[BC] The real thing...

[Robert Orban]

At 09:41 AM 9/21/2008, Jeff Johnson wrote:

>I attended, last evening, a concert by the CSO (Cincinnati 
>Symphony). By 'modern' processing standards it lacked 'presence' and 
>'sizzle'. (Sweet blessed relief!)
>
>I recall the Red Queen PD of one of the commercial stations I worked 
>for recently describing how she wanted the station to sound. It was 
>like listening to Donald Trump directing to his architect. Once we 
>satisfied her, I could not stand to listen for more than a few 
>seconds, and then only to ascertain that the station was on the air.
>
>Incidentally, it is the very same CSO, in its Pops guise, on the 
>famous Telarc 1812 Overture disk.

A lot depends on where you sit. For example, if you sit to the left 
of the hall, you will typically be more on-axis of instruments in the 
brass section (trumpets and trombones), so the brass sound will have 
more "bite."

I attend a lot of San Francisco Symphony concerts (in Davies Hall) 
and I never find the sound veiled or muffled. This is the "real 
thing," and I feel that it keeps my ears honest and helps me stay on 
track when tuning Optimod presets. I've always thought that too much 
"sizzle" is a bad thing -- it's fatiguing, particularly to women.

Bob Orban