Audiophilia nervosa

[LTig]

Do not

• go into audio shops
• go on audio fairs
• read audio mags

except when you need to replace a broken part which cannot be repaired.

The worst one can do is to buy something expensive and then go back into the shop again and again to check on other even more expensive stuff. This is true for many areas, not just audio.

 

[Jim Taylor]

You may (or may not) have developed the beginning of an obsessive or obsessive-compulsive facet to your thoughts and behavior. Please read these two articles, and see whether they may help you or not.

How to Manage OCD: 6 Methods and Resources

Living with OCD comes with a range of daily challenges. Try using these methods to help you manage your symptoms day to day.

psychcentral.com

How to Stop OCD Compulsions: 13 Effective Strategies

Learn effective strategies that show you how to stop ocd compulsions. Read this informative and actionable resource.

drroseann.com

I wish you the best of luck!

 

[Thomas Savage]

Here's my sincere advice:

Don't chase improvements, only try to fix problems. It's not two ways of saying the same thing.

If you can hear something wrong or you see it clearly in measurements, go ahead and fix it.

If not, be comfortable in the knowledge that your system doesn't have anything wrong with it.

Clearly you know something about what good audio sounds like and looks like in measurements. So you know how close you are to a certain ideal, and you also know that neurotic tweaking is more likely to cause placebo (or nocebo) effects than it is to materially improve the sound.

Let that knowledge keep you comfortable where you are. Make big changes or none at all.

I've found that when I change something I use music to listen to my speakers for a while, but eventually I calm down and listen to the music again. If you keep changing things or thinking about changing them, you never get out of gear analysis mode.

This is fantastic advice, like putting your phone away in a draw when you find it's creeping into your life too much .

There are people who's main enjoyment is the equipment in of it's self and it follows they are also folks who actively enjoy fart arsing about with DSP crossovers or making speakers or experimenting with room acoustics etc to them to engage in these things abstract to musical enjoyment is normal. Fantastic I say , but it's not me .

Then there are those that want to listen to music, the best possible reproduction at home in their listening space or on the run with mobile audio gear . For these folks all the tinkering while potentially advantageous can lead to a kind of madness that while they chase something ' better ' can leave them further away from the absolute joy of the music and trapped in a feedback loop , a constant state of uncertainty and insecurity. Not a great state of affairs , one needs to be brave , face upto the behaviour that's bringing no joy and getting obsessive without any constructive benefits. This has certainly been me at one time or another.

It good to check in on oneself now and then , see if ones behaviours are getting out of hand , are removing joy and not adding joy. This goes for the HiFi, and I'd suggest forum and social media usage too .

So to attend to the ' problem ' only as suggested by wise member is brilliant advice for those suffering. It can be hard to follow , sometimes you just have to step away , go cold turkey, and regain some balance and perspective.

There's a whole digital world one can get lost in various ways , beware! Remember its ment to be full and fill ones soul not empty it.

 

[beeface]

No matter what you do, you can't drag the Vienna Philharmonic into your living room.

a billionaire, reading this: "challenge accepted".

 

[Thomas Savage]

Much of the nervosa seems to come from ridiculous subjective reviews and/or marketing, so stop consuming such. Concentrate on real issues/problems. It's not that hard. If you're listening to your gear instead of the content, you've missed out on the primary function.

While true and certainly the case for me personally iv noticed many here losing all perspective chasing theoretical performance advantages that will never come close to being relevant when our hearing thresholds are considered .

Again this is fine , if it's adding joy , too often iv read folks expressing their insecurities because their DAC has slipped down the SINAD chart or their in room measurements don't look as good to them as someone else's even though previously they were perfectly happy with their setup and musical enjoyment.

It's possible as a forum we don't do enough to address some of these issues so I'd thank the OP for bringing up their mild despair. It's also true folks can get very defensive if this behaviour is proactively highlighted to them .

It's where a Podcast , a casual chat between a few regular members might prove both empowering and entertaining imo . Get beyond the limits of thus medium that can often do harm as well as good , leave miscommunication and frustration where knowledge, help and fun were ment to be shared .

 

[JSmith]

It's possible as a forum we don't do enough to address some of these issues so I'd thank the OP for bringing up their mild despair. It's also true folks can get very defensive if this behaviour is proactively highlighted to them .

Agree, not directly and potentially something that should be considered more often.

That said, at least here at ASR, most people will say things like;

Why do you need to "upgrade" your DAC?

Before you buy new speakers, have you taken measurements and attempted EQ?

Does your current amp not have enough power or is it clipping?

Whereas many other forums that doesn't happen... then come all the "recommendations" to spend all their money.


JSmith

 

[Ropeburn]

Agree, not directly and potentially something that should be considered more often.

That said, at least here at ASR, most people will say things like;

Why do you need to "upgrade" your DAC?

Before you buy new speakers, have you taken measurements and attempted EQ?

Does your current amp not have enough power or is it clipping?

Whereas many other forums that doesn't happen... then come all the "recommendations" to spend all their money.


JSmith

That's true. If this forum and the collective membership has helped me with anything, then realising (in both senses) that great music enjoyment on excellent gear is actually quite simple and very affordable. A bit like the good old rule: 20% effort (and money) gets you 80% there. Follow some basic rules and it's 90% easily. Those last 10% are what can be stressing and very expensive.

 

[Thomas Savage]

Agree, not directly and potentially something that should be considered more often.

That said, at least here at ASR, most people will say things like;

Why do you need to "upgrade" your DAC?

Before you buy new speakers, have you taken measurements and attempted EQ?

Does your current amp not have enough power or is it clipping?

Whereas many other forums that doesn't happen... then come all the "recommendations" to spend all their money.


JSmith

Yes , definitely you are right, ASR members do do all those things . It's tremendously helpful but can be misinterpreted and casue folks to exit stage left . Alas it's this medium to blame, more often than not imo . I'd suggest ASR also has it's confirmation circle jerk and tribal dynamic too , just in a different way to type of thing you mention here .

It can be difficult fostering the right atmosphere to promote mutually beneficial connections while being inclusive and having fun . Maintaining our sense of humanity and getting out of our own heads. It's been my belief some of that difficulty could be attributed to this communication medium, it has its advantages and disadvantages. In the absence of mass face to face meetings a Podcast could really help individuals and the ' cause ' ..

 

[MattHooper]

While true and certainly the case for me personally iv noticed many here losing all perspective chasing theoretical performance advantages that will never come close to being relevant when our hearing thresholds are considered

Yup. Audiophiles are gonna find a way to audiophile. One audiophile chases a
“blacker background” (even even if imaginary) another chases the perfect room response. Different ways to obsess. (Not that everybody is similarly obsessed in either camp).

There are people who's main enjoyment is the equipment in of it's self and it follows they are also folks who actively enjoy fart arsing about with DSP crossovers or making speakers or experimenting with room acoustics etc to them to engage in these things abstract to musical enjoyment is normal. Fantastic I say , but it's not me .

I agree! Follow your bliss.

When I spent more time on the AVSForum I was amazed at the amount of time some people spent on dialling in subwoofers and crossovers and room correction, and sweep after sweep. You’d see people all the time starting a thread about their system and literally a year later they are still posting “ look at this measurement I got it even better!”

Which is absolutely great for somebody into that. They are totally stoked.

I have some room correction for my Home Theatre set up, and I experimented some up with some room correction when I had subwoofers for my channel system.

But it was never anything that turned my crack.

Meanwhile, when I got it into my head to start experimenting with different footers and materials under my speakers, just to see what would happen, I went full obsession and tried everything under the sun in terms of building different platforms, experimenting, raising height of my speakers, etc. See what I could do in tightening up the bass or whatever other effects.

That’s the kind of stuff that somebody here would more likely sensibly do with room correction, which I totally understand.

But for me, there was just something more fun and compelling about working with all sorts of different materials in my hands, trying all sorts of different ideas that came to my head. I totally enjoyed the process, and ended up building some granite speaker platforms with which I’m really happy.

Nothing wrong with indulging idiosyncrasies if that’s your path to bliss.

 

[kifeep]

Make big changes or none at all.

^This^ is pretty good advice.

I've only been at this a couple years, but recently (last weekend!) had an experience that really helped my audio FOMO. Not sure how to generalize it as advice, but trying and utterly failing to improve things can also change one's perspective.

I got it in my head that to really take it to the next level, I should add FIR filters to my system. I bought a used ADDA, spun up a linux server, installed CamillaDSP, crafted some filters, and... discovered that I had added 160ms latency. Unacceptable on a system that does HT in addition to music.

I tore out the new gear and put it all back the way it was. Exhausted and feeling completely defeated and foolish, I plopped on the couch and put on some music just to make sure everything was restored correctly. It sounded great!

I guess it's too soon to know if it will last, but right now I feel much more appreciative of what I have than I did a week ago.

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

Try something new. Read a few reviews, 1-2 paragraphs, most will sound like a bad idea, but hang in there. Something different, another genre or forgotten favorite but from a new band from another land. Go to your streaming service dump a few selections into your favorites. Make the journey back to music, beat, syncopation, melody, twang,...

KFJC 89.7FM

I live in the East Bay. I used to listen to KFJC a lot when we lived closer to the transmitter. In 2000 we moved to the Tri Valley area where almost no FM stations work. I miss KFJC. Wonderful variety of music.

 

[Waxx]

Basicly you need to see your setup as a tool, not as a purpose. The purpose must be enoy music. How to do that is hard, i had that for a while and then started to listen to music in the dark (or almost dark) with no displays lighting up, no computer on (except the music player that stands at a distance).

Also choose music for the musical quality, not for the recording quality or that it's good to show how good your system is. And go to live concerts or parties where you're not in front of a hifi system, but in a room with where the focus is on the music and the vibe it bring, not the sound.

 

[dedobot]

Big chunk of my music is MP3. Old FM dj sets. Listening them effectively cure my audiofilish falterings.

 

[Timcognito]

I live in the East Bay. I used to listen to KFJC a lot when we lived closer to the transmitter. In 2000 we moved to the Tri Valley area where almost no FM stations work. I miss KFJC. Wonderful variety of music.

KFJC.org with your favorite DJ archived for two weeks. Music on your schedule or streaming live.

 

[Mr. Widget]

KFJC.org with your favorite DJ archived for two weeks. Music on your schedule or streaming live.

You beat me to it. I stream radio stations from all over the world. I haven't owned a tuner in years.
Many stations sound quite good, others are lacking in resolution, but back to the point of this thread... enjoy the music and let the fidelity be damned.

 

[Titurel]

Let me suggest a method which can refocus your attention to music without switching hardware.The method is easiest for classical music fans, but might work in other genres, if not so easily.

Chose a favorite, frequently performed and recorded piece of music. Buy a copy of every recording done of it in the modern era. (At least six is good, more would be better.) A warhorse like Beethoven's Sixth Symphony would be an excellent choice. Sit down with or without a beer and listen to every single one of the performances, even if it takes several listening sessions. Repeat as necessary until you start ignoring the recording quality and start obsessing about the performances.

This does work, and it has the added bonuses of expanding your music library and not stripping you of the ability to obsess about your gear, an itch you can now productively scratch while listening to the best recorded Beethoven 6.

 

[Mean & Green]

I have obsessive tendencies with all of my hobbies, be it audio, cars or cycling. There comes a point where I can drive myself mad and I draw a line under where I’m at.

With audio I’ve reached a point where I’m happy in the knowledge that my electronics are audibly transparent, my speakers are good and my subjective listening experience in my living room is very satisfying to me and is no doubt far better than what the masses living room experience is.

I am not going down the room measurements and DSP route because I know in doing so I’ll start to obsess over getting that graph as close to the perfect downward tilt with as few peaks and troughs as possible and I’ll probably then start to hear the flaws that graph is highlighting which I am otherwise blissfully unaware of. Sometimes ignorance can be bliss.

I’ve learned from this forum that both pairs of my Beyerdynamic headphones measure poorly despite being universally used in studios and professional environments all around the world. I started listening for these faults which I didn’t perceive as a problem before seeing the graphs and then I came to the conclusion I really don’t care enough that my headphones have a treble peak many find displeasing. It’s not displeasing to me at the volume I listen at, so I am continuing to enjoy music on them as I always have.

I’ve also added a simple Schiit Loki tone control to my system for some minor tweak ability with some source material on the fly as I pick and choose or not.

Striving for accuracy is important, but sometimes for me it’s important to remember why I ended up here. I enjoy listening to recorded music and my satisfaction doesn’t need to depend on chasing the best in room graph response analysing every flaw in my room and transducers. It’s a step too far for me which would drive me mad. It’s bad enough switching from album to album hearing the glaringly obvious differences in recording and mastering which are beyond my control.

Knowing what products will make good potential purchases in the future along with understanding what things really do and do not make a difference in audio reproduction is why I’m here. I’ve come to terms with the thought that if what I’m hearing is pleasing me or impressing me - then I’m in a good place as an audiophile.

 

[Robin L]

Let me suggest a method which can refocus your attention to music without switching hardware.The method is easiest for classical music fans, but might work in other genres, if not so easily.

Chose a favorite, frequently performed and recorded piece of music. Buy a copy of every recording done of it in the modern era. (At least six is good, more would be better.) A warhorse like Beethoven's Sixth Symphony would be an excellent choice. Sit down with or without a beer and listen to every single one of the performances, even if it takes several listening sessions. Repeat as necessary until you start ignoring the recording quality and start obsessing about the performances.

This does work, and it has the added bonuses of expanding your music library and not stripping you of the ability to obsess about your gear, an itch you can now productively scratch while listening to the best recorded Beethoven 6.

Note that this works out better (and much cheaper) with streaming - I'm still binging on Robert Schumann's Symphony #2. Haven't heard any bonified "historical" performances so far, but the variety of sounds from modern recordings swings all over the place. Some performers demonstrate the beginnings of Wagner, others the culmination of Mendelssohn. My gear may not be the ultimate but it's more than good enough to hear all the differences in performance and engineering.

 

[dpturner]

I live in the East Bay. I used to listen to KFJC a lot when we lived closer to the transmitter. In 2000 we moved to the Tri Valley area where almost no FM stations work. I miss KFJC. Wonderful variety of music.

i moved to a rural area in the puget sound area, and still listen to kfjc every day. unless i'm listening to kalx.

 

[Timcognito]

i moved to a rural area in the puget sound area, and still listen to kfjc every day. unless i'm listening to kalx.

And don't forget KCSM.org JAZZ 24/7/365 no commercials.