AES Dublin 2019
Workshop W14
Friday, March 22, 14:30 — 16:00 (Liffey A)
W14 - Circles of Confusion
Chair:Thomas Lund, Genelec Oy - Iisalmi, Finland
Panelists:
Jamie Angus-Whiteoak, University of Salford - Salford, Greater Manchester, UK; JASA Consultancy - York, UK
David Griesinger, David Griesinger Acoustics - Cambridge, MA, USA
Bob Katz, Digital Domain Mastering - Orlando, FL, USA
Mandy Parnell, Black Saloon Studios - London, UK
30.000 year old cave paintings are among human beings' most impressive cultural heritage, while we are unable to experience how music by excellent composers sounded just 300 years ago. Within the last couple of generations we acquired the technical skills to record sound. However, that asset is degenerating because of cognitive limitations and the circles of confusion, because of which "smart" loudspeakers will have the potential to add even more ambiguity.
Without proper anchoring of spectral balance and level, drifting over time is foreseeable in self-referenced systems, thereby putting legacy recordings at the risk of sounding dated for no good reason, or causing irreversible distortion to be added to pieces of art.
The panel will discuss baseline listening requirements for in-room and headphone spectral balance and level that stand the test of time, putting our interests as a species above commercial trivialities.