The Last Post Game!!!!

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

But all things being equal, a live performance will always be better, just from the mechanical POV, it's almost impossible to get the same response from a speaker no matter how expensive. The other aspect is that the public affects the performance, as a performer I can tell you that while sometimes rehearsals sound technically better the emotion of the live performance with public changes things greatly.

Last _{there is an energy that can't be translated in the recording} Post

[Swatopluk]

As I said, I have made very different experiences with each option coming out on top on different occasions. Some works are superb when just listened to but are a pure disaster on stage however good the individual performance is. And how often does one get the perfect seat where one gets the right mix from the orchestra?

In most cases you are right of course. An imperfect live performance (and its recording) can beat a perfect but sterile studio recording quite often.
On the other hand I have often found an opera recording better than the stage productions (esp. 'modern' ones) of the same. I know to avoid the work of some stage directors like the plague even when the ensemble of performers is 1st rate.

Last _{Hans Neuenfels, I am looking at YOU} Post

[Griffin NoName]

I remember when CDs first came out, the music sounded too clean.

Last Post

[Swatopluk]

They aimed for perfection in order to be able to compete with classic vinyl.

Last _{why else should owners of large collections switch?} Post

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

At the initial prices it was no competition at all, it took ten years before prices were sensible.

Last _{it could've been worse, remember laser discs?} Post

[Swatopluk]

The prices had little to do with production costs even then. It was a business decision to artificially keep them up.
When the (then shellac) disk came on the market it was seen as a novelty and did not command high prices. The breakthrough came with 'exclusive' labels that pretended to be far ahead in quality and were priced much higher. That made it interesting for 'serious' people and thus rised the rep of the technology immensely.
With CDs they seem to have tried the same and also had to compete with the stuff from their own company on vinyl.

The NAXOS label was the first to balance art and business and got founded by a guy who was simply angry about the policy of the major labels. The result: a far broader repertoire at bargain prices plus a helping hand for aspiring but not yet well-known artists and orchestras.

Last _{I got to know lots of music I never had even heard of before through that company and its two labels NAXOS and Marco Polo*} Post

*their 'trial balloon' label that went into really obscure territory. When a production became successful enough here, it got relabeled and moved to the NAXOS catalogue

[Griffin NoName]

I have this odd habit of buying music I really like and then not playing it.

Last Post

[Swatopluk]

Same thing here with DVDs (and books)

Last Post

[Aggie]

Ayuh, I've got a shelf full of books I bought used that I haven't read yet. They looked interesting, and I'll probably get around to them, but I still go to the library to find new ones.

_{sneaking off with the} Last Post

[Griffin NoName]

Phew, glad others do this, it makes me feel guilty, as if I have done something naughty, I suppose wasting money. We certainly never as a family do anything like that in my childhood. Shows how modern life has got more and more money, money, money.

Last _{money makes the world go around} Post

[Aggie]

At $1 a book, I'm not too worried about letting them collect dust for a while.

I used to be not able to stop reading a book once I started it, even if I disliked it.  I'd feel guilty for not completing it.  I don't worry about that any more; if it's not an entertaining or enlightening read, I'll put it down.

Last Post

[Griffin NoName]

I used to be not able to stop reading a book once I started it, even if I disliked it.  I'd feel guilty for not completing it.  I don't worry about that any more; if it's not an entertaining or enlightening read, I'll put it down.

Same here. Those bad books never got any better so eventually I relaxed the rules. I've just joined a bookclub.

Last Post

[Swatopluk]

The problem starts when one cannot reach the older unread books anymore because of the stacks of newer ones in front.

Last Post

[roystonoboogie]

A musician friend wrote a thriller, full of horror, violence, drugs, kinky sex, all the manly vices. He publishes it on the Kindle. I tried to read it but I can't - it's utter rubbish. So now I'm stuck.

Last _{feeling too guilty to start another book before I finish it} post.

[Griffin NoName]

You need to speed read it. Just pick out the main point on each page so if he asks you can say something relevant.

I had to read a friend's Sci Fi manuscript and it was pretty much rubbish so sympathise.

Last _{these posts unuaslly make sense} Post