If you look at high-end audio as a "platform", it certainly seems there's alot of audiophile-grade recordings of jazz and so on as proper "software" for it. Catalogs like Mapleshade etc. certainly favor jazz, blues, classical etc. - the availability of a broad range of audiophile recordings seems more favorable to these genres. To listen to what sounds good is natural - as long as you like it, and the continued availability of good "software" in these genres may contribute toward your wandering in that direction.
I have the misfortune of being a huge heavy metal fan. Not very common to find good production in that genre, but some of the music is just priceless. Here's hoping for 180gm Acoustic Sounds reissues of all the early Piledriver LPs! That would be the day.
I do the best with the "software" I like to play, and tailor my system toward that goal, rather than the highest level of sound reproduction available to me.
What I can say is the availability of cheap "book-sale" vinyl has caused some wierd listening behavior in my household! You've never seen so much ELO and Rick Wakeman in one place (except maybe YOUR living room in the 70's - busted!) |
I tend to listen to more classical music with every true (not just change) upgrade. |
...some music tastes change but virtually speaking location where I find myself in the music never changes. I imagine that music in general is some kind-of array with certain laws and sometimes exceptions that everyone whether one wants or not defines it for oneself sooner or later. I believe that this array was already established for me a long time ago and way before I built myself a system. That's why I proud to consider my music array SYSTEM-INDEPENDED that can work good in any platform like Java computer language. Definitely in this array all with no exception performances are great and interesting and if even recording or the system is not as great still you can enjoy it. If I even someday have to radically downgrade my system I will be OK with cheaper rig just listening to what I've collected. Thus I never refuse to record something on the cassette and listen to it inside the car while I'm driving to work or simply not home. I even record some valuable records on the cassette and play the cassette instead of abusing vinyl in favour to keep it forever mint. My array is not as linear as I would say that there is a jazz, rock-n-roll and classic rock it's much more complicated to the level that I will not judge any type of music anymore meaning that if it's country it doesn't mean that I will ignore it.
Yes, I have to admit that lots of jazz recordings are with less compression and engineered with good quality even throughout the years but dare to agree that most among the mega-tone produced jazz records and CDs are basically the same in different performances and they all sound different!
This hype of finding the best recording of the "Moonlight Serenade" for example in tons of different performances seems to me not interesting and boring i.e. shortly saying it's all junk. I wouldn't still understand people buying remastered copies to the level that you hear sighing of the vocal along with some feet motions in the studio better than instruments! I consider that this was specially remastered for audiofiles that would say "yeah, if you hear this than this is a great recording"; while normally in the studios the noise are trying to hide. |
Yes It has. The more we evolve our systems, exposing the textures, colors and nuances of the instruments the greater the possibility of enjoying the performance.
Not to say that music cannot be satisfying when pouring from a bedside radio. I doubt though anyone would deny better quality is an asset, even if not a priority for them. Most of us are content listening to a solo piano played live, yet we can be put to sleep by an entire orchestra when played on a mediocre sound system.
The more I perfect my system, the more interesting all kinds of music becomes. My library has evolved so much that I can find music to please almost any visitor as well as myself.
A typical session with visitors finds us listening to everything from 1960's RCA shaded dogs to antique Blue Note Jazz. Then switch to The Doors, cuts from one of Neil Young's masterpieces, some Bob Dylan or Elvis Costello. Favorite "newer" artist are Rickie Lee Jones, Janice Ian and Kate Bush. Sessions with my 16 year old son gets LPs by Radio Head, Dirty Vegas, Eiffel 65 and Everlast.
You have added another dimension to your life with the deeper appreciation of Jazz. I consider it one of the most varied formats in my collection. Some is near classical, some mainstream and some is more like abstract rock and roll.
I have perhaps two thousand jazz LP's and resist returning to EBAY to shop, as I am running out of space.
Congratulations on your new found pleasure. |
Pardales, good observation! When I first heard a great system (not my own), Tomita and other similar music sounded great and changed my tastes. Later, when I got my first good (and perhaps best to date -- that's another story) car audio system, Rick Wakeman really grew on me -- yes I'm busted Mwilson. Still later, when I got my first very nice home audio system, it was jazz, jazz, jazz. Right now, everything finds it's way onto the turntable or CD player. I agree with Albert that good systems open up the possibilities of all kinds of music. Good post! |
Absolutely. I used to own a Klipsch based system in college and for a few years after. I listened to mostly rock. I then got into Martin Logans after hearing them at a friends house. The vocals were so amazing that I went searching for every great vocal I could find. Then I got into jazz and more jazz--but then needed to get the woofer to work properly for great jazz recordings. Now I listen to mostly jazz, vocals and classical--in that order. Very seldom do I listen to rock. Was it the system change--or did I change (reminds of a light bulb joke--nevermind) |
I have had the same experience. I have always been a blues fan, but not until I got the audio bug did I really start listening to jazz. I believe, for me at least, that a lot of it has to do with the simplicity of the recordingss. My taste in jazz is almost exclusively acoustic "traditional" jazz(50s - early 60s). You had piano, drums, and bass with a trumpet and/or sax lead. The recordings were very pure and simple, just the musicians, their instruments, and the music, no overdubs, processing, or extreme editing. |
Yes! When I started getting into HiFi in the mid 80Âs, I was strictly a rocker. As my system has evolved, along with getting older, my taste in music has expanded to include everything from Megadeth to Mozart. My current fav is Bluegrass. Sampling music on the Internet as also helped widen my musical horizons. |
I think that is a GREAT question. That's deep. I have to say that there are a lot of times that I put something on just because I want to hear what it sounds like, and I have actually discovered some good music as a result. I admit freely that I do seek out the best and multiples of my favorite stuff.
I am a subscriber to the point of view that the better the system, the easier it is to find enjoyment in more types of music. I personally find it more true with music played accoustically, there is more of the musician and less production with accoustic, and the more of the musician one can get, the more music. For me, thats jazz, man. I like jazz that gets down. It ain't elevator music like a lot of people think. We know. Down and dirty, sexy, hard core boogiein' jazz. The more you can hear of the musicians, the more you can hear them guys getten' down and BOOGIEIN'! |
Not really. Over the past 20 years my taste in music has expanded and evolved, but I don't think it's related to my audiophile tendencies. I would think that over time everybody's musical taste changes, but I would be suspicious if it's driven by changes in your system. That's not to say that a good system won't help you appreciate different types of music, because it will, but a good system should definitely help you enjoy the music you already like. |
For background, my current system began taking shape ~3 years ago. It replaced a ten year old mid-range receiver system used to play mostly rock and jazz; in that order.
The rock albums seldom come out anymore, except on those occasional retro inspired moments. Contributing to this disinterest are the too predictable nature of many rock "stylings" and a noticeable lack of dynamic content. The latter is influenced by having a better sound system. Now it is easy, maybe too much so, to tell when a recording is highly compressed. Musically most rock reminds me of jello now vs. when I was a kid. It's still fun, it still wiggles, but it no longer provides the same satisfaction. Not all rock has this failing, but it does seem to be the earmark of the genre.
By far jazz gets the most play time in my house today. The recordings as a whole are more dynamic, better produced and more musically involving, especially the vocals. Having a system that can do them justice likely contributes to the attraction, but the swing probably comes more from the maturation of my tastes. Along with my age, of course.
Who knows, as time goes by maybe symphonies will start sounding more interesting... |
So, most of ya folks "transformed" into jazz becase:
a)jazz recordings have a good quality and sound great;
b)classical large-orchestral music is too expencive to bring it to the level of pleasant reproduction or even i'd say nearly impossible;
c)rock recordings are recorded poor.
C'est La Vie! |
I don't know if it has anything to do with my stereo, but I have been listening to more C&W ever since I moved to Nashville. :o) |
From the above replies it seems that most people have answered yes to the original question. Is it possible that people are confusing the effects of their evolving systems with the fact that virtually everybody who loves music has different taste at age 40 then they did at 20? I would hope that a good music reproduction system would encourage people to explore and appreciate different types of music, but it should never limit the type of music you might want to experience. |
That was kind of my take on it too, Onhwy61 - some combination of having a nice system, enough money to purchase a fair amount of music, and getting older and broadening my horizons a bit has led me to explore and appreciate a much wider variety of music. To the extent that a nice system makes music listening more enjoyable, I guess it has contributed to changing the music I listen to, but not in the spirit of the original question. -Kirk |
I have really enjoyed reading everyone's responses. Just as a follow-up: I have been in "the high-end game" for almost 15 years now. My system has slowly evolved, with each evolution getting better in quality. My most recent change was from an all-tube system (from CD player to power amp) to an all solid-state system. It was probably more of a lateral move than a class change.
I would not rule-out, in any way, my life circumstances and the way my taste in music has changed as I age (im now 33). I listen to all differnt kinds ofmusic from classical to rock, to international. I have certainly come to appreciate the fact that good recordings are just more enjoyable. But I definitely sense that my current system synergy has played a part in my personal discovery of jazz music. |
I have really enjoyed reading everyone's responses. Just as a follow-up: I have been in "the high-end game" for almost 15 years now. My system has slowly evolved, with each evolution getting better in quality. My most recent change was from an all-tube system (from CD player to power amp) to an all solid-state system. It was probably more of a lateral move than a class change.
I would not rule-out, in any way, my life circumstances and the way my taste in music has changed as I age (im now 33). I listen to all differnt kinds ofmusic from classical to rock, to international. I have certainly come to appreciate the fact that good recordings are just more enjoyable. But I definitely sense that my current system synergy has played a part in my personal discovery of jazz music. |
I guess for me it was organ music. I used to hate organ recordings, becuase they just never sounded right. As the system got better, especially the power amp and speakers, I found myself listening to organ music more often cause it sounded like it should. Also, more massive classical music is now much more fun to listen to. Interesting... never thought of it before. |
It was the oposite for me. I heard linus and lucy by David Benoit on my car radio. I think it was about the time the CD 1987-1995 came out. I had Klipsch speaker and I really liked the whole CD but, there was something just not right. After spending more money than I should have,it sound great.
The jazz recordings are done very well. I find it hard to rock an roll for 4 hours.
Tim |
