Back to the subject of those early, resolutely audiophile labels and ultimately, the vast majority of them were built on feet of musical clay, a weakness that was to prove fatal, once they came under pressure from increasing prices and ever-poorer pressing quality in the wake of the first oil crisis, along with CD’s bombastic claims of sonic superiority and longevity. Meanwhile, the emergence of re-issue houses, such as Chesky and Classic Records, quickly eclipsed the last remaining glimmers of the audiophile LP industry. Looking back from the vantage point of a current perspective, it’s hard to conclude that the vast majority of these records represent anything other than a pointless waste of scarce petro-chemical resources.
So, why even bother to disinter the subject?
I didn’t – but it’s coming back of its own accord, not in the shape of audiophile LPs, but ‘high-res files’ instead.
Star ratings and star quality…
The reason this is relevant is the rise of ‘high-res’ recordings. My scepticism when it comes to file replay or streaming and the challenges facing these newer formats is well documented, yet time and again, when the subject comes up, file replay advocates fall back on the same argument: you need to listen to native high-res recordings. Now, I’d be amongst the first to point out the very real differences (in conceptual and qualitative terms) between up-sampled Red Book recordings and a native high-res recording. But that doesn’t mean that native high-res recordings are the be-all and end-all of high quality music replay. For starters, it ignores the very real questions around the quality and consistency of network infrastructure (or USB hardware). But, my major criticism of high-res file replay performance is based on a very simple fact: it’s the performance I listen to – the musical performance rather than the sonic qualities. There might well be an ever-growing number of native high-res files to replay – but few if any of them feature artists I actually want to listen to. When people suggest I listen to recordings from the likes of 2L, Challenge Classics or TRPTK, I find nothing in the catalogues from those labels to tempt me. I’m sorry, but with all due respect, if I want to hear the Ysaÿe Violin Sonatas, I’m going to choose Hilary Hahn or Alina Ibragimova over Sólveig Steinbórsdóttir every time: because I can. What I’m not going to do is choose second string artists or embark on some aimless trawl through uncharted musical territory in search of some hidden nugget, just because those recordings are available in native high-res. The more things change, the more they stay the same…
Which makes me wonder whether we are (once again) starting to listen to sound rather than music? It’s a question that becomes even more pertinent now than it ever was, as the musical limitations of the artists captured on so many audiophile or native high-res recordings are mirrored in the flaws exhibited by so many streaming and file-replay solutions. Who cares about musical coherence and temporal continuity if you are solely listening to sonics?
