What exactly is critical listening? Who does it?


I'm supposed to listen to every single instrument within a mixture of instruments. And somehow evaluate every aspect of what I'm listening to and somehow all this is critical listening.

This is supposed to bring enjoyment?

I'm just listening for the Quality of what I'm listening to with all the instruments playing and how good they sound hopefully. 

And I'm tired of answering that I'm not a robot all the time. That's being critical.

emergingsoul

I am happily at a place where I am satisfied with my components and vibration control and non-equipment issues like speaker placement only needing to make any decisions except when something breaks or wears out. My cartridge will be 5 years old next month and I listen about 750-1000 hours a year so it should wear out soon. Then I'll have a decision whether to buy a replacement, get the stylus replaced (and anything else that needs bringing back to specs) or possibly upgrade. So whenever I listen closely, it usually is specifically to an album that is one of my favorites, or if I have gotten a better pressing of one of my records.

The best times are when I am not listening closely and notice something I never heard before or if it sounds better  than expected. When it sounds worse it's a bummer.

I know it can always sound better with a better component, but the incremental improvement as this point is not something I want to invest the time or $$ in.

I use the term "intentional listening" when I make the effort to sit down at the end of the day and revisit specific albums in my collection or listen to new acquisitions / potential buys. My listening sessions might last 2-3 hours before I call it a night. My job during the day requires me to be analytical, and at the end of the day, I just want to relax and enjoy a well-recorded album or two. There is some aspect of critical listening to my intentional listening, but I'm not going deep into the recordings. I might enjoy listening for new aspects of particular albums or songs I hadn't paid attention to prior or whatever. Like others have said, listen in a way that you enjoy on the system you have put together.