What is perfect sound? It’s a question that has haunted many an audio brand.
Some brands like to argue they get a unique “good” sonic signature from their hardware. One that – like when I hear anything that King’s X guitarist Ty Tabor plays – any fan can identify after one note.
Others take a more clinical approach, arguing that, in the strictest audiophile terms, it’s about accuracy and being as true to the recording as possible.
And some play sonic Switzerland. They stay neutral, arguing that “it’s all about enjoying the music”. So each camp is technically right as long as they’re having fun.
Which is why, continuing the Swiss theme, when I got the chance to visit high-end powerhouse Goldmund’s Geneva factory, I couldn’t resist the urge to quiz Dr Véronique Adam, its long-standing head of acoustic research and development, on the topic.
And her answer is simple.
It's all about being honest
“We try, always, to be as transparent as possible,” she says.
This might not sound controversial, but Adam admits it can be problematic when listening to older or poorly recorded tracks:
“Modern tracks recorded at the highest level are better. But many of our customers listen to older recordings, and that can be a problem for us – because their reference and standard is completely different.
“New recordings are more clean; it’s just more clear. And sometimes customers tell us ‘okay, I can’t listen to the old recording any more’ – because there’s not enough detail. And that’s because the detail comes from the recording; it belongs to it.
“It’s the same problem with bad movie dubs. If you go to the cinema as a customer and say ‘the translation is not as good as the original’, we [the people making the hardware playing it] cannot do anything. It is what it is.”
She adds that Goldmund believes it would be a bigger wrong to try to hide weaknesses in the recording:
“We are not responsible for the recording, or fixing a bad source,” she says. “We are responsible for accurately reproducing it.”
This, according to Adam, has been the core focus of Goldmund since it was founded.
“I learned a lot with Michel Reverchon [Goldmund’s founder]. I don’t know how many hours we listened together, but it was over a lot of years, with a lot of different genres. He liked the blues and jazz; I like classical. It was a long process and a long way to come, but from it, we know what our reference is, and we make sure it’s based on fact,” she says.
“With the new recordings, things always change. You don’t hear the same types of songs for ever, so you’re always learning; the experience just continues – we’re never at the end. But the most important thing is to be sure that we don’t diverge from the reference we have set.”
She adds that this remains the case with the firm’s latest hardware and will continue in the future as Goldmund continues its quest for sonic perfection and evolution under its newly elected leadership team, which took over the company 18 months ago.
Do you agree with Dr Véronique Adam’s approach? Let us know in the comments below!
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