What Is Accuracy? And Why Do Audiophiles Love Jazz So Much?

August 19, 2021

What is accuracy? Audiophile’s love their true-to-life realism, but do the sound waves that come out of any given speaker really “recreate” what happened in the studio or concert hall? In this week’s episode of The Occasional Podcast, mastering engineer Dave McNair and producer Grover Neville discuss the topic along with several others. This includes the option between a clean reference vs more colorations in playback systems, and even a look at the production side of why audiophile’s Jazz so much.

The conversion is a great look at all things hifi from a production standpoint, via two music-makers-turned-audiophile that have a lot of experience on both sides of the fence. While there are of course many similarities in the view, there are very distinct points (both macro and wide) that make the two parties look at things just a bit differently. After all, gear to a producer is usually viewed a tool to accomplish a job, whereas an audiophile has the luxury of joining with gear merely for a good time.

The Occasional Podcast has just launched into their sixth season. Previous episodes include interviews, how to’s and more from audio’s greatest talents, including a rare interview with the late audio legend engineer Al Schmitt. The finale from season 5 includes the yearly “best of awards” and you can also find episodes covering British HiFi, Subwoofers/Setup/Tips, and the how to: Budgeting From Entry Level To High End. Season 4 highlights include Joseph Audio, Pro-Ject Turntables, and Rob Watts. One can still download this season’s educational show with TOP’s Beginners Primer To High Fidelity Digital Audio alongside the latest on Two-Way Speaker Design. Fan favorite What Is Mastering? What Happens When An Album Is Remastered? is also still available as well. If you are interested in further exploring the analog realm, the Guide To Buying A Turntable (and records) might point you in the right direction.