Friends,
When I evaluate gear or make buying decisions that are chemically enhanced, even slightly, I often do not agree with myself when the enhancement has worn off or I listen to a choice over time. I currently never make buying decisions while in an enhanced state.
When I evaluate gear or make buying decisions when I am in a naturally clear, settled and analytic state of mind, then the music is almost always engaging and satisfying when I am listening in an enhanced state.
For me personally, my mood is important for the selection of what I listen to. Sometimes late Beethoven string quartets transport me to someplace heavenly, sometimes I do not have the "ears" to listen for more than 2-3 minutes. Sometimes it is Phillip Glass or Avro Paert. Sometimes it isn't classical. Rather Patricia Barber or other vocal jazz does it, or instrumental jazz like Oded Tzur, sometime I need Pink Floyd, or The Rolling Stones, or Tina Dico, or ambient electronic, or Indonesian Gammelan Orchestra, or Carnatic music . . . . Yes, my tastes are varied and eclectic.
Listening for pleasure, to be nourished is a different kind of endeavor compared to listening to compare components. Both of these listening contexts can be completely enjoyable and satisfying yet they are quite different.
I know I will never hear "the best" anything, only what pleases me the most at the time of listening based on my personal preferences and state of mind.
So much enjoyment and nourishment in music well performed, well recorded and well reproduced. To each his own.
When I evaluate gear or make buying decisions that are chemically enhanced, even slightly, I often do not agree with myself when the enhancement has worn off or I listen to a choice over time. I currently never make buying decisions while in an enhanced state.
When I evaluate gear or make buying decisions when I am in a naturally clear, settled and analytic state of mind, then the music is almost always engaging and satisfying when I am listening in an enhanced state.
For me personally, my mood is important for the selection of what I listen to. Sometimes late Beethoven string quartets transport me to someplace heavenly, sometimes I do not have the "ears" to listen for more than 2-3 minutes. Sometimes it is Phillip Glass or Avro Paert. Sometimes it isn't classical. Rather Patricia Barber or other vocal jazz does it, or instrumental jazz like Oded Tzur, sometime I need Pink Floyd, or The Rolling Stones, or Tina Dico, or ambient electronic, or Indonesian Gammelan Orchestra, or Carnatic music . . . . Yes, my tastes are varied and eclectic.
Listening for pleasure, to be nourished is a different kind of endeavor compared to listening to compare components. Both of these listening contexts can be completely enjoyable and satisfying yet they are quite different.
I know I will never hear "the best" anything, only what pleases me the most at the time of listening based on my personal preferences and state of mind.
So much enjoyment and nourishment in music well performed, well recorded and well reproduced. To each his own.