How do you listen to music

[Sean de Silva]

my listening routine.

Pick a solo album or compilation.
Check CD/LP for dust/water stains, clean as required.
Sniff the booklet/outer/inner sleeve and fondly reminisce about the bygone era of physical media.
Clean the stylus, dry brush the LP.
Play each CD/LP uninterrupted from start to finish whether I like all songs or not. Invariably it is 1 CD or 2 LPs per listening session which is usually between 6pm till around 9.30pm.
Draw the curtains and turn off all lights so that I do not get distracted obsessing over the gear.
Fingers crossed that no druggie bikers or racer cars pollute my session - Murphy's law can be cruel most of the time.

Last but not the least... GO MUTE!
No phone calls and No door bells..
Nobody's dying and nobody's crying.

 

[Vivek Batra]

Since yesterady I am trying to have just one huge playlist of all my favourite songs only. Mix of hindi, english punjabi etc. I am trying to mimick the FM radio with a good mix of old and new songs. I guess this way at least I can kill the urge to skip tracks. Lets see if this helps me to attain audio nirvana

 

[shyamv]

Most of my listening happens late evenings after 10pm or when no one is at home (a rarity these days) as I don't like to be disturbed while listening to music. It could be just the quiet or maybe clean power but almost all music equipment I have had till date sound much better in the night.

I select the music usually based on my mood - upbeat, melancholic, reflective or relaxed - and most of my listening is critical and focused. I am not a big fan of background listening. I usually listen to the entire album - be it on CD or streaming off Tidal. Sometimes I listen to different albums of the same artist. Reading liner notes or looking up articles that analyze the music I am listening to sometimes gives me fresh insight into it.

Nowadays I make a conscious effort to listen to the music and not to my system. It is not easy to get out of this habit once you are into it.

 

[anilpatel]

True, phone is a big distraction. Turing off the internet would stop everything that's playing

Hi Vivek,

I have downloaded the HD songs and play it on Marantz SR7011 though 2TB harddisk after 9/10 pm when the outside noise is minimal.
So I coul avoid the distraction at some level.

 

[moktan]

Two things I love doing together. Listening to music and polishing my shoes. I have noticed the shine is deeper when Bill Evans is playing his piano.

 

[Deleted member 15865]

Hi Vivek,

I have downloaded the HD songs and play it on Marantz SR7011 though 2TB harddisk after 9/10 pm when the outside noise is minimal.
So I coul avoid the distraction at some level.

Furthermore you could download the album art and liner notes and save them on the disk and/or cloud. You could then view/read them on the phone/tablet as you listen. I find that helps me engage better. At times I explore more about the artist/album/raga on the handheld device as I am absorbing the music. Some might think it’s a distraction. For me it’s an opportunity to learn more about and engage better with the content I am currently listening to. One has to be mindful though not to get sucked in by other notifications on the device. Technology, if reined well, can become an enhancer.

 

[arj]

i have realized in the last year i have consciously tried to keep my thoughts away from the system "performance" and keep focussed on the music, whether I am playing LP, CD or Streaming ( usually entire albums). These days its mostly weekends

Hence sit on the couch with a kindle or ipad with music playing and either listening actively for some songs and passively for the other.

Some days I do get into a system test mode where I am trying to tweak something..usually position or vibration control, but those days are rare and usually triggered by someone else finding something on some other forum or whatsapp