When I listen to my system.......


As I have stated many times, I listen to the musicianship and the composition. As I listen to SRV, just as an example, there are three musicians working together to create a "performance". How is it that anyone can put tone, sound staging, or anything else with the "sound" before the performance. There is much information on our recordings, and generally, many of these recordings are just so so with the fidelity. In fact, why do many listeners only listen to top notch recordings of higher fidelity, of the "sound", rather than appreciate those qualities I look and listen for. Is it because I was a singer / vocalist in my youth? Is it because I was around musicians who shared the joy of "music"? Is it because at a very early age, I was introduced to big band music and eclectic performances by so many, via my dad (he would have been 100 today; happy birthday dad). Yes, I consider myself an audiophile, because I spend money on gear and am careful with my dedicated room....my system allows me to hear more of the performance. But, it is the "music", the "performance", that matters most to me. I suppose I am feeling a bit nostalgic today, because of my pops. I am bringing this up again, because I do not understand the mentality of folks who listen differently than I. I know this subject might be ad nauseum to many, but some of the folks I used to design systems for, became less interested in the music, and more about the sound, placing the music and performance secondary, or not at all. I am just venting. If you would like to add to this post, I welcome all thoughts. No judgement from me. I wish everyone well. Enjoy! MrD.

mrdecibel

Its all between the ears!  There is as much difference in people's hearing as there are personalities. What matters is what you like. Like the saying goes, one mans junk, is another man's treasure. One mans dream, is another man's nightmare. One mans audiophile system is another man's Walkman.

How one determines what their enjoyment for Live Music encounters and Recorded Music Encounters means, is usually to be discovered, that the meaning is quite a lot of different things, and is more a unique holding to each individual.

Music stimulates, as well as brings forward memories and is also a experience to be encountered, that is looked forward to. How individuals respond to these moments of a musical encounter also makes each unique in how they place a importance on a musical encounter, albeit either Live or Recorded.

As a very basic description about my own interest in music encounters that have been an important part of how I use my spare time. I view my encounters with Music as a form of entertainment. I only recollect experiencing Live Music with the intent to be in an audience as part of a social experience, from that point of being in attendance, I had no further input to how I was to experience the music encounter, it was all pre-arranged in the hands of others .

Listening to recorded music evolved differently, as there is market solely in place for this. Choice for devices as a Source and Supporting Equipment, Brands and Sales Spiel are becoming much more familiar as an information that is needing to be navigated through. 

Radio introduced most to a broad range of music, and I still use a proportion of listening to Radio for this purpose today, there are a few very good slots where new Bands are given there Debut on air, and other unknown Performers always show up during a session. Cell Phone Apps, can make identifying and logging the names of unfamiliar performers very easy to achieve.  

From Radio experiences, the collection of Recorded Music commenced, the size of a collection would become a thing for a period of time, which then evolved into a keen interest on the betterment of the equipment to be used for replaying recorded music.

I will have to admit at this stage, I was one of few in group, who were divided between Vinyl and CD as Source, to which I was Wed to Vinyl for more than 30 Years before CD became a shared Source in the system.

I would also suggest this is around the first time I was to become familiar with term like HiFI and Audiophile.

Today I have the knowledge, the origins of the common usage of High Fidelity extends back close to 100 years, where the term was first seen to be coined for use on the public in general. The term was seemingly used to accompany Film Poster Adverts on Bill Boards to promote the notion the Orchestral Sound Track for the Film was an improved sound, I believe Bell Industries were recording Orchestras for the Film Industry and used the term to promote their recording methods.

The use of Audiophile and Hi-Fi came approx' 20 Years later and are both terms that are to be found used in marketing spiel used in the 50'S.

The use of Audiophile and HiFi have caught on and as they are daily in use, a meaning has been attached to create a common interpretation for the usage.

Accompanying the evolvement of the Term Audiophile and HiFi and the commonly seen description given for the words usage. There has been growing in parallel, the evolvement of the use of Technical Talk. Descriptions commonly seen to be passed around, that is easily identified for being a Technical Talk, whether accurate or not, is today seemingly a addition to the interest in Audio Equipment that gives an individual a credence in what they have purported.

There are a selection of individuals who are attaching to their interest in Audio Equipment a sub-interest, which detracts from where the sole use of the audio equipment is to replay recorded music. A sub-interest which is being seen, is one where it is a necessity to analyze the Technical Side of the equipment to be used. With forums being easily entered into, there is now a large window for the content to be discovered.

I myself see the understanding how to better audio equipment and the listening to recorded music as two different hobbies. Listening to music stirs one type of emotional interaction, where as using intelligence putting ideas into practice, is quitr different.

The average Film Watcher with an intent to be entertained, can end up really enjoy the film, without needing to be the Director, Camera man, Editor, even when the fantasy of the film has taken hold and the watcher is fancying themselves as being an individual playing a role in the movie.

In Audio, the listener can in most occasions become the Air Guitarist, Drummer, Conductor of the Orchestra, and enjoy that moment to its very fullest.

In some cases though, the design for the Volume Control, Capacitor C3 used  in the circuit, or the shape of the Wave in the product reviews analysis let the performance down, to the point it was not able to be enjoyed.        

I'm a bit confused with the point of this thread

There are 100 ways for one person to listen to one piece of music.  

So not only is each person having a different experience based on what they focus on and what it does for them, but each person's listening experience often changes as we go through time (and equipment in many cases) 

Music works when it connects for us and there's no formula for that.  

@mrdecibel

Haha, speak for yourself. Boombox keeps things in perspective.

Consider that many songs are mastered to sound good on a boombox. So I am told.

Again, the false dichotomy rears its head. 

Hi-end audio allows you to hear the music the way the artist intended you to hear it. 

That doesn’t mean that you don’t listen to great music that was not optimally recorded. You make do with what you got.