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What is "critical listening"?

Is critical listening the art of finding nits on a bald head or a is it a hard fought for level of listening acumen and competence that prevents one from buying second rate equipment? If there is such a thing, does it enhance the listening experience or detract from it?

At what point is it safe or correct to self-anoint and wear the mantle of "critical listener"?
pbb

Showing 1 response by stehno

stehno
1,453 posts
 
To me, casual listening is plopping down in front of an unfamiliar system, listening to some unfamiliar music. And you're really not listening for anything in particular, maybe you're just taking a breather.

Critical listening would be listening to familiar music on a hopefully somewhat familiar system, listening for how a component handles specific nuances that you find, well..., critical.
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