[SLC]

Great discussion!

In my opinion its about pleasure. A great piece of music equals pleasure. Listening on great equipment also equals pleasure. Great music played on great equipment-Orgasmic !

[JLM]

Replay and subsequent enjoyment of recorded music is a hobby unto itself, and is a) separate from enjoyment of music per se and b) nothing that needs to have excuses made for. Otherwise, nobody would buy hifi equipment and we would all be spending our money and time on concert tickets and the requisite accomodation and travel.

I really don't understand platitudes like "it's all about the music" - sorry JLM - as you can't enjoy or experience music without significant effort some way or another, whether it be learning to sing or play an instrument, attending concerts, setting up a reasonable hifi, or seeking out recordings of interest for some reason or other.

Sorry for the slow reply, but I disagree strongly with you John/werd.  Very young children (infants in arms) enjoy being sung to.  Many primative cultures enjoy music without music lessons, organized concerts, or a hifi.  Our enjoyment of music is very basic to our nature.  I listen in the car (not high end), but wont listen to country twang on any system if I can help it.

[SlushPuppy]

Sorry for the slow reply, but I disagree strongly with you John/werd.  Very young children (infants in arms) enjoy being sung to.  Many primative cultures enjoy music without music lessons, organized concerts, or a hifi.  Our enjoyment of music is very basic to our nature.  I listen in the car (not high end), but wont listen to country twang on any system if I can help it.

I think you're both right. No wrong here. As JohnR pointed out, I spend a lot of time and money searching for music that's interesting, so for me there is serious effort involved. On the flip side, I could listen to the music I like on a car stereo or boombox and be completely happy. I wish I could always listen to it on my home system, but that's not possible.

[doug s.]

I think you're both right. No wrong here. As JohnR pointed out, I spend a lot of time and money searching for music that's interesting, so for me there is serious effort involved. On the flip side, I could listen to the music I like on a car stereo or boombox and be completely happy. I wish I could always listen to it on my home system, but that's not possible.

i think johnr is wrong, simply because, for so many folks, the love of music is innate in their make-up.  slush, if you did not have an innate love of music, you wouldn't be working so hard searching for music that's interesting to you.  if it's a learned behavior, it's cuz of the innate drive that already resided in your being...  i have always loved music, it drives my interest in this hobby.  it's not the other way around...

ymmv,

doug s.

[JohnR]

i have always loved music, it drives my interest in this hobby.  it's not the other way around...

Did someone say it was? Here you are, spending effort and money to further your enjoyment. I thought that was what I said... yet I'm wrong? 

[medium jim]

There are recordings that are so well recorded that you cannot help enjoy listening to...

Jim

[vinyl_guy]

There are recordings that are so well recorded that you cannot help enjoy listening to...

Jim

Not true for me. I'm not listening to jazz, classical, chamber or choral no matter how well it is recorded. I have to like the music first.

Laura

[doug s.]

i have always loved music, it drives my interest in this hobby.  it's not the other way around...

ymmv,

doug s.

Did someone say it was? Here you are, spending effort and money to further your enjoyment. I thought that was what I said... yet I'm wrong? 

hey, johnr, it seemed to me you were saying it was the effort that took precedence over the music itself...  if i misunderstood you, my apologies. 

for me, it is all about the music.  while it is true that i spend time & money trying to make the illusion sound more real, i can enjoy it anywhere, even on cheap equipment.  as long is it's not digitally compressed to $hite, like on xm, that is!   

doug s.

[JohnR]

Doug, I am saying that to pursue "music as a hobby" some effort is required. If someone is happy to turn on the radio - great. If someone is happy (and lucky enough) to have someone sing to them - great. If someone is naturally gifted and can simply sing their heart out to the joy of those around them - great. But I don't see any of that as relevant to the glib "it's all about the music" statement that I read so often from people that have invested thousands of hours and dollars in hifi equipment....

Really, it was just an off-the-cuff addition that I could/should have left out (like so many). 

[Photon46]

For myself, there are different levels of response to this question. My greatest musical involvement comes from "classical" music (for lack of a better name.)  Now, I would much rather listen to a well recorded performance, but there are many archived recordings of astounding and wonderful performances that are recorded in less than stellar audio. I can intellectually and emotionally connect with them, but it takes more concentration. Listening to old blues recordings from the thirties can make the hair stand up on arms even though the audio is crummy. However, I have a hard time listening to and connecting with a lot of screechy and poorly recorded rock music. For example, Van Halen's newest release is so muddy and compressed, I can't listen to more than three tracks before I have to turn it off.

[jazzerdave]

The quality of the music will always come first for me.  Thankfully there's plenty of well recorded good music.  Occasionally, I'll throw on a recording that's extremely detailed and balanced of music that's not really my cup of tea just to put my system through it's paces, but I never get as much enjoyment from that as I do from simply listening to my favorite music.  The Charlie Parker "One Night in Washington" recording comes to mind.  It's not an audiophile recording by any stretch, but Bird is so glorious that I can't help but enjoy myself.

[rollo]

  For me it is all about emotional impact. If the music on its own cannot make me get up and dance no matter how good the system is what is the point ?
  A fine sounding system only enhances the experience. Especially with Classical music. If the performance is lacking no system will make it worthwhile. Granted if a Violin sounds like a Kazoo then all bets are off. For me it has to at least  be somewhat correct tonality wise to get emtional impact. If the system is well conceived all the better.
  Lps, Cds all give me that experience just have to like the venue.


charles

    That statemant reflects how I feel now after 40 years at this hobby. However my first experience with better gear was what got me started. Apogee Duettas and Counterpoint gear allowed me to experience home sound in way I was not privy too. The gear is what got me. Never did I hear music that way. so in the beginning of the journey it was all about the gear. For several years new this new that. After years of chasing the Holy Grail of gear I realized that the difference gained was small compared to the investment.
    Over the years I learned what type of sound floated my boat. Clarity with soul is the best I can descibe it. Now that we have that sound our favorite music has more emotional impact for us. Subjective of course as all is in music reproduction.
  As I said if it makes you want to get and dance your done.


charles

[fredgarvin]

Obviously, there is a great deal of gear fetishism involved with audiophilia. Much of the listening is as much listening to the characteristics of the gear as it is the music. Even so, the initial push most likely comes from the love of music. It's the same with many musicians. some of them are as much or more involved with the gear as with the music. Guitarists especially.

[Trismos]

Obviously, there is a great deal of gear fetishism involved with audiophilia. Much of the listening is as much listening to the characteristics of the gear as it is the music. Even so, the initial push most likely comes from the love of music. It's the same with many musicians. some of them are as much or more involved with the gear as with the music. Guitarists especially.

Good point. I have three snare drums but (generally) only have one at any given time in my kit. My wife, who has a closet full of shoes, doesn't get it. She doesn't really fathom why I want a different set of speakers or a tube amp either. Or a Harley. But that's a different matter. Maybe.

[weitrhino]

There are recordings that are so well recorded that you cannot help enjoy listening to...

Jim

Thank you medium jim.  Your statement is a point of delineation for me and seems to suggest my earlier points.  And underscores that I feel exactly opposite this.

The breadth of the musical experience is interesting, eh?

[doug s.]

Good point. I have three snare drums but (generally) only have one at any given time in my kit. My wife, who has a closet full of shoes, doesn't get it. She doesn't really fathom why I want a different set of speakers or a tube amp either. Or a Harley. But that's a different matter. Maybe.

you had me with everything, but you lost me when you got to the harley part.  i am an avid motorcyclist - i love to ride.  but i don't get the harley thing.  i have ridden them and i enjoy driving my gen-1 scion xb more - it's so much more exciting!    but that's a different matter.  maybe.  i can't stand rap or metal music either...   

doug s.

[mwheelerk]

No, for me the quality of the music will always trump sound. However the quality of the sound can, as it does for me,enhance the listening experience. I can listen to good music that sounds good for ever. I can listen to good music that sounds bad for awhile. I will not listen to bad music that sounds good very often. I will never revisit bad music that sounds bad.

[Housteau]

I guess that I am in the minority, but for me the quality of the recording is very important if I am going to enjoy it on my system.  So many recordings put out today are not nearly as good as they could have been had they only been mastered with sound quality in mind rather than marketing.  I hate to admit that I stay clear of a lot of music that I enjoy due to how it is being released.  It just makes me angry when I try to listen to them in my room, because I know how good they could have been.  So, for poor recordings in general I am happy to have them as simple MP3s for listening in my car, or elsewhere.

[mjosef]

Hell yeah...otherwise why spend all this money on a good set up to listen to Shite....recordings. Might as well whistle 'Dixie' and kick the can down the road...

A good system deserve good recordings. And when you get the two, good recordings and good music...its its its...