Air "around/between/under" the instruments

[Duane]

Can anyone shed some light as to what is meant by this statement?

Used to see this a lot back when I read articles from the likes of Stereophile,etc., but never really knew what was meant.

 

[SAFETYDAWG]

I am guessing that the phrase refers to "soundstage", or the perceived audio depth, width and height of a good system, well placed speakers and correct room acoustics.

 

[ev13wt]

It means you can hear the room, the air movements that are influenced by .... the instruments.

Take the instruments out of the equation and you have a valid statement. A good system and recording will give you a sense of the room size and type.

Only valid for venues and the like, ain't no "air" in the recording studios.

 

[Superampman]

Low level resolution

 

[sqlsavior]

The phrase refers to an impression that instruments and voices can be heard both separately and as part of the whole. In a two channel system, it is often accompanied by the impression that the voices and instruments are coming from different parts of a "soundstage", in three dimensions. "Separation between instruments" is usually considered a good thing.

 

[Superampman]

The phrase refers to an impression that instruments and voices can be heard both separately and as part of the whole. In a two channel system, it is often accompanied by the impression that the voices and instruments are coming from different parts of a "soundstage", in three dimensions. "Separation between instruments" is usually considered a good thing.

This is especially noticeable/impressive when an amp has the ability to do so during complex passages. Separates the boys from the men.

 

[chadnliz]

Listen to a album like "Jazz at the Pawn Shop", this recording was in a i l think a dinner club, in a good system you can hear the depth and dimension of the players positions on the stage, you can hear glass and silverware from the audience and it can at times send you inside that space. On recordings with piano you can really hear all the decay of the strings and the hammer strikes, on woodwind instruments you can hear the breath, drum snare brush strokes is another. To me its those tiny details that is brought out....it can be amazing.

 

[sqlsavior]

... A good system and recording will give you a sense of the room size and type.

Only valid for venues and the like, ain't no "air" in the recording studios.

Actually, I think one can often hear the room(s) in studio recordings, too. And it's often easy to identify when different tracks are from different acoustic spaces.

 

[chadnliz]

It means you can hear the room, the air movements that are influenced by .... the instruments.

Take the instruments out of the equation and you have a valid statement. A good system and recording will give you a sense of the room size and type.

Only valid for venues and the like, ain't no "air" in the recording studios.

Really?
Vocals, drums are 2 of the best examples of being recorded in bathrooms or hallways to capture a desired echo or affect, a vocal.track laid down in a carpeted booth or drums taped in a small space sound VASTLY different.

 

[marqueemoon]

Actually, I think one can often hear the room(s) in studio recordings, too. And it's often easy to identify when different tracks are from different acoustic spaces.

True, but they may also be artificial acoustic spaces.

Anyway, to me the "air" just means bringing out or at least not smearing the subtle clues that allow you to place a particular instrument in (real or fake) physical space.

My theory is this is really where reproducing harmonic content comes into play. It's the kind of stuff you can't as easily fake with a reverb.

 

[kirk57]

Good examples are Belafonte at Carnegie Hall, or Sinatra at the Sands. If your system is capable of resolving very low level detail you get a sense of the venue.

It's not BS, it is very real.

 

[jhoyt]

To me, "air" means a sense of realness and tangibility to the instruments, the spatial cues are 3-dimensional. It happens far more with acoustic instruments than amplified or electronic instruments.

 

[Gang-Twanger]

This is especially noticeable/impressive when an amp has the ability to do so during complex passages. Separates the boys from the men.

:yes:

I knew I was getting somewhere when I could clearly hear all the instruments and voices on "Isn't It A Pity" from "All Things Must Pass" (first version). The background vocals on top of background vocals. And then recently I started playing Penderecki's "De Nature Sonoris" on my current setup. All those instruments and voices, each doing something different. "Isn't It A Pity" is a good reference track though. It really pushes the limits of midrange clarity and complexity.

 

[BeerCan]

To me it is one of the words reviewers use to try and sound authoritative. I personally cannot hear "air", I have never heard it at live concerts and I have never heard it on my stereo. I also have never heard "blackness", "darkness" or the silence between tracks.

 

[Gang-Twanger]

To me it is one of the words reviewers use to try and sound authoritative. I personally cannot hear "air", I have never heard it at live concerts and I have never heard it on my stereo. I also have never heard "blackness", "darkness" or the silence between tracks.

"Blackness" is a great term for explaining midrange coherency and richness, in essence to describe the midrange style/"flavor" of a speaker or piece of gear, some going as far as to say "liquidy/liquid-like. My Wharfedale Denton reissues are a good example of that.

 

[bare]

Interesting mr Beer Can.
I agree.. Concerts are Not very good at all for sound quality. Rarely are they about the Sound (beyond the 'Brand' of the Band performing) But the shared event.
Same reason a Hokey Game is more thrilling in person.
Stereo Hacks (and IMO they mostly are) have overused descriptors to the point they have become cliches and lost All meaning.
They have a Lot to answer for

Air can be an artifice, often engineered in.
But even a moderate system should recreate the illusion of a 3d space and when the setup is quite good one can pick out, identify and retain/follow a particular instrument.. at will.
Quite a pleasant experience when that happens.

 

[fiddlefye]

Part of the problem is that the language is short on words for describing some of the ideas and so we borrow from other areas of experience that have a greater vocabulary.

Listening to some jazz at the moment recorded in a small club (FM on the "main" system) and it is very clear how big the room is and the depth of seating in the club, even to the point of hearing that there is a raised section of audience at the back of the room. Good soundstage is magic to me, pulls me right into the performance.

 

[moejr]

Part of the problem is that the language is short on words for describing some of the ideas and so we borrow from other areas of experience that have a greater vocabulary.

Listening to some jazz at the moment recorded in a small club (FM on the "main" system) and it is very clear how big the room is and the depth of seating in the club, even to the point of hearing that there is a raised section of audience at the back of the room. Good soundstage is magic to me, pulls me right into the performance.

How can you tell there is a raised section of audience? This intrigues me.

 

[moejr]

To me it is one of the words reviewers use to try and sound authoritative. I personally cannot hear "air", I have never heard it at live concerts and I have never heard it on my stereo. I also have never heard "blackness", "darkness" or the silence between tracks.

There is alot of words and phrases that reviewers use that can be described as fluff.

 

[JimJ[VT]]

How can you tell there is a raised section of audience? This intrigues me.

They're the ones heckling louder.