Audiophilia nervosa

[Pretorious]

Add my name to the list of those of us who obsess over audio things.

I feel a lot of times that there are unintentional axioms that obsessives pick up on, axioms that aren't stated outright here, but we assume because of the advice we are given. Mine is believing that listening to my most treasured music on a BT speaker/headphone or soundbar is the wrong way of listening and so it is not allowed; that doing so is ruining the music. The right way is a proper system. It's very hard to shake this when we overthink things and have FOMO.

As @Ropeburn and others above have said, to hell with that way of thinking! I agree that bad measuring products we should avoid, but if the speaker or device measures well and we like it, then who is to say what is right or wrong other than ourselves. Just stop thinking and enjoy it. Telling ourselves that is sometimes the hard part. It's also nice to live in an age where we don't have to tinker to get good sound, that good sound can be had directly out of the box with minimal effort. We should see that the engineering that led to that is phenomenal, appreciate it, then step back and enjoy the music.

 

[MattHooper]

Add my name to the list of those of us who obsess over audio things.

I feel a lot of times that there are unintentional axioms that obsessives pick up on, axioms that aren't stated outright here, but we assume because of the advice we are given. Mine is believing that listening to my most treasured music on a BT speaker/headphone or soundbar is the wrong way of listening and so it is not allowed; that doing so is ruining the music. The right way is a proper system. It's very hard to shake this when we overthink things and have FOMO.

As @Ropeburn and others above have said, to hell with that way of thinking! I agree that bad measuring products we should avoid, but if the speaker or device measures well and we like it, then who is to say what is right or wrong other than ourselves. Just stop thinking and enjoy it. Telling ourselves that is sometimes the hard part. It's also nice to live in an age where we don't have to tinker to get good sound, that good sound can be had directly out of the box with minimal effort. We should see that the engineering that led to that is phenomenal, appreciate it, then step back and enjoy the music.

I should probably be embarrassed by how much I enjoy listening to music, and actually like the sound quality, just via my iPhone’s built-in speakers.

But I’m not

 

[kemmler3D]

Get something cheap and cheerful to listen to music, like something from Sonos or Bose. Focus on the tunes, know that the fidelity is not the ultimate. And avoid so-called "audiophile" recordings, stick to recordings that you already know are compromised, like symphonic recordings from the '50s or piano recordings from the '30s, highly compressed rock from the '60s. If you want to avoid the disease of being an audiophile, then stop acting like one.

This is also good advice.

Most of the time I listen on my "ASR-approved" gear with DSP and great directivity and full-range bass and all the rest.

But a lot of times I listen to music on my JBL Go 3, like in the shower or when I am out of town.

Music is still fun to listen to on that thing even if sounds the way it looks, which like a cheap running shoe that somehow acquired some buttons.

Mine is believing that listening to my most treasured music on a BT speaker/headphone or soundbar is the wrong way of listening and so it is not allowed; that doing so is ruining the music. The right way is a proper system. It's very hard to shake this when we overthink things and have FOMO.

Yes, I think that's a pernicious thought. Great music is great because it makes us feel something. There are right and wrong ways to achieve good AUDIO quality, but good music quality transcends gear. Audio quality can serve music but never supersede it. Audiophilia nervosa occurs when the relationship trends toward an inversion.

 

[Ktacos]

At a point, I think it's good to sort of "age out" of parts of the hobby. I don't mean literal age but more of a point where you have enough education to execute an audio setup that does what you want and can identify audible issues and apply appropriate corrections.

I'm at that point, just kind of lost interest in it all. The feeling really solidified after I spent a whole day listening to my setup the other day and apparently all my crossover dsp filters were turned off and it wasn't offensive enough to me to look into it. I chalked the weird sound up to poor sleep. The music still hit me just as hard because my brain was in a place to listen.

Some may disagree but I think were kind of at a point where we solved the loudspeaker, and most advancements seem to be gear for niche use cases or have price tags that make you question what were even doing. At this point I'm more interested in what is going on in the brain when we hear. My current biggest hurdle in understanding is why I can have a great engaging experience from a little bluetooth speaker, an experience on par with my nice speakers. It kind of makes you wonder what the pursuit of audio excellence is even about.

 

[Mart68]

When you start picking music to play because you want to hear how your system handles the ride cymbal instead of because of how it makes you feel, that's the time to back it off.

Otherwise, a year down the line you'll be spending an afternoon comparing the orange sticker fuse to the purple sticker fuse and writing about it on the internet.

 

[MattHooper]

Most of the time I listen on my "ASR-approved" gear with DSP and great directivity and full-range bass and all the rest.

But a lot of times I listen to music on my JBL Go 3, like in the shower or when I am out of town.

Music is still fun to listen to on that thing even if sounds the way it looks, which like a cheap running shoe that somehow acquired some buttons.

Which makes me curious: once we admit, we can enjoy music on lesser quality systems: what is it you get out of listening to music on your higher end audio or more accurate system?

What are you looking for it to add to your experience and why… and does it?

 

[Ropeburn]

When you start picking music to play because you want to hear how your system handles the ride cymbal instead of because of how it makes you feel, that's the time to back it off.

Otherwise, a year down the line you'll be spending an afternoon comparing the orange sticker fuse to the purple sticker fuse and writing about it on the internet.

Yeah seriously. The best benchmark is still that one awesome track you heard 20 years ago. Your new and improved stereo for big moneys, does it give you an awesome experience with your old and long beloved music? If yes, its been totally worth it. Blast that shit and enjoy! This is exactly what you spent all effort and money on.

But if it doesn't? Even after you tried similar, but newer musics, and you're st

Which makes me curious: once we admit, we can enjoy music on lesser quality systems: what is it you get out of listening to music on your higher end audio or more accurate system?

What are you looking for it to add to your experience and why… and does it?

This perhaps is the most important question of them all.

Of course I don't have the ultimate answer, but I dare say: it's surprisingly little. My current stereo (DAC+poweramp+speakers) is utterly excellent; and my best friend who is about to be very successful with his business and make some very big money, I'm very confident to be able to assist in finding an endgame system for 10000 or so, should he ever ask.

 

[Multicore]

Like this horrible sounding Buffalo Springfield historical gem survives.

yes, exactly!

here's another a bit like that. the performance is so much fun because she's playing at the edge of her ability and keenly aware of it. the sound quality, otoh, is <who cares?>.

"Cripple Creek" played by Tracy Newman​

 

[kemmler3D]

What are you looking for it to add to your experience and why… and does it?

Hmm, my first answer was "because you can hear the music better" but "better" makes that a tautology, so...

I think the answer here feels intuitive to most / all of us, but it's harder to articulate.

I think most artistic media benefits from more immediacy / amplitude (brightness) / frequency (color) range / immersion / scale. (literature just needs to be easily legible, I guess.)

For movies, paintings, and music, you can say the same thing. Good sound benefits music in the same way that going to the museum to see a painting is better than looking at a photo in a book.

It's still a great painting just like great music is still great on a dinky speaker, but sometimes more is more.

And, as an aside, the ultimate example of low-quality recordings I enjoy listening to a lot:

 

[Multicore]

Hahaha I really think you hit the nail right on the head here. We barely evolved apes fancy ourselves to be very rational creatures, like the fictional Vulcans of Star Trek we invented ourselves - while in reality we're still the same old slaves to our emotions and hormones we were one million years ago, when the first proto-human invented the bone flute, and the tribe shaman banged the big drum to it.

right. i'm all in favor of highly evolved and sophisticated arts and excellent sound can play its part in that but that's not the only way to play the game.

music serves human purposes.

i remember a moment a few years ago when i was out in the park with puppy Lucy (an adult but i address all the dogs i like as puppy), i was a little "tired and emotional" and put Illana the Creator on my phone with no headphones. terrible sound but I had a special moment. The music survives.

 

[Multicore]

Hmm, my first answer was "because you can hear the music better" but "better" makes that a tautology, so...

I think the answer here feels intuitive to most / all of us, but it's harder to articulate.

I think most artistic media benefits from more immediacy / amplitude (brightness) / frequency (color) range / immersion / scale. (literature just needs to be easily legible, I guess.)

I just want to be not distracted or annoyed by noticing defects. If the problem is the recording then I can usually let it go. If the problem is some playback system that I can't do anything about then I can usually let that go too. But if it's my equipment then it's not so easy. And if it's the gear I use every day then the annoyances can be serious. This is why I have good speakers and amps and room eq.

And that's also why I try not to expose myself to superior sound. I don't want to notice more defects.

 

[MattHooper]

Hmm, my first answer was "because you can hear the music better" but "better" makes that a tautology, so...

I think the answer here feels intuitive to most / all of us, but it's harder to articulate.

I think most artistic media benefits from more immediacy / amplitude (brightness) / frequency (color) range / immersion / scale. (literature just needs to be easily legible, I guess.)

For movies, paintings, and music, you can say the same thing. Good sound benefits music in the same way that going to the museum to see a painting is better than looking at a photo in a book.

It's still a great painting just like great music is still great on a dinky speaker, but sometimes more is more.

And, as an aside, the ultimate example of low-quality recordings I enjoy listening to a lot:

I think you put it pretty well. As you say, higher quality presentation of any medium affects the experience.

If I think of why friends and family enjoy coming over to my place so much to watch movies on my big projection screen and surround sound, it’s because it clearly is a different experience than watching on their TV at home.

Same with reactions to my two channel system. I’ve had people react really positively to music they wouldn’t otherwise have probably thought about before, because of the enhanced qualities of good sound.

It’s like: Why would I go to the symphony to hear music that I could hear at home?

For me, it wasn’t just about the difference in performance; a lot of it was the added sensuousness of the sound. Being in the presence of a full orchestra playing was nothing like any Soundsystem I had heard.
The power, the scale, the palpability, the dynamics, the richness of the instrumental timbre… it all elevated the experience.

So what am I getting out of my two channel audio system?

For me, it’s the added sensuousness of pleasing sound quality, which enhances the experience of listening to lots of music.
While it is true I can enjoy plenty of my very favourite music on almost any device, my high end systems over the years has greatly expanded the amount of music I explore and own. I have tons of music that I frankly wouldn’t think about even playing on my car. But when I play it on my two channel system, I’m completely and utterly sucked in and engaged. Any music can sound engaging when it’s also sounds beautiful. It’s been my experience that most audiophiles have a similar experience, and I find audiophiles tend to have a wider range of musical interest or a wider variety in their music collections that the average person.

So I might put on a good recording of a Bernard Herrmann score, that I might’ve listened to when I was young on a mono tape recorder, and which thrilled me back then. But on my current two channel system, when those low Herrmann woodwinds growl, I can feel the sound pressure of those instruments in a tactile way, and when those Herrmann brass parts enter, they have that gorgeous
“ lighting up at the acoustic with golden brassy harmonics” similar to what I hear at the symphony. It can feel that much more like listening to the music played live, and there’s just a lot more sonic information to reward my concentration.

There’s a Herrmann piece in the Jason and the Argonauts score, depicting the hydra serpent. When I used to listen to it on my tape recorder when I was young, it was incredibly evocative, and I would imagine the scene from the movie.

When I play that same piece on my two channel system, all the low brass and woodwind instruments playing down low in undulating tones representing the serpent movement, reach out and roll across the floor, making me feel palpably the roiling coils of the orchestra. It’s just immediately effective, even without my having to indulge my memory of the film, and it’s just so fun.

Anyway, we all have similar stories as to how our audio systems have created all sorts of wonderful experiences. A great audio system is like an “ experience machine” where are you can essentially call up a cool experience at will.

 

[Ropeburn]

Anyway, we all have similar stories as to how our audio systems have created all sorts of wonderful experiences. A great audio system is like an “ experience machine” where are you can essentially call up a cool experience at will.

For me, that has been clearly this:

...and countless other electro pieces. But always Hans Zimmer.

Even when gaming, I can't help it but go full Electro

 

[LTig]

See below a link to a list of frequently covered songs. The most covered tune (according to this list) was a surprise, even though I was quite familiar with the tune.

Most-covered songs of all time

Stacker compiled a list of data from WhoSampled.com to discover what the most covered songs of all time were, across all genres and timeframes.

stacker.com

Interesting. OTOH I heard that song recently by 2 totally different duos (guitar/harmonica and piano/trumpet) and both were great.

 

[Mart68]

Yeah seriously. The best benchmark is still that one awesome track you heard 20 years ago. Your new and improved stereo for big moneys, does it give you an awesome experience with your old and long beloved music? If yes, its been totally worth it. Blast that shit and enjoy! This is exactly what you spent all effort and money on.

But if it doesn't? Even after you tried similar, but newer musics, and you're st

This perhaps is the most important question of them all.

Of course I don't have the ultimate answer, but I dare say: it's surprisingly little. My current stereo (DAC+poweramp+speakers) is utterly excellent; and my best friend who is about to be very successful with his business and make some very big money, I'm very confident to be able to assist in finding an endgame system for 10000 or so, should he ever ask.

At work I have the radio on - 128kbps from the single speaker in the computer tower sat under my desk.

I enjoy the music from that but there's no comparison to the 'end game' system I have at home which oddly enough cost about the $10K you mention.

If the difference was 'surprisingly little' I'd be very unhappy. The difference is enormous. Listening to music on that system is an event - every time.

I actively look forward to the weekends which is the only time I am able to fire it up and enjoy it (although not for much longer as I retire next Friday and will be able to enjoy it every day).

I don't regret a single penny of what it cost and there's absolutely no chance of my going back to a lesser experience.

One thing I don't do is continue tweaking or swapping components or wondering if it could be even better. Put a fork in it, it's done. Just enjoy it.