah Brighman, i have transfer most of my collection to audiophile, and also my xbox close to 2000 song not for gaming just for listening outdoor on the patio.....

 

[Fook Seng]

was she the one who sang something that went along the lines of "you needed me, you needed me"?

You are right. I checked up YouTube. You needed me is one of her more popular songs:

http://youtu.be/QrOdxw5CHX8

 

[zhihau]

Both are good vocalists but in a different way.

still favors K. Carpenter :o:o:o
me find African Americans with pretty good vocals too, from Big Momma Thornton to N. K. Cole...

 

[zhihau]

Me like Sarah Brighman, i have transfer most of my collection to audiophile, and also my xbox close to 2000 song not for gaming just for listening outdoor on the patio.....

her voice is very nice, me like her performance as Christine in Phamton of the Opera

 

[blackmondy]

Schiit Valhalla..............but this brand selling very expensive in S'pore compared to US pricing leh..........

It's not the Valhalla, it's the Lyr.

 

[blackmondy]

buy tube cd player and amplifier lah......................plus pure silver cables confirm no longer dry and shrill liao............

Pure silver are for boosting treble.