Are you a music lover or an audiophile?

I'm so glad i started this thread and I'm thankful for all the responses. They've made me dig into the inner chambers of my music library and pull out some gems that i had archived on my journey down the rabbit hole. And I hope others have been encouraged to do that too :) :) :). There are some great artistes whose work was never ever well recorded!
 
soundbuff said:
I honestly cannot listen to music that is poorly reproduced or broadcast. Recently I had gone to a friend's housewarming in a small town in Karnataka. Later, we found that a famous Yashagana troupe was performing in a village temple not too far away. We drove through for an hour through pitch darkness to reach there. The Yakshagana performance was superb. Some Seth from Mumbai was hosting it. It should have been a lovely open air concert. However the sound was absolutely un-bearable: unrealistically loud, horribly distorted and harsh as hell. I sat through it for half and hour, then left the place went to my car and locked myself in to avoid the pain. A lovely performance destroyed by the electronics and more importantly a poor understanding of public broadcasting. My friends however sat through it for another hour or more, although they agreed that it was too loud. Seems our thresholds are quite different. Whether that makes me less of a music lover I don't really know.
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That seems to be an extreme case - but sadly quite often seen at public gatherings where a desire for high SPL trumps everything else.
I think the OPs question has more to do with a comparison between a OK setup for convenient listening (e.g. Airpods or say the kitchen setup in my sig) vs a critical listening session and setup
 
For me it depends on the type of music and how I'm listening to it. Like if it's playing in the background while I'm busy doing something else it doesn't matter how good the recording is. Especially if they are old recordings. Old recordings that I really like very much in any case sound good even if the recording is not up to the mark. But if I'm sitting down in my faviourite chair and listening to the music seriously then I'd play well recorded music. Maybe like good jazz or new age music or actually anything that I like but is very well recorded. I usually play an album all the way through without skipping tracks. On many occasions tracks I didn't care for much , later turned out to be quite nice after listening to them many times ! So I think only when I play music with my undivided attention to the playback , the recording has to be very good . Otherwise it doesn't matter much, which actually happens more often than not .
 
spirovious said:
I used to study my boards playing a Philips 2 in 1 besides me.l used to concentrate more with music playing in background than studying at quiet room.
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You are the third person in my life who have said this exact statement. Using Music as a medium of organized distraction so that you can concentrate more on something else - most likely studying.
The First time i heard was when i was in my 10th and my tution teacher used to prepare for her CAT / GMAT exams! She used to hearing to music makes her mind consolidate all distractions into just one. Apparently one distraction is easier to handle than multiple thoughts if not for the music !

The Second was when i was doing my Engineering, one of my class mates used to study with a earphone plugged in to to his Walkman!

Honestly, if i were to hear music, then everything else takes a backseat! ; Foreground or background doesn't matter :(
 
I have the following explanation based on left and right brain theory.:p

a) When listening critically, one is in analysis mode. This cannot be a relaxing situation and cannot result in enjoyment. One is listening to soundstage, channel separation whatever - lot of analysis is going on . It is like giving a Physics exam. Now , reviewers need to do this to report out on equipment, but not the listeners.
b) When listening casually, there is little analysis. There is relaxation and possibly a more holistic view of the experience. Overall stress comes down and one is in harmony with the music.

Situation a) is not going to lead to much satisfaction, like two parallel lines who are never going to meet.

Situation b) will always be satisfying. I usually sit away from the "sweet spot" to prevent myself getting into mode a) .
 
I used to listen via walkman and earphones hung in the wall during late night studies for CA and I still remember those days of pure bliss.
I used to enjoy AR Rahman songs in cassette decks with 8" woofer and 4" tweeter speaker boxes with enahanced bass and treble and was very happy. Somehow not able to enjoy them like that now in more sophisticated systems.
I was listening to Jagjit Singh's Ghazals in cassettes because recordings were awesome.
I sold my Marantz Amp and Monitor Audio speakers because I was always looking for something more during critical listening.
I have installed very basic speakers in my balcony which is run by a cheap SMSL bluetooth amp. Most relaxing experience when i sit in my balcony with a cup of tea or drink and listen.
I don't have any dedicated stereo music setup now for critical listening. Just using my home theater and other speakers in balcony and a bose soundtouch mini. surprisingly Bose has more details in comparison with other expensive systems. Perhaps i don't expect much from them and they exceeded expectations.
In short, I have stopped trying to hear things which may or may not be there and just enjoying the music. I am obviously a music lover and not an audiophile.
 
Vinay2013 said:
I sold my Marantz Amp and Monitor Audio speakers because I was always looking for something more during critical listening.
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I have also realised its too easy go into this kind of mode where there is no satisfaction. Is it sounding good or not is always the question in the mind and it robs off all the pleasure from all the music. How to get out of this mode is currently i am struggling with. So audiophile journey which starts with love for music, then gradually music takes backspace, sound takes priority and then one day we realise that we need to love music again, not sound.
 
Fiftyfifty said:
A fellow FM recently made a remark that audiophiles and music lovers differ in their choice of music and artistes. Made me realise how I had veered away from many artistes that I once loved, but had pushed into the bottom shelf in my quest for better SQ.

Is my desire for my setup to sound good making me lose out on listening to great musicians, be it Faiyaz Khan, Bade Ghulam Ali, KL Saigal, early Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Jack Teagarden, even more modern artistes like the Beatles (never well recorded), Cream, Tull in favour of, with due respect, Chesky records and Patricia Barber? Or Yo yo Ma in preference to Jacqueline du Pre? Do you really prefer Jacintha to Julie London, both wanting more 'Black Coffee'? Do you enjoy the sound of Jacintha's breath more than the nuances of Julie's voice?

Is there a dilemma or none? If yes, how do you resolve it? I attempt to resolve it by having 2 setups, mainly for analogue sources.

Love to hear from others.

Cheers!
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Hi,An interesting topic.Yes,there are guys who are just interested in SQand will go to any affordalbe lenghts to get that in order.But my personal point of view is that whatever you can afford,get to know how to get the best out of it and enjoy the music.
-Have fun with music.Let it work its magic on your life.
 
Actually their original Mono recordings are wonderful although got messed up when they converted it to Stereo. I have their CD Mono Box set and that really sounds good.
 
Follow the music; content enriches the heart and soul.
Good equipment provides the extra "tadka", but do not lose lose track of the main dish :)
Over the years I've given up on critical listening.
Realized I was searching for that elusive sound and flaws in my rig more than listening to content.
Sit back and enjoy the music whatever your rig may be, even if it is them "tinny" smartphone speakers.
Cheers,
Raghu
 
soundbuff said:
I honestly cannot listen to music that is poorly reproduced or broadcast. Recently I had gone to a friend's housewarming in a small town in Karnataka. Later, we found that a famous Yashagana troupe was performing in a village temple not too far away. We drove through for an hour through pitch darkness to reach there. The Yakshagana performance was superb. Some Seth from Mumbai was hosting it. It should have been a lovely open air concert. However the sound was absolutely un-bearable: unrealistically loud, horribly distorted and harsh as hell. I sat through it for half and hour, then left the place went to my car and locked myself in to avoid the pain. A lovely performance destroyed by the electronics and more importantly a poor understanding of public broadcasting. My friends however sat through it for another hour or more, although they agreed that it was too loud. Seems our thresholds are quite different. Whether that makes me less of a music lover I don't really know.
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Many a time un-amplified music is great to listen to.
I do take time to stop and listen to the dollu/tamte in funeral marches or Devi processions.
Brass bands are good too; but these days it is a dying art form.
Cheers,
Raghu
 
I am both. I like Old cassette decks and CD Players with TDA1541 chip / CDM 0 or CDM1 Transport. I have Decks from Tandberg(3014A & 910), Teac and Nakamichi(Dragon, ZX-9 & CR-7. I also have/like 300B/KT88 Tube Amplifiers. My collection includes lot of Equipments (audiophile) and Lot of CDs, LPs and Cassettes (Music Lover). I have lot of custom made equipments as well. Thanks
 
arj said:
i know how it feels like though :)
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LOL!
But do you honestly buy multiple copies of the same album?
I’ve done it on a few occasions, usually when a special edition comes along. For eg. the 30th anniversary edition of DSOTM. Or the 25th of Steve Vai’s Passion and Warfare.
The only repurchase I’ve made for better SQ is Kind of Blue; and that’s because they corrected a speed error in the original.
 
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