Re: Digital to Analog downloading Question ?

In article <ftmlur015pk@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>, bob <nabob33@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 
wrote:

> On Apr 10, 8:45 pm, Sonnova <sonn...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> > On Wed, 9 Apr 2008 20:36:24 -0700, bob wrote
> 
> > > No, it doesn't. Live music sounds different to me, every time I hear
> > > it.
> >
> > I knew someone was going to make JUST that pedantic comment. Of course
it
> > sounds "different" every time, but it still sounds like the instrument
or 
> > the
> > set of instruments that it is. But does a sax not sound like a sax -
every
> > time you hear one? A violin like a violin? A piano like a piano? Can
you 
> > not
> > ALWAYS discern live music from canned?  I think anybody can. Music and
> > reproduction wouldn't mean very much if you couldn't make those
> > determinations. The fact that the venue changes some aspects of the
sound
> > doesn't mean that a saxophone becomes something else. It's always a 
> > saxophone
> > and its always recognizable as a sax and will be every time. Now, I'm
not
> > discounting the possibility that a sax (or any other instrument)
sounds
> > different to you than it might to me, but still, the sound that a
saxophone
> > makes whether different for each of us or the same is stored in our
aural
> > memory and when we hear one, we think "saxophone". Therefore the sound
of a
> > live baritone sax, for instance, is an absolute because it always
sounds 
> > like
> > a sax to each of us, even though, if I could hear it as you hear it,
not
> > having YOUR aural memory, I might think it sounds strange (and vice
versa).
> > The point is that it sounds like a baritone sax to you and you are
able to
> > identify that sound and tell whether its live or reproduced.  
> 
> Granted, the binary distinction live vs. recorded is (at least
> usually) clear. But that isn't strong enough to make your point. You
> want to be able to determine whether one recorded sound is closer to
> live than another recorded sound. I don't think you can do that
> without specifying *which* live sound you have in mind--a full Avery
> Fisher, or an empty Alice Tully.

I disagree.  Live acoustic music ALWAYS displays distinctive qualities 
that separate it from any recorded sound.  Live acoustic music produced 
in Alice Tully, whether full or empty, will always sound like live 
music, and recorded sound has never displayed the those distinctive 
qualities.  For example, it's easy to tell the difference between an 
oboe and an English Horn in any live situation I've ever experienced, 
even when you don't know the score and can't see which instrument is 
being played.  It's often possible to even tell the make and model of 
the instrument.  In the case of recordings, it's sometimes impossible to 
tell the difference.