When we make a studio recording it's understood it will be polished and perfect. The best we can do in a controlled environment. When we record live our goal is quite different. Now, we want to capture perfectly the moment. Like the old Memorex ad, "Is it live or Memorex?" we hope our studio recordings have that live sound. They might get close but they aren't complete. There's no audience applause. There's no clinking of glasses. And, there are mistakes. Polished or live? At the proverbial end of the day, no matter how live a studio recording sounds it'll never be truly live without capturing that single moment in front of an audience. When done correctly, the real magic is in live.