Audiophiles & music-have you got it wrong?


This thread is partly inspired by comments on "would you refer this to all the interested parties" but also by general comments made on a regular basis.

Of course each person to their own, I do not advocate my views are the definitive ones and I do consider myself a music fan who takes an interest in high end equipment rather than being an out and out audiophile.
However despite some reservations about certain audiophile beliefs I don't come on these forums and say burn in it doesn't exist,interconnects are a rip off and exhibit little more than fine tuning etc.etc.
Why?
Because I don't feel I've explored these issues fully nor do I really wish to therefore my comments would be largely uninformed even if they are accurate from my point of view.
And yet some audiophiles seem to make constant negative remarks about the price and quality of music currently available-are they right?

First up the price of music-this is not to say greed doesn't exist within the record companies but are CD's really that expensive when we compare them to how much we spend on our equipment?
My collection is now worth close to double what my equipment is.
Am I nuts or do I have things in perspective?
I consider I am probably at the extreme end of things with regards buying music but aren't some of you at the other end of the extreme?

Is it the quality of the recordings that's an issue?
Ok-I can't say sometimes that recorings don't disappoint or indeed the fact that older CD's can be badly mastered.
However is it possible that some have attuned their ear to a level of perfection that only exists in a limited number of recordings?
Nothing wrong with that but should our hobby be about matching that ideal or should it be more like how I see/hear things-getting the best audio reproduction possible but accepting that recording will always be flawed or indeed subjective?
Is Robert Johnson any less powerful despite the primative nature of the recordings?

Finally there's no new good music.
I read that endlessly here on Audiogon.
And I ask one question-how do you know that?
Do you read about new music?
Have you the interest to search it out the way you tweak or try to perfect your system?
Do you know what's been remastered recently?

There is plenty of new music that is good but even ignoring the new stuff,there is an endless supply of music already existing that you've probably never heard.
Do you try to expand your tastes?
Does it even interest you to try?

If your relationship with this hobby is about the equipment then fine,that is as valid as any music lovers quest however please refrain from these glib criticisms if you haven't taken the time to make sure you know what you are talking about.

ben_campbell

Showing 4 responses by ben_campbell

Sean a very considered and thoughtful response however you are not the type of guy who is making the type of criticisms that tend to get my back up.
I am not suggesting everybody should be like me,as I have a lot of free time and not too much responsibility but I do believe the blind spots many audiophiles are finding are as much to do with their attitude as anything else.
Patrick-thanks for the kind words.

By remasters I do mean worthwhile releases-like several last year that took CD replay to new levels.

Amongst these were Beatles and Dylan and of course at last On The Beach by Neil Young in all it's ragged HDCD glory.

Sure some companies suck the life out of classics but what I'm referring to is knowledge.
I've seen many many posts on Audiogon that refer to the poor quality,usually early generation CD releases by major artists.
The simple fact is that these have been surpassed but audiophiles remain ignorant for whatever reasons.
I've seen posts on Queen,Peter Gabriel,Blue Oyster Cult,Joni Mitchell,Yes,The Police even something like One by the Beatles got lost to some people.

Information is a two way street-in some fashion you get out what you put in-if you search in the wrong places you'll find dross.

Yes these points have been made for decades which if you think about it just means we've got old because even the golden era of popular music wasn't rated by the oldies then!
Pragmatist I'm afraid I never listened to music to piss off my parents-I took music in at a much deeper level than that.
On such a weak foundation it's no surprise that you view certain styles of music as throwaway.
Some nice replies on this thread.
Bombaywalla-nice post however a few points in response.

PRICE OF MUSIC-maybe music is overpriced but is it different from other products?Isn't our high end equipment vastly overpriced?
Not an excuse or justification of the view music is overpriced just a point.

QUALITY OF RECORDINGS-could you give some examples of new badly recorded music?
It's my view the production is a big part of the artists statement and if the band/singer produce badly recorded music it's because it doesn't feature as part of their statement.
Most new music I hear is very well recorded and suits the music,there is the odd band that obviously compress their music for some reason probably mass appeal on boom boxes etc.
I hear this a lot but don't hear too many examples with the exception of Santana and U2 recently.

NEW GOOD MUSIC-yes I agree, not everybody will like the more extreme descendants of popular forms and I can accept that easily.
My main point on this is that I believe many audiophiles are missing out on music they would like but don't take the time to find it,indeed it would seem searching out release and general music news doesn't feature strongly in their lives.
As Jeff points out above many don't have the time but some of them do then complain bitterly there is no good new music about.
That's my main point.