FOMO and does happiness exist in HiFi

[Analogous]

I admit to a degree of FOMO (watch video linked below or google it if you don’t know about FOMO anxiety)
But the larger question on Happyness in HiFi is worth pondering about.
If one is blessed (or cursed) with unending curiosity about all matters HiFi then happiness is fleeting even with a decent or great sounding set up. For some it takes a bit longer than the rest.

You may say it’s all about the music and I would say yes.
You may say “it’s also about the gear to make music sound fantastic@ and I would say “yes, of course”
Not everyone can afford…. Unfortunately true
Some people enjoy music as much from their phone speakers. Again true. (Context and situation absolutely matter for joy)
Poor choices of music or playlists can ruin the listening experience even with a carefully planned system and set up? I believe this to be true as well.
Peer pressure and social media forums dedicated to HiFi and targeted audio news feeds by algorithm based on our clicks or taps amplify FOMO and keeping up with “audio-joneses/audio Kumars.

Given that everyone’s HiFi set up sounds different from each other (different rooms, different components, quality of power and so much more) and the industry promoting the latest and next greatest, do we stand any chance at achieving long term satisfaction with one set up?

Does FOMO and unending angst define the mental state of the majority of the contemporary audio enthusiast?

 

[firearm12]

Yes happiness comes when one gets afraid of spending more and realises that spending more will not cause the system to sound better but just different.

 

[arj]

I have come to believe that everyone of us has a level of expectation from music above which one does not notice any improvement.

The word "improvement" it self is depended on the person as our prioritisation of what we want also differs . Some may have dynamics as top priority while other may have timing. or tonality or soundstage or Bass definition etc etc.

I am not saying someone who prefers say tonality does not care about dynamics but order of priority is what is different.

In the end the biggest limitation is the content itself. Hence between that and one listens to is our "end state". After which those who are driven by the itch would move lateral as @firearm12 mentioned .

FOMO is perhaps the itch..not the need for "better"

 

[firearm12]

FOMO is perhaps the itch..not the need for "better"

My solution to my itch is this

Step 1 - i now got money, let me upgrade abc/xyz in my system it would make the sound lot better, brain is itching continuously.
Step 2 - wait let me first listen to my fav song and turn on my fav song which sounds best on my system
Step -3 hmm now i ask myself if am I sure can it sound better with abc/xyz or would i actually miss this wonderful sound (mind trapped)?
Step -3 all the times answer to step 3 is that I would miss this sound it's already sounding so wonderful, so step 1 is dropped


Part of this behaviour lies with my photography experience where I found in recent years that current generation lenses/cameras don't make photos better (infact they make it worse looking every manufacturer just running after sharpness and clinicality, forgetting about colours/contrast/pleasibility/character). so new technology is not better, companies just need to make money. The experience has also made me afraid inside in my mind that like with cameras/lenses, in music also if i upgrade I will actually lose something that's already likeable. So for last 3 yrs I haven't got anything new now

 

[bhooshaniyer]

Once you are comfortable changing speakers every now and then the slope is truly steep and slippery. If the speaker is a red line for say 10 years then fomo is limited to smaller companion components. Playing with speakers is the big boys game.

 

[Analogous]

Coincidentally John Darko dropped this video on COPE. It’s related to the topic of this thread tangentially.