What music isn't recorded live? How else can you record an instrument if it isn't a live person recording it?
True. Yet, recording techniques vary, and some engineers/labels (think Chesky among others) endeavor to capture the live event more honestly than, say bands like Pink Floyd or Porcupine Tree, which utilize gobs of processing in the studio. Even the latest White Stripes CD was recorded down and dirty in a garage to avoid slick over processing.
"Live" recordings, like those by Chesky, can be better reference recordings by which to judge one's system's capabilities, since the instruments are often acoustic, and the recordings utilize little added processing.
Also, it's possible to record some instruments directly into a computer drive, using a midi keyboard and computer with Pro Tools software, for example. I would suggest that although this is a real person playing a real instrument, it's not what most would accept as live.
As in most things, a "live" recording can be many shades of grey.
Boa2, if I understand you correctly, you are proposing that our audio systems are God Portals? Whoa! I need to eat one more mushroom before I begin to listen tonight.
Mekka-lekka-hi-mekka-hiney-ho, Brother. :)