Makes sense. I find there’s a point where the focus stops being about fun and enjoyment and more of an itch to scratch. One thing to humble you is to explore the world of record producing and mastering. They control everything, it’s quite funny how we try to reinterpret their efforts. Still, they are fascinating and to see how this stuff is recorded is a good way to keep perspective. Secondly, there’s every recording ever made available to listen to! At little or no cost! Having spent thousands of hours looking for obscure music, now I can spend time doing what I could only dream of. I got the fancy system because my music purchasing budget dropped to nothing. If anything I’d focus on how to manage your journey through sound. We all seem to start with ‘good recordings’ but that’s not my preference. All recordings are good, it’s how we perceive the art of how the sausage is made. Every recording is a collage of sounds, manipulated and processed. Like a movie it can be dozens of artists trying to craft a meaningful whole. Exploring those choices and personalities gets me away from too much focus on the final mile.
un-becoming an audiophile
Yes, the title is what is sounds like.
I remember long ago, as a boy, I used to be able to enjoy music without picking apart a track. is the bass tight? is the midrange clear and life-like? is the treble resolution spot on? What about imaging/sound stage?
Most people have this very same superpower - not being an audiophile. They can play a song from the worst earbuds, laptop speakers, or even computer speakers - and enjoy the music; even sing along. They aren’t thinking about "how it sounds" or scrutinizing the audio quality. Actually, they couldn’t care less. They can spend their time on other life pursuits and don’t feel a need to invest big money (or much money at all) in the hi-fi hobby.
Any psychologists or scientists in the building? (please no Amir @amir_asr ) since you are neither! ...despite the word "science" being in your domain name - audio science review.
Please, I beg you. Help me get away from this hobby.
Imagine - being able to enjoy all of your favourite music - while still achieving that dopamine rush, along with serotonin, and even oxytocin - the bonding hormone, which can be released while listening to songs with deep emotional messages, or love songs.
We’re very much like food critics or chefs in a sense. We want the best of something (in this case, audio) I’m sure michelin star chefs face the same thing in their own right...can’t enoy or even eat the food unless it’s up to a certain standard.
When we audiophiles want to listen to music, we often play it on a resolving system, so as to partake in a a "high-end" listening experience. We often pick apart music and fault the audio components in our system, cables etc. All of this takes away from the experience of enjoying music as a form of art/entertainment. It has been said that some famous artists don’t even own a high-end audio system.
I gained a great deal of wisdom of from the documentary - Greek Audiophile. In it, we have audiophiles from all walks of life. Their families think they’re crazy for spending all this money on audio. They say it sounds "nice" or "real" but still can’t justify it.
I think it’s all in the brain. If we can reset our brains (or me at least) I can still enjoy music without needing a great system for it.
- Jack