To hear what the microphones heard?

Clueless is actually completely right. Every person who attends a concert has different likes and dislikes. Different areas on which they focus, and therefore though they attend the same concert they hear something completely different.

A drummer will specifically listen to the drums. They want to hear if the person is keeping proper time, but also if they are just repeating the same dull beat throughout each number or if they can vary the sound of their time keeping.

A guitar player is listening to the guitar to see if they are getting the notes or chords down right.

The brass player is attentive to the music and breathing of the player.

People are most critical of what they know. Only a fool criticizes that about which he knows nothing (or is clueless).

My wife and I focus on very different aspects of the same music, and like it or dislike it based on much different priorities. She may dislike something for the very reason that I do like it! Neither of us is wrong, we just like different things.

Clueless you are a freakin' genius!

Limited to aural considerations only, I like listening to recorded music through my system more than the majority of my live experiences. I think the goal of the whole music reproduction continuum is to please me in my living room, or my car. It would also be nice if it pleased you too, so as to lower my costs, and increase the joy in the universe.

It's the reponsibility of the engineer to accurately preserve what the mics heard.

It's the responsibility of the listener to provide an environment and system which allows the recording to sound like what the mics heard:

Listening through a pair of Sony Studio v6s, I -think- I hear what the mics heard. Listening through the system that I have carefully put together the same recording sounds like a re-creation of place to me.

It's pretty subjective.