In the computer profession there is an old aphorism. Garbage in and Garbage out or "GIGO. This applies to the sound reproduction of music.
The other day I was playing a compilation disc of Caravan recordings. At one point I though that something had gone wrong with my amplifier and I would find an excuse to buy a new one. Not so, the dynamic range on the different tracks was very variable and so was the volume. All of the tracks sounded fine on their own but when compared to one another quickly they exposed differences in the mastering techniques.
I played a John Fahey recording which I use as a reference and there he was sitting in my living room and playing to me; the sound reproduction was perfect. There was no excuse to re-invest.
If poor equipment is used to make the original recording or if a mistake is made then a poor master recording will result. Then there will be poor musical performance all the way through to your loudspeakers and eventually your ears.
If, a sound engineer does not master the recordings well then the music can be ruined. Too much compression will result in music reproduction that is boring and soulless.
If there is a poor master recording nothing much can be done to resolve the situation by using 180 gm vinyl pressings or so called high resolution digital 24 bit /192 kHz master tapes. They cannot correct an inadequate frequency response or rectify harmonic distortion or excessive noise etc.
Remember, all sound reproduction systems will degrade the sound coming out of your speakers to a lesser or greater extent. No turntable, cartridge or tone arm combination can put right the mistakes made in the original recording or master tape. The same applies to Digital to Analogue Converters. No form of investment in high end equipment will rectify these errors either.
This facet of Hi-Fi sound reproduction is regularly ignored by some magazines and manufacturers. I wonder why? But be assured that "GIGO"reigns supreme.
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