MakeMineVinyl
Major Contributor
Very well said (as I just got back from a long mountain bike ride)Marketing people and some enthusiasts love simple " more is better" metrics, or "less is better". It's not just an audio thing, I am a cycling enthusiast and know people who spend serious money shaving a few grams from their road bikes despite the fact all they're doing in adding expense and that in most cases they could lose kilos by eating a few less chips. But lightness is bestest in road bikes. Cameras and the pixel count obsession have been noted. I know cooks who obsess over hardness numbers and metallurgy of kitchen knives despite the fact they know nothing about metallurgy beyond what they read in marketing material and magazines, hardest is bestest.
In almost all cases there seems to be a fundamental difference in attitude between people who see gear as a tool to facilitate an activity (listening to music, photography, cycling, cooking etc) and those for whom the gear is a hobby in itself. Those in the first group may spend a lot on equipment and have a keen interest in gear but generally don't obsess about it and maintain a sense of perspective. The second group often seem to become increasingly detached from what the gear actually does and become fixated on metrics. And of course for some it's about status and spending. I have no issues with the idea of the gear becoming an interest in itself, but in most of these fields the gear has long past a point where these metrics really matter and the problems have been solved. But, that is not the same as saying people shouldn't think about what they buy
Take cycling, bike fit is way more important than weight for almost all use cases. How durable is it? What are you going to use it for? Does it have eyes for mudguards and racks if you want them? Are the gear ratios right for you (is single speed a good choice)? Tyre choice is hugely important. The thing is most of these things are determined by use case and preference, not weight, frame stiffness etc yet cycling magazines and marketing are obsessed with frame stiffness and weight.
I see a lot of similarities with audio. It's harder to get an amplifier or DAC that is audibly perfectly fine than examples with audibly degraded performance. Speakers and headphones are different but FR tuning is a personal preference and speaker/room set up is a bit like bike fit in being hugely important. For most people feature set, user interface, build quality, industrial design and whether or not they just like it are what matter as audible performance is fine. However there are still some things to consider. Amplifier power needs to be appropriate for the load and desired listening level, it's like bike gearing in not being a right or wrong issue but one in which the specification has to be suitable for the application/use case.
I think we are subjective people. Chasing metrics beyond the point of relevance is a subjective choice, choosing gear for its industrial design, UI or feature set is subjective. Ultimately in audio the gear really doesn't matter. I can listen to the music I love on anything and enjoy it. I think in any hobby there is a certain minimum standard that makes things easier or more enjoyable but that level is invariably way way below what most hobbyists would look at. Most of the musicians I know have very little interest in audio gear as they listen through the equipment.
As an electronics designer, I keep my gear fetishes in check by the fact that if I want some new gear, I have to design and build it myself. I usually end up saying I really don't want it that badly and go have a beer.