Critical listening and altered states

This whole question comes down to personal experience and preference.  There's no rigth or wrong, just a lot of opinions.  And like they say, opinions are like a**holes.  Everybody has one but people usually don't want to hear someone else's. 

@coys21

if you’re willing to share, would love to hear what your top 2-10 reference tracks are - digital/vinyl. Impressive regimen. And system!

i listen 30+ hours a week........for the last 20+ years. i’ve always enjoyed comparing formats......and gear investigations. and i have lots of media in discs, files , pressings, and reels of tape. so naturally i’ve always done plenty of comparing things and so that led to finding my most effective method over time. it was no accident or casually arrived at.

here is my system link;

https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/615

my pictures and gear list from that link is now a year or so old, so there are some additions not listed. a 4th tt, headphones and a headphone amp are not listed.

here are a few reference cuts i use;

digital;

https://boxset.me/anna-netrebko-sempre-libera-24-88-flac/

track 11, about 3:20 is a glass harmonica which will either be real or just a hint. it is very delicate, well defined and clear, sweet and soaring when it’s done right. can be smeared and indistinct on some gear. no place to hide and separates the real from the pretenders. i own the 16/44, the dsd file, SACD and the 24/88 file. the 24/88 (the source resolution from the recording) is much better than the others. her voice is divine.

i have a 24/352 dxd file of Aerosmith’s "Sweet Emotion" which is direct transfer from the master tape. the beginning of this song is a holographic spectacular. and this file is a revelation......and so far is typically the best digital i or anyone i’ve played it for has heard. again; it demands everything from my system spatially and dynamically, and reveals any shortfalls. and when i’ve improved my digital this cut has really shown that. i doubt this file can be found commercially.

i will try and list some others when i have time.

if you are ever in the Seattle area you would be very welcome to visit and i will play a number of my reference test cuts for you.

Roadwhorerwcords, we always plucked the center fibers out, they supposedly contained strychnine.  I'm not a chemist, just never got sick.  Most of the hurlers did not get sick with the tea.  The tea was perked in a coffee pot with sticks and seeds that would have been wasted otherwise.  Music was always played loud-but clean.  No matter what, the taste was horrible.

After a stressful day or week ,kicking back with 🥃 or smoke of choice 
to be in a relaxed state is a pleasant experience with your favorite music 🎶 
is a ☮️ full state of mind, or just a calming meditation recording ,
whatever suits you best is best !!

Flash-bangs are not grenades, there’s no shrapnel. Disorienting bright flash & loud noise, that’s it. Prevented many bad outcomes. Maybe problematic in your family’s hands…

Some big cop-hating issues you’ve got there.

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You saw a lot of money? You saw what was LEFT.. Give me a break..
How many times did YOU pat people down and walk away with THEIR money, their GUN, their pocket knife, their anything? LOL plenty of times...

I return pins at work too.. I didn't steal nuts bolts or ANYTHING, including TIME. Tell about the "GOOD" works you did.. BLABBIN away setting side by side blabbing half the night passing a bottle, or watching out while your partner taps a local prostitute for the "weekly" right to work the corner payment.. ..

LA cops impounding Latino kids cars behind a joint in the ashtray. DIRTY? How many times?

I’m glad you did your 25, I did 49 years of WORK... BTW Shot twice, stabbed once..

I did 89 days in a cage in Panama, behind DIRTY COPS, and payola.
I’m angry hell, I’m livin’ proof!!!

AND I’ve never hated a soul in my life. What they did YES..

Like I said COWARDS, Like I said Hand Grenades, Like I said DIRTY..

If you used flash bangs in the US. PRISON!!!

Countless people in jails, behind drugs and Vice. 1800 cops and you only new a few that were drug/Vice abusers..

You’re exactly the cop I was talking about.. Complete denial as you sip your single malt.. I can always spot an abuser of LIFE and then has the gall to defend it.. Sip away BARNEY. The compassion and abuse I’ve seen from the very same person that is every bit as messed up as the crackhead they were busting..

It’s never the drug it’s the person who is NEVER responsible. 50% of people admit to OCD behavior, the other 50% are in DENIAL.

I suppose there were "Good shoots" too, as some kid lays dead behind a cell phone. How many times.. "I THOUGHT" I saw a weapon.

Texas two years ago. 3 dead behind a warrant. The Dog, The Wife, The Husband. 59, 49, (dog unknown but dead). Someone ASKED where to buy heroin from someone in the house, who happened to be an informant.

He WAS a VET.. A state full of drunks and they murder people behind a warrant and ASKING where to buy something.. Just like bounty hunting and private prisons.. Put the whole lot in their own revolving prison door.

Let a thief go but hold a prostitute. One is making money, one is stealing money.. Usually payola of one "KIND" or the other..