Darko nailed it. 12 examples of wishful thinking in the hi-fi community


John is on his game with this opinion piece. All 12 points are valid. 

https://darko.audio/2025/06/12-examples-of-wishful-thinking-in-the-hi-fi-community/

foggyus91

Showing 3 responses by hilde45

@rpeluso Thanks for letting everyone know. We were all going to spend the day wondering, "I wonder if @rpeluso  cares about this." Phew. Load off my mind.

while this is one of the cringiest one, it’s worth discussing and a separate post

8. Being an audiophile is “all about the music”

First, audiophiles are KNOWN to be about the gear. How much - it all varies. Second, they are not about the music, but about the sound. Do they like music, sure. But unlike 97% of the population that cares about the music, audiophiles care about how the music sounds

+1 @gano 

A. What's wrong with liking sound as much if not more than music, anyway?

Comment: No one ever makes an argument when they say this – they just imply it's self evident. But Steve Gutenberg – a huge music fan – talks about being fascinated as a kid by the static between stations on the radio. That's pretty cool. And I bet Brian Eno and a thousand other artists are also fascinated by sound as much as music. The presumption that music>sound is a dogmatic one and anyone who asserts it also believes a host of other self-indulgent opinions.

B. What's wrong with liking gear? 

Comment: Shall we go after car nuts, next? Foodies? Trainspotters? People like things for random and personal reasons and that's kind of cool. If someone is caught in an OCD loop, well, that's too bad – but don't blame "gear." That's their hangup, man.

@nonoise Funny! He’d probably think that. One of his trademarks is to the the "outsider with insider knowledge." This is like the Mikey guy. (Actually, he’s the "rebel-who-tells-it-like-it-is-but-also-wants-to-sell-you-stuff-but-hey-its-not-about-the-money.) Then, there are others like Hans Beekhuyzen or Steve Guttenberg who don’t really bother with playing at being outsiders. They know their stuff, they like it, and they don’t feel a need to constantly tell people that they "Don’t listen to that tired old audiophile music" or some other story to prove that they are outsiders – "Hey, I’m just like you." I find Darko to be about 40% "Too cool for school" and while he’s done some great episodes, his overall persona is – to me – tiresome.

@freediver

Rap is crap & NOT real music..
 Electronic is NOT real music,it is sound.

Why do you think this? Curious about the reasons.