People who like sound, whether they understand it or not, will generally try to listen to the symphony.
It is said that enjoying the symphony is an act of elegance, and those who have a sound can not miss it.
In addition, the symphony is the touchstone for testing audio equipment, but all HIFI audio equipment that listens to the symphony as the selling point is sky-high.
Vocals, strings, and jazz are not too demanding on sound, and a pair of slightly better bookshelf speaker HIFI systems can show good results.
But to perform the symphony well, ordinary equipment is not so easy.
First of all, there are too many instruments in the symphony, dozens or hundreds of instruments, divided into different parts, and the block-like sound field is distributed on the stage.
Secondly, the symphony is not only low-frequency diving, but also has a grand sound field and a magnificent momentum.
Third, the sound fluctuates greatly, sometimes it may be the sound of one or several instruments, and sometimes dozens or hundreds of instruments playing at the same time.
Fourth, when the symphony orchestra plays, it will also produce an appropriate amount of reflection "hall tone" in the hall, and the audience will not hear exactly direct sound.
Therefore, with only the two speakers of HIFI, it is indeed difficult to truly restore these sound characteristics.
As an audio product manager, I know this and never thought about developing one of these speakers, but I found a workaround.
I love symphony, partly because we need to pay attention to it when making audio products, but also because I find that symphony has actually been integrated into our lives, but we just don't pay attention to it.
Many TV shows and movies have a lot of use of symphony, or highlight the theme, or set off the atmosphere, which is almost the production routine of TV or movie, which can make the show more exciting and more touching.
As a recent example, the music of athletes from all over the world at the Winter Olympics was composed of more than twenty world-famous songs in the form of symphonies. It feels very familiar, I don't know when it has already entered our minds.
In addition, I also realized that when enjoying a symphony, "seeing" is better than "listening" to the experience, and it is easier to understand.
I've been to the Shenzhen Concert Hall and the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing to experience several symphony performances, and I've found that feeling on the spot and enjoying it with a stereo at home are two different things.
I'm not just talking about sound effects, but the full experience.
Listening to symphonies at home, even if you are very familiar with the music, it is difficult to listen to a whole song in a precarious position, let alone those songs that you don't understand.
But it is different at the concert hall, and if you can listen to the whole performance with full concentration and still have to applaud and ask for a period of return.
This live experience made me suddenly understand that the purpose of going to the concert hall is not to "listen to music", but to "watch the performance". Whether the performance is wonderful or not, whether the sound effect is good or not, depends on the level of the conductor and orchestra, as well as the acoustic conditions on the scene.
From the moment the conductor takes the stage, the conductor's temperament and the spirit of the orchestra are displayed in front of the audience, coupled with the quiet atmosphere of the scene, the audience can quickly calm down and enter the state of appreciation.
In the performance, whether it is the conductor's gestures, or the eyes or expressions of the band members, every detail on the stage is very interesting.
The role of the conductor is not only to direct the orchestra, but also to communicate and inspire the audience.
The communication between the conductor and the musician is in the eyes of the audience. Although the conductor has his back to the audience, the audience can better understand the meaning of the music based on the conductor's gestures and the musician's movements and expressions.
Even if you don't understand it, at least you can hear the basic emotions expressed by the music through the way of "seeing", such as beautiful melodies, cheerful rhythms, warm atmospheres, humorous tunes, etc., and the general meaning can still be understood.
At the concert, some familiar or humorous pieces are usually interspersed, and the conductor will also bring the band members to make some brief exchanges with the audience. Therefore, the whole scene will not feel boring, nor will it feel difficult to understand, and a few hours will pass quickly.
The conductor interacts with the audience
Symphony performance live conductor interacts with the audience
With these experiences and understanding these truths, I stopped regretting not having expensive sound equipment and found two other ways to enjoy the symphony.
First, use multi-channel home theater speakers to enjoy the symphony.
As mentioned earlier, there are many symphonic instruments, high and low frequencies are undulating, and the voice parts are complex, and it is difficult to show good results with two-channel sound.
But home theater sound is different, not only a number of speakers distributed in the room, but also a special subwoofer responsible for low frequencies, this 5.1 collocation is very suitable for the performance of symphonic music, the most important thing is that the equipment is not too expensive to express the essence and atmosphere of the symphony.
The first three main speakers are responsible for the display of each part of the band, that is, the soundstage positioning; while the surround speakers are supplemented by the first three main speakers, which can not only enhance the width and depth of the soundstage, but also create a "hall sound" effect like a concert hall, making the listening more live. Subwoofers have a special amplifier push and are only responsible for low frequencies, so other speakers only need to be responsible for medium and high frequencies.
Therefore, with the 5.1 audio performance symphony, do not have to take into account the high, medium and low frequencies like the two-channel system, the choice of power amplifier and speaker is much easier, the power of the power amplifier, control, speaker caliber of the speaker, etc., the standard can be relaxed a lot.
Even if the main speaker of the 3-inch or 5-inch horn, with the 8-inch subwoofer, coupled with the room's oversized speaker (the reflection of the wall can integrate the sound of these speakers and subwoofers in the room), as long as the amplifier is not too bad, under their common action, a few thousand yuan of 5.1 sound can also get a good overall effect, the symphony requires a low-frequency sense of volume and a wide and grand sound field, can fully express it.
However, this way of appreciating the symphony must have prerequisites, the film source must have Dolby and DTS encoding, and the power amplifier must also have the corresponding decoding capabilities.
There are two types of film sources:
One is a live concert Blu-ray disc with video footage, or a downloaded concert source, and it must have Dolby or DTS encoding.
This is actually the same as home theater, except that it is not a movie, but a symphony concert.
If you agree with the earlier view that "symphonies are better to watch", it is best to enjoy the symphony at home in this way.
The second is the 5.1 DTS film source, only the music has no picture. This kind of film source can be purchased dtS discs, can also be downloaded online, of course, there are also online APP, more convenient to use.
Apps with DTS content can be installed in the Dangbei Market; Apple mobile phones can also be used, but only two channels of music can be listened to.
Second, enjoy the symphony in the movie while watching the movie.
Enjoying a symphony is different from watching a movie.
People who like movies can watch them once a month, once a week, or even watch them for several days.
The symphony cannot often be enjoyed or watched in a sitting position, and those songs that can be understood and liked by you will always be tired of watching or listening to them every day. Generally, it is formally appreciated every once in a while, and usually the symphony is mostly open as background music to listen, as if listening to the state of non-listening, and does not affect doing other things.
But when watching a movie, you can enjoy the symphony at the same time, and people who like to watch movies have the opportunity to often enjoy the symphony, which is a very good experience.
The theme music and background music of many movies are symphonic, the purpose is to set off the atmosphere or highlight the theme, although they are some fragments, but they are also worth appreciating. Different movies mean having a variety of tracks, classic or newly created; if you're lucky, you can also encounter familiar tracks in the movie.
Because of the plot and picture, the symphony in the movie is easy to understand. As long as you pay a little attention when watching movies and develop the habit of appreciating the background music of movies, especially symphonies, the experience of watching movies is another realm.
Thank you for reading, I am the star workshop audio old Yang, there are questions can be commented, can be private chat, new friends welcome to pay attention.
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