#sonic events rendering

[richardvarey]

Audiophile Theatre and the Work of Inhabitation

Home audio, properly understood, exists to render recordings into sonic events that facilitate attunement: the state in which you become part of the music rather than remaining outside it, analysing. But a great deal of audiophile activity has surprisingly little to do with achieving this goal. Instead, it constitutes what might be called audiophile theatre—the performance of concern about…

[richardvarey]

The reproduction frame and its fallout

The negative consequences: Treating home audio as reproduction of captured music installs a hierarchy where the “original” event (usually live performance) sits at the top, and everything that follows is measured by fidelity to that moment. This creates several problems: Endless deferral of satisfaction. You’re always chasing something you weren’t present for. The listening experience becomes…

[richardvarey]

Asymmetric Control

Rethinking Production, Playback, and the Listening Rendering There’s a striking asymmetry at the heart of audiophile practice that rarely gets examined directly. We have essentially zero control over production rendering—the sum of all choices made in recording, mixing, and mastering—except in the binary sense of choosing to play a recording or not. But we have substantial, even obsessive…

[richardvarey]

Production rendering & Listening rendering

It’s a useful framework to think of both production of a recording and listening as rendering processes, each with their own transformations and constraints. Production rendering process Acoustic event → transduction → electrical signal → storage medium Sound source (instrument, voice, ambient space) Already has spatial, timbral, dynamic characteristics Exists in a particular acoustic…

[richardvarey]

Defining home audio as sonic event rendering

I’ve worked the concepualisation and application of my reframing sufficiently to now stabilise a definition. Home audio as sonic event rendering: Home audio reproduction aims to render sonic events—sound sources with spatial, timbral, and temporal characteristics that cohere sufficiently to support sustained perceptual attention. This isn’t about accuracy to some original (which may never have…

[richardvarey]

Why vague audiophile vocabulary enables self-deception

The reframing I’ve been working through recently is useful in one specific way: it makes it harder to bullshit. “Sonic event rendering” points toward something with identifiable characteristics—you can’t just wave your hands about “musicality” or “transparency”. If you claim a voice now has “dimensional presence”, that implies something potentially describable: localisation cues, coherent room…

[richardvarey]

What You've Been Noticing But Couldn't Name

We’ve all probably had the experience: a system that measures impeccably, receives glowing reviews, costs more than seems reasonable—and yet something’s wrong. Not dramatically wrong. It sounds detailed, extended, dynamic. But listening is work. After half an hour you’re tired, or distracted, or finding reasons to do something else. The system seems to be presenting the music whilst somehow…

[richardvarey]

When Depth Sounds Right

On Not Chasing Audiophile Phantoms Most audiophiles, at some point in their journey, become convinced their system needs more soundstage depth. They read forum posts praising speakers that “throw a holographic image with layers extending back to the rear wall”. They audition components marketed for their ability to “create a deep, three-dimensional soundstage”. They become dissatisfied with…