Aging and music/sound preferences

[bt3]

Have owned expensive audio systems as well as budget ones, and never mistook what was heard through any of them as realistic as natural sound world. With advancing age and less acute hearing, find more than ever preference for sound of non-amplified instruments. Have mild tinnitus since early fifties which may be a contributing factor for less interest in listening to music through my audio system? Anyone experience similar sound/music preference with age past their fifties?

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Nope. I've been pretty consistent for decades with a preference for classical and acoustical music in, if possible, multichannel recordings.

 

[Snarfie]

Age 63. Still listen to the old stuff (Chet baker, Beatles, Steely Dan etc etc) but preference now (30-70) is new stuff (Yussef Days, Alfa Mist, Ghostpoet, Takuya Kuroda an many others) get my neurons working an creates pheromones for thoughts.
Love to make remixes, Deephouse sets with Seductive" 70-80ties undertones..... => https://www.mixcloud.com/Snarf/it-s-dub-friday/
Last few weeks i did (re)-discover online jazz radio stations.

 

[fpitas]

As I aged, I started preferring UK breakbeat hardcore to rock. But somehow I don't think that's where you're going with this thread

 

[Suffolkhifinut]

Have owned expensive audio systems as well as budget ones, and never mistook what was heard through any of them as realistic as natural sound world. With advancing age and less acute hearing, find more than ever preference for sound of non-amplified instruments. Have mild tinnitus since early fifties which may be a contributing factor for less interest in listening to music through my audio system? Anyone experience similar sound/music preference with age past their fifties?

Like you have had a wide range of equipment and at 78 find I listen more carefully than when I started out more than 50 years ago. My range of musical tastes has broadened and find great enjoyment in a variety of genres. Listened to the BBCs Young Musician of the year. The difference in venue acoustics was easy to spot, the heats were carried out in the Saffron Hall, Saffron Walden while the final was in the Bridgewater Hall Manchester. Listening to final the music was unengaging, every time they showed a portion from the heats to introduce a finalist the music came to life. In my younger days would never have listened as closely, instead dismissing the final’s musical performances as being below par.

 

[Peluvius]

Have owned expensive audio systems as well as budget ones, and never mistook what was heard through any of them as realistic as natural sound world. With advancing age and less acute hearing, find more than ever preference for sound of non-amplified instruments. Have mild tinnitus since early fifties which may be a contributing factor for less interest in listening to music through my audio system? Anyone experience similar sound/music preference with age past their fifties?

I am having a resurgence in musical exploration mid fifties, mild tinnitus in left ear. Based on a few of the online tests and my last visit to an Audiologist my hearing is slightly above average for someone my age (I can still hear 14k). The major contributor to that has been a set of excellent speakers at my PC and a streaming service that makes it easy to play anything that tickles my fancy. The convenience factor is compelling to me. I am not enjoying loud music as much as I used to.

 

[boXem]

Since 10 years I can observe that I can't stand any music produced less than 10 years ago... Old brain needs time for adaptation.

 

[Vacceo]

With time I have diversified due to the curiosity about the influences of Extreme Metal, which is the set of genres I still listen to the most. Due to Cryptopsy or Coroner I started appreciating Bebop, for example. However, I am consisent on my most recurring genres, and that´s almost 30 years of Black and Death Metal...

That aside, I guess being brought up on a diet of Pink Floyd leaves a mark.

 

[wwenze]

I have heavy tinnitus due to army and my genre preference hasn't changed due to that, so I can guarantee that isn't a factor.

 

[Chrispy]

Acoustic guitar was one of my favorites at the beginning and still is, as well as various other genres like rock and jazz and a little bit of classical. Home reproduction is what it is, it's not the same as a live performance, altho you can get somewhat close....in my dotage I do prefer lower volume levels than I used to, tho.

 

[DVDdoug]

I'm 66 and I still like the same stuff but my tastes have broadened.

I haven't had my hearing tested but I don't think I've had much loss except the high frequencies. I do have some tinnitus, and I've had it as long as I can remember but it doesn't bother me.

I got interested in music about the time I started Jr. High (1968). Like everybody else I was listening to top-40 radio. I don't remember the 1st 45 that I bought but my 1st album was either Steppenwolf Live or Iron Butterfly In-A-Godda-Da-Vida. I STILL think Magic Carpet Ride and Born to Be Wild are great songs!!!

My 1st favorite band was Creedence Clearwater Revival, then Fleetwood Mac, and then probably Dire Straits. I still love that stuff too!

At some point I started liking the early 60's music and to my taste that was the best era for rock/popular music. I like 50's rock if it has good recording quality. A few years I actually tracked-down some modern recordings of Big Band music and I can enjoy that if I'm in the mood for it.

I mostly stopped listening to current music around 1990. By that time I think I was listening to the classic rock station. Now, I rarely listen to the radio... I have an iPod connected to my car stereo with all of my music on it. I already own most of the music I want to listen to. Most of my "newer music" is video concerts of the same-old bands playing the same-old songs. Or, a couple of years ago I bought AC/DC's newest album which sounds exactly like they used to sound.

In the 1970's I wouldn't have listened to AC/DC. Now I'd think AC/DC just a great rock band! I remember once a girl asked me if I liked Led Zeppelin. I said "Too much hard-rock". She replied, "Have you heard Stairway To Heaven?" That was probably the 1st Led Zeppelin song she'd heard. Now, I do like some Led Zeppelin but Stairway To Heaven isn't one of my favorites.

 

[JeffGB]

I'm 66 and am enjoying the latest albums from pop and hip hop. Listening to Eminem as I write this. I still enjoy opera but unless it is a modern recording or a recent high quality remaster of a classic album, I find it screechy on my relatively neutral system. I haven't ripped a lot of my older CD's because of this. I guess the relatively inaccurate RIAA eq, warm amplifiers and speakers made some of the old recordings tolerable, or the early CD's were crap, using 14bit ADC's etc. I just listened to a 2012 remaster of a 1958 version of Madame Butterfly and it does sound MUCH more like the original LP did than my early CD rips.

 

[dualazmak]

As for my flexible high-Fq (super-tweeters) relative gain control in my audio setup, please refer to my recent post here.

We have also discussed about age-dependent hearing decline and our possible compensation for it on the interesting thread entitled "Audio Listening With Age Diminished Hearing". You would please refer to my posts #70, #72 and #74 on that thread.

 

[Mart68]

I'm 54 and still listen to the same records I did when a was a teenager (mostly 70s rock - listening to Nazareth right now) but tastes have expanded over the years to take in jazz, funk, soul, hip-hop and a bit of electronica.

Probably devote more listening time to more mellow/melodic music now than I used to. I suppose this is due to testosterone levels dropping with age?