Great question.
I thought I knew everything there was to know. I played in bands--marching, concert, rock, went to many concerts of all kinds of music before I opened my shop and I thought I was really knowledgeable.
THEN, I set up a pair of Advent's next to a pair of Magneplaners and the world changed.
After that humbling experience, I began my real education. Fortunately, I had a shop full of great and not-so-great gear and lots of time.
I brought my instruments to the shop and recorded me playing them on various machines--back then (1974) we had r-t-r and cassettes and many different microphones I had left over from my band days.
To cut to the chase, it took me a year or so of intense listening and attending more concerts to START to learn what to listen for in reproduced sound. Having spent time in a recording studio, I also learned that there are many elements to recording live music, and I had help from a fellow dealer who was seriously perfecting his ability to record live music using a Nagra and different mics placed at various places in the concert hall.
Bottom line, it takes a while and some experience and dedication to learn what there is out there to learn, and I keep learning every time I hear a new component.
Be diligent, go to live concerts of all kinds of music (when they start up again!) and stay interested and passionate about learning.
Cheers!
I thought I knew everything there was to know. I played in bands--marching, concert, rock, went to many concerts of all kinds of music before I opened my shop and I thought I was really knowledgeable.
THEN, I set up a pair of Advent's next to a pair of Magneplaners and the world changed.
After that humbling experience, I began my real education. Fortunately, I had a shop full of great and not-so-great gear and lots of time.
I brought my instruments to the shop and recorded me playing them on various machines--back then (1974) we had r-t-r and cassettes and many different microphones I had left over from my band days.
To cut to the chase, it took me a year or so of intense listening and attending more concerts to START to learn what to listen for in reproduced sound. Having spent time in a recording studio, I also learned that there are many elements to recording live music, and I had help from a fellow dealer who was seriously perfecting his ability to record live music using a Nagra and different mics placed at various places in the concert hall.
Bottom line, it takes a while and some experience and dedication to learn what there is out there to learn, and I keep learning every time I hear a new component.
Be diligent, go to live concerts of all kinds of music (when they start up again!) and stay interested and passionate about learning.
Cheers!