[Sophie]

Oh, misophonia sounds really unfortunate to have as a music fan just like having tinnitus like Thor… Dry miked strings can be tough for sure – some Goldsmiths come to mind especially.

It’s always bugged me, but as I’ve gotten older, and as almost all my listening is through headphones these days, it’s become almost untenable. I’m pretty much limited to soundtracks from the late 80s-early 2000s, and Telarc and a couple of other small labels for classical.

I can’t even listen to my beloved OT soundtracks. It feels like chewing on styrofoam. The sound of strings on pre-Dolby analogue is painful, but even that doesn’t help close-miking. And every recording since 2005 has been, like, inside the cellos, and I want to crawl out of my skin when I hear them. The double basses make me want to start a war or something, and the various reeds aren’t much better. It’s the wood and the vibrating and the friction, and it only gets worse with exposure. If I go a long time without listening to it, I can stand it for a bit, but after a few hours, just…nope.

Disclosure Day may be the worst-sounding Williams score I’ve heard since the 70s.