It is at first impression a matter of semantics. Critical can obviously mean at least two things - one connotes negativity - ie a person being critical points out negative facts, [their] observations, or perceptions from a real or supposed (usually subjective) ideal.
The second meaning/use is a variance from an objective standard. Ie. a business plan or financial investment analysis requires a critical review of all known variables, and some accounting/adjustment for unknown future impacts. All engineering and design requires critical review for many reasons.
Socrates was attributed with saying "an unexamined life is not worth living". Meaning (I think) that all people should consider how to examine and improve themselves (physically, emotionally, educationally, financially, spiritually, etc.) - to at least be working a little over time toward becoming a ’better’ version of themselves in their roles as father, employee, neighbor, mentor, professional, etc.
I don’t think of critical listening as having any ’negative’ connotations. I will choose [when] to notice detail, soundstage, tone, emotion of the singer or music, fidelity, warmth, yada yada. I can listen to music in the car or home completely as background music, but I can also listen ’critically’ - and remember how the song ’felt’ when I heard it live in a concert as a teenager, and how it sounds now on a personally curated hifi system. All good. It becomes ’negative critical listening’ when a) you can’t appreciate any level of the playback for what it is, and create some ’comparison’ in your mind when you hear playback that is cognitively dissonant from what you think it should be, or usually worse, a sound or experience that is out of financial reach. Comparison or 'criticality' in that sense chases that mythical dragon of some satisfaction that is unachievable - in the comparison mindset. Like Einstein said "we cannot solve the problems with find ourselves in, with the same type of thinking that created them".