OP, only you can decide if you want to do critical listening--if so, when and why.
I’ve done a lot of it, specifically:
- When I’m writing a review of a headphone, amp or DAC (to post on an audio board ... not a professional reviewer)
- When I’m writing descriptions of the sound of a given DAC, preamp, amp, pair of speakers
- When I get a new (or new-to-me used) component and first hear it in my system
- Or when I hear someone else’s system/equipment
Critical listening is an entirely different mindset from casual or enjoyment listening--the kind I do most often. Critical listening requires less emotion and more analysis, ie, What exactly am I hearing? How can I describe what I’m hearing in words someone else can understand?
Critical listening isn’t fun, but sometimes it’s necessary. And one’s hearing, like any other brain activity, can be practiced and improved, resulting in more focus and awareness of what is being perceived. For example, time spent listening critically helps me indirectly (yet significantly) when I listen to unfamiliar music and try to put it in the perspective of music known to me (perhaps beloved by me). It could be a jazz cut or a classical performance. There’s a halo effect with critical listening, at least for me; sometimes it helps even when I’m not consciously listening critically.