Mid level listening

With both my systems, headphone and main system it is always about the music and always satisfying as it is the medicine that heals my soul. Enjoy the music

IMHO boredom with your music and/or lack of interest in finding/exploring new music is a major contributor to audio angst. What else is left to do except listen to the sound of your systems performance. Really sad, I think. For a lot of folks, here anyway, I think the actual music to be heard is really a secondary (if any at all) issue. 

I completely agree with the poster's first three sentences.  It is also something I have been pondering recently. I am lucky to have a number of friends and relatives with good, well set up systems. Most of us actively pursue expanding our musical horizons, finding new (to us) music in many genres, thus continuing our joy and excitement in our hi-fi hobby and contentment with our existing systems. Two of these folks, however, do not, causing them to often experience Audiophilia Nervosa and general discontent with their systems. I feel bad for their lack of enthusiasm and struggle with how to encourage them to continue the discovery of unfamiliar, remarkable music. 

Vinyl. Years ago, I used to listen to the equipment as some records sounded excellent and some were not good at all. So I was always avoiding the lesser recordings. This scenario is extremely common and is a symptom of an immature system. My systems have slowly evolved and everything sounds great. I don’t even think about what I play, or what condition it’s in. It's all about the beauty of the music, and the magic of the old technology reproduction chain.

well, I just listen to the music I like. no need to overanalyse. I notice little and subtle things, but I don’t go listening to a song for a specific section only. that would be miserable. If I like a song, I like it as a whole.

Thankfully I have a setup that lends itself to just letting the music shine and that is all it does. No over editorialisation with its own tone. Just true to the song being listened to

After 40 years in Audio ,owning a Audio store for a decade, it seems as technologies move forward especially digital I have bought several digital upgrades i the last few years, as well as trying to buy even better loudspeakers , and amplification 

For me, the music is the most important thing. I read people say a certain system got their toes tapping. To me, music is what gets my toes tapping, head bobbing, etc; I had no more problem doing it with a handheld transistor radio when I was 16 than I do today with a far, far more expensive and superior system. 

@rvpiano You have published before on critical listen vs music appreciation as well as becoming dissatisfied with rig sound quality over time.  I will respond in a similar way as before.  An audiophile should first and foremost be someone who appreciates musical composition and performance quality over reproduced music sound quality, even though the latter facilitates the former.  An audiophile should be able to develop a musical appreciation mode where the composition and performance engage emotions and a critical listening mode to evaluate equipment and setup to the individual’s ideal sound.  Ideal sound is subjective, and that’s OK.  Developing this ability to have a critical listening mode and a musical appreciation mode, or a between state has nothing to do with becoming dissatisfied with one’s system.  
The psychology of becoming dissatisfied has many causes. 

Sorry, nimble fingers hit send by mistake.  

The psychology of becoming dissatisfied has many causes including, without limitation, reward processing (constantly seeking reward pleasure), hedonic adaptation (diminishing joy over time), consumerism (market psychology - there is always something better you should want; FOMO), and Diderot effect (since one item is new I need another new item).  Goal setting can help.   As a music lover, establish your ideal of how acoustic live music should sound.  Evaluate your system against your ideal, determining where you want to improve.  Audition alternatives and only change when your goal is reached.   I have used this approach and have been satisfied long term, not changing often.  
 

I love the sound of my system.  The only time I become dissatisfied is a few days after I attend live acoustic music performances.   The dynamic bloom, the way the imaging and staging develops, and the liquidity and sweetness of the instruments in a large hall makes me think we are far from this ideal.   My system is close on well engineered recordings, but not there.  Then after a few days, I am back to reveling in musical composition and performance as reproduced by my system   

In my world, if I want to critically listen at lower levels, I have to use cans. But for 65-75 db with 75-85 db peaks, my system does just fine.

I find the extent to which I am drawn into the music versus the system is the result of the sonic character of the sound. The higher the rhythm and pace, midrange bloom and the lower the unnecessary emphasis on details and artificial transparency, the more the emotional connection and your mind is simply drawn into the music... your analytical side is bored and your emotional side draws you in. 

I talk about this in different ways, since, in part I am still trying to figure out exactly what the variables are and how to talk about them. I have been auditioning a number of components recently. They conveniently fall into the two ends of a spectrum: sound spectacular or musical - natural category. In the former my head moves around the huge sound field that stretches floor to ceiling and out along the side walls examining all the holographic areas of sounds, It is amazing, my mind is drawn to examine each instrument the texture, its edges. My analytical side loves this.

On the other hand, a warm and natural rendition literally has my analytical side poke up and try to examine some instrument and my emotional side just says... NO, I just don’t care, go away. Allow my consciousness to get lost in the music. This is what my system does now. So you draw in one side or the other, or a combination. 

I have owned systems from one side to the other. It is a characteristic of the system. When you assemble all parts that are natural and musical... you get pulled into the music... when all are of sound spectacular variety, then it’s like going to the... what was that Omni Theater.... the big dome theater. It is incredible... your head cranks all over the place to see everything. 

To me building a system brings out my analytical side. But for listening I want a musical system. So the trick is to tell your analytical side to build a system for your musical side... and you will get sucked into the musical side when you listen. 

Both my headphone system and main system are like that now... geez... took me decades to figure that out. 

+1 @ghdprentice.  I've spent decades building 4 different systems (one of them still in progress).  I optimized them for a specific set of applications:  A primary system for audio with a very strong 7.2 surround capability, a second system for my office where near-field monitoring, headphones and unattended use are key, one for outdoor listening & viewing and the last for general purpose background entertainment covering both audio and 5.1 video.

Every time I use any of them, I am always amazed at how I learn new things about the material they're presenting.  Sure I can hear the technical differences, but I can't call them weaknesses.  They all do what they were designed to and do it well.  It's the material that matters.  I'm always carried away and that's the whole point of this hobby.

I doubt an audiophile can ever get entirely away from the analytical perspective of listening. Last nights listening session veered wildly in both genre and recording qualities, I can never get over how widely variable recording quality can be, for instance I was listening to some big band music from the likes of early Count Basie, mono recordings with relatively small sound stage and lacking transparency/resolution, most would call these rather poor recordings  (not to say some 40's, early 50's recordings can be quite amazing), and then I went into some experimental electronica and contemporary  recordings of  northern European primitive music, sound quality amazing, huge sound stages, virtually no compression, just so alive!

And so the above listening session par for the course in that I can't help but hear so much recording quality variability, my mind can't help but process this. But then I move on from this moment of initial analysis nearly instantaneously into the pure enjoyment of  music mode. Between having built a system that is both highly transparent/resolving yet forgiving enough so the blemishes don't grate and training my mind to free itself from judgment and comparison I find myself enjoying far more variability in both recording quality and music genres. Having a quality streaming setup has completely changed my perceptions and enjoyment of both recording quality and music, I often let music play randomly from my huge library, seems crazy but I like everything the robot plays, I'm always highly involved in the music. hard to end listening sessions.

@kofibaffour 

Thankfully I have a setup that lends itself to just letting the music shine and that is all it does.

What do you have for a system?

@cdc for my dedicated and treated listening space:

Speakers - Genelec 8361A x2

Streamer - Holo Audio Red (Tidal and Spotify Connect)

Controller - Genelec 9320A SAM Reference

Subwoofers - Genelec W371A x2

And for my general-purpose room where multimedia is the focus:

Speakers - L +R (MoFi Sourcepoint 888 x2) and C (KEF R2 Meta)

Subwoofer - Power Sound Audio S1512m x2

AV Processor and DSP Bass Management Tool - miniDSP Flex HTx

Power Amplifier - Apollon Audio NCx500 M Monoblock Amplifier x3

I find that being perpetually broke helps me appreciate what I listen to ;)

@jsalerno277  I agree with most of what you say.   
 As a musician I know well what real music sounds like and I’ve built my system so that it sounds as close to that as possible.  It’s always been my goal.  
in your analysis you hit on certain problems I have with listening.  The hedonistic quest for “perfect” sound raises its ugly head. I achieve near perfect SQ rarely, but after I hear it, it becomes something I want to achieve at all times.  Of course, as you say, the variable quality of source materials makes that impossible.

As I say in my post, the music must be primary.  But it’s easy to get caught up in the sonics.

I’m on vacation in Spain. Listening to an Astell & Kerns SR 35 digital audio player with Sony WF 1000XM5 earbuds.  Sounds great, and even amazing at times.  Cost is 1/20 of my home system.  There’s a lesson here. 

@evanpress 

Yes, there is a lesson there.  I used to be very happy listening on a table radio years ago.

What’s causing my current angst is that I just got back a preamp that was out for repair and the sound of my system improved, causing me to concentrate on the sound more than I should.

@cdc yeah I decided to go straight to the end and not do too much merry go round tinkering.

Glad I did that cos I now go to audio shows to just enjoy new gear without any itch to get any. 

I'd like to think we all got into this for the love of music. Give me a cheap pair of earbuds & I can still get down. But I am not wealthy enough to buy the finest of audio equipment & still pay for my more important responsibilities. The more expensive the component the more critical I am.

I'm fortunate enough to be able to listen to live music more often than most. I have a family of musicians so I understand "real" sound. The best sounding systems that can replicate that the closest I've only heard at shows & are out of my reach..so I don't strive for that impossible realism in my home. But I value my money & when I buy a new component I will be extremely critical for the next 60 days if I bought new. The music is important because that's how I'm testing the component..but I'm critically listening to the component & the perceptions it's giving me. 

So for me the focus on either the music or the components shifts from time to time. But ultimately it's all about the music. Though over the years when I've had a very good system I could listen to any type of music & it would be enjoyable & appreciated because of the system. Those same oddball tracks I can't get more than 30 seconds in with a pair of earbuds. My favorite tracks I can boogie to on any system that isn't broken or fatiguing. I can get down & sway to some jazz on the system but on my headphones or in the car I'm not feeling it as much..or at all sometimes. 

Another aspect of being an "audiophile" could be that one is just an addict. This hobby can be nothing more than an addiction hidden behind the justification for great sound. I've been there.  Hitting the used markets everyday even though I didn't really need a new piece. Impulse purchases. Spending an unhealthy amount of time tinkering or thinking about components. Spending outside of your budget.  Audio forums, YouTube videos, etc. If you are in this mindset or living this way of course you are subconsciously or consciously unhappy with the stereo system at times. Looking or critically listening for any reason or fault in what you currently have to justify that next purchase. The music becomes nothing more than a way to gauge or compare components. 

Enjoying what you have is hard for some folks. They probably don't even realize this about themselves. Instead of just enjoying the music there can be a lot of personal psychology going on. There is an addiction or psychological side of being an "audiophile" that a lot of people won't understand or get. But for those that suffer from it, it is very real. Sometimes the music can get lost or be a side note to the unhealthy side of this hobby. It took me many years to learn that there is a time to be critical & evaluate & then the time to come to terms & be happy with what I have. This mindset did not just pertain to audio equipment. 

@mattw73 

Well put!

@rvpiano thank you. Just sharing some personal thoughts & experiences. 

Does this mean you guys are all going to be getting rid of your systems because they (the systems) are too resolving and you'd all prefer to be listening to table radios?

@immatthewj not me. I can appreciate a table radio for what it is but I prefer better performance. 

Sound is to music what a woman is to a man...

 They make love and birth meaning...

Meaning in music is related to the way we evaluate timbre information as in the speech act...

It is proven that our body decipher timbre information and music instrument reflect this interpretation done by our gesturing body...

When an audio system at any price is optimal acoustically  because we have done it right,  sound is a door opening to the music content, a qualia which is  concrete, sensible and totally immaterial and abstract at the same time...

«My wife is a concrete noise and an undecipherable abstraction i touch time to time »--- Groucho Marx