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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
bombaywalla's avatar
bombaywalla
1,958 posts
 
Ben,
>>our high end equipment vastly overpriced?
Yes! Vastly overpriced! You won't get an argument from me re. this but just 'cuz equip. is over-priced doesn't mean that music should also be! Today the amount of high quality, good sounding, reasonably priced gear is at its highest. It's a trend that I don't see stopping anytime soon.

>>could you give some examples of new badly recorded music?
I'm mostly a vinyl person so I buy fewer CDs than yourself & most of you. However, I do have a fair amount of run-ins with bad recordings. Some examples:
"All That You Leave Behind" U2 - sibilance city (Grammy award for this!). It's a Dutch pressing that I got when I went home to Bombay. I can't listen to it at all but I really like almost every song.
"Brothers In Arms" Dire Straits - original CD. Compression in many of the tracks esp. in the title track. Heard it on my friend's system, which has a SET amp, and the compression wasn't as glaring. I think it's a tube vs. ss thing.
"Greatest Hits" Carlos Santana. This is a re-issue from some yrs back (red cover). Says that it uses 20-bit re-mastering. Was listening to Black Magic Woman w/ a friend. We both agreed that the recording was marginal. Fair amount of sibilance.
"Colour of My Love" Celine Dion. I beg forgivness! I bought this CD by mistake. I do not like her one bit but something got into me & I bought it! Her voice is strong but boy is it compressed! There are very few airy highs & there is a lot of opportunity for airy highs in her CDs.
These are few that come to mind right now.

>>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.
Very possibly true! However, there is so much trash out there that it maskes it very hard to wade thru all of that to get a few good releases. The effort:reward ratio is tilted the wrong way! Add to that that many audiophiles/music lovers have domestic responsibilities & the effort:reward ratio gets further tilted the wrong way. When I tell my neighbours & friends what music I listen to their eyes glaze over. They tell me that their parents & grand-parents listened to the artists I'm listening to! They cannot fathom how somebody can listen to this old music today. I've got to be listening to the "latest" music! The point is: the music industry is catering to the masses. Re-issues of "good" music is a 2nd priority & are fewer & far between. The smaller recording & manuf. labels have made it their mission to fill in this gap (for which I'm grateful) but their prices are sky-high! I can get 2-3 CDs for $100 from mail-order companies! Good grief! I recently got hold of a vinyl copy of "Brothers In Arms" Dire Straits. Original LP. Probably beats the pants of the $40 XRCD re-issue. I paid 1/10th for it!
sogood51
2,157 posts
 
Kind of off topic, But...I picked up Muddy Waters (folk singer) cd the other day. This remaster has caused me to order another Muddy Waters remaster. I've begun to explore more of this old stuff. While Muddy Waters was no stranger to me, I am finding many of the other artist's from his day are. Sound quality on this disc is very high and was a great surprise.

Dave
nietzschelover's avatar
nietzschelover
93 posts
 
One issue no one has raised is whether there is a relationship between the level of ones "audiophillia" and the time one spends listening to individual recordings. In other words, the dollars I've spent on my system allow me to listen deeper into my music, and, consequently, I find I have played a given record, say, even more often as my stereo has been upgraded over the years. (Except when I first started out and only had a few to play, of course.) This has slowed down my purchasing of more recordings as I don't have the time to appreciate them all. Still, the quality of the artistic experience I enjoy has been enhanced as my stereo has been because I can connect better emotionally with what the musicians are doing.
The result of all this is that my music collection is relatively small compared to most of you, and its cost is exceeded by that of my system. However, this is not a matter of priorities.
As an aside, I'm basically a "tweak". I don't swap gear as much as optimize it by adjustments and accessories.
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