"Music-First Audiophile" Manifesto by John Darko

[Robin L]

Love your post. I think many of us can sort of glide in and out, situationally.

I need the music more than I need the gear. But I want the gear. I've got a lot more invested right now in recordings than gear. And while a lot of the recordings are ear candy, a lot are historical, audio sandpaper.

 

[Anton D]

I made it to the 3rd Music First statement then started feeling violently sick to my stomach. Were the rest better?

If we told you, it would only throw your delicate mechanism more into disorder, chaos, and gastrointestinal distress. Best you not have to bear it.

 

[Anton D]

They are shills.
Keith

Anyone with a vested interest is at risk.

 

[egellings]

It reads almost like a religious vow whereby Magister General Darko is making sure we follow the rules.
Laughable.

Ours in not to wonder why; just invert and multiply.

 

[DMill]

And while a lot of the recordings are ear candy, a lot are historical, audio sandpaper.

Collecting music is in some ways is equally as audio nervosa as gear heads. I know a guy who has a room floor to ceiling with shelves of vinyl like in a library. i bet he’s listened to 10%. I personally had 800+ CDs I traded in years ago. I think of the money I spent… There are 16 used copies of Tigerlily by Natalie Merchant at every used CD store for a dollar each now. All landfill.

 

[Dialectic]

The music first audiophile would have at least 51% of their threads about music regardless of the playback gear.

Not necessarily. Writing about music is hard, and arguing about it is no fun.

 

[Tell]

Kind of hard talking and reviewing music since it's so very subjective, and especially if you're into the less mainstream music then it's even harder.

 

[CapMan]

Not necessarily. Writing about music is hard, and arguing about it is no fun.

It’s also completely subjective so perfect for most audio reviewers

 

[Timcognito]

If one wants to get his opinions on music it helps to pay to play.

https://www.patreon.com/johndarko

I'm a donor here but I don't have to be to get all the content. I liked Darko until he started the patreon s__t and put his music behind a paywall. I still think he is good presenter and caters to a younger and upcoming audio hobbyist. A few posters here can be quite irascible toward newbies and want-to-be's, especially if are not technical or new to tech in general. I think some of that is because many view and like ASR as their own peer to peer scientific and technology haven, and don't care to teach or hand hold. Overall we all know that is generally not the case, as so many go out of their way to help others solve issues, simple, unclear or complicated

 

[lin4265]

Collecting music is in some ways is equally as audio nervosa as gear heads. I know a guy who has a room floor to ceiling with shelves of vinyl like in a library. i bet he’s listened to 10%. I personally had 800+ CDs I traded in years ago. I think of the money I spent… There are 16 used copies of Tigerlily by Natalie Merchant at every used CD store for a dollar each now. All landfill.

This, I really want to start streaming music, but I am currently happy with my 200 album collections so far. I would rather to get to know my albums before acquiring more.

 

[MattHooper]

They are shills.
Keith

Exhibit "A" ^^

(If they are all shills I guess I have to admit being a "dupe," as some of those reviewers have helped me find some of my most satisfying audio purchases).

 

[Anton D]

Exhibit "A" ^^

(If they are all shills I guess I have to admit being a "dupe," as some of those reviewers have helped me find some of my most satisfying audio purchases).

Did you buy from a, you know, a dealer?

How do their interests fit the discussion?

Is it all just shills and dupes?

 

[ROOSKIE]

If one wants to get his opinions on music it helps to pay to play.

https://www.patreon.com/johndarko

I'm a donor here but I don't have to be to get all the content. I liked Darko until he started the patreon s__t and put his music behind a paywall. I still think he is good presenter and caters to a younger and upcoming audio hobbyist. A few posters here can be quite irascible toward newbies and want-to-be's, especially if are not technical or new to tech in general. I think some of that is because many view and like ASR as their own peer to peer scientific and technology haven, and don't care to teach or hand hold. Overall we all know that is generally not the case, as so many go out of their way to help others solve issues, simple, unclear or complicated

Well to be fair Amir is a retired man and made, well, plenty.
Reality is Darko uses his channel to make his living.
Actually if you think about... just saying. Really I have love all around for every decent audiophile and audiofool.
Man I wish I could make decent money doing something fairly decent(or better yet magnificently decent) for the art of music and hifi.

 

[Axo1989]

Wondering why he is using she all the time.
Has he turned woke?

In fact he uses both 'he' and 'she' in that list. It's right there in front of you, in black and white, an objective fact. It certainly isn't "she all the time". You are objecting to using 'she' at all, rather than 'he' exclusively? And using 'woke' unironically for context/emphasis? Crikey ...

 

[Robin L]

Collecting music is in some ways is equally as audio nervosa as gear heads. I know a guy who has a room floor to ceiling with shelves of vinyl like in a library. i bet he’s listened to 10%. I personally had 800+ CDs I traded in years ago. I think of the money I spent… There are 16 used copies of Tigerlily by Natalie Merchant at every used CD store for a dollar each now. All landfill.

I'm more selective than that. By way of example, have five complete Beethoven Piano Sonata boxes, have heard all of them more than once, in most cases much more than that. In the past my "collecting" was more like hoarding, but these days I'm either getting freebies I haven't heard before and listen to them right away or deliberately buy recordings I've been waiting for the price to drop to where I can afford it.

 

[Axo1989]

I'm picturing Jana Dagdagan ... I miss her video production work.

Yes, Jana's production for Darko and her own work on her site Earspace were meticulously crafted and a pleasure to listen to and watch.

 

[MattHooper]

Yes, Jana's production for Darko and her own work on her site Earspace were meticulously crafted and a pleasure to listen to and watch.

That’s for sure. I found it didn’t even matter what the gear was, her production skills just made the videos compelling and beautiful - often with a beguiling sense of reverie. I sure wish she had continued.

 

[ROOSKIE]

Collecting music is in some ways is equally as audio nervosa as gear heads. I know a guy who has a room floor to ceiling with shelves of vinyl like in a library. i bet he’s listened to 10%. I personally had 800+ CDs I traded in years ago. I think of the money I spent… There are 16 used copies of Tigerlily by Natalie Merchant at every used CD store for a dollar each now. All landfill.

I'm more selective than that. By way of example, have five complete Beethoven Piano Sonata boxes, have heard all of them more than once, in most cases much more than that. In the past my "collecting" was more like hoarding, but these days I'm either getting freebies I haven't heard before and listen to them right away or deliberately buy recordings I've been waiting for the price to drop to where I can afford it.

Yes, while I am not looking to excite a political riot here or figure out who is awake and who is dreaming, there just is a lot of waste in buying any new physical media.
I get it some folks just love that liner note or cover art, plus shopping out and about.
That said to riff off what you folks said, please consider going used only and not buying new for albums and CDs.
Just vinyl alone is staggeringly polluting to produce and that PVC(&PVA) is one of the worst environmental issues and largest components of worldwide pollution.
But if you must you must I get it, we have our personal poisons to pick and fun and enjoyment to get where we can.
All for the best I hope.

 

[Axo1989]

Many thousands of albums in his archive - effin' boasting so and so! When are they ever going to have time to play them all again and how many styli to be worn out if they're all on legacy vinyl?

Haha, well he's of an age that grew up with records maybe? Or has an album fetish, or just nostalgia, or [no I won't go on, there's another thread for that]. But I do have thousands of albums in my library—there's no visible tally unfortunately but there's over 500 before we get to artists stating with B. Except it's a virtual library on a streaming service, so I reckon we can interpret that item in the manifesto in a couple of ways. You are right too, listening to all of it, even remembering all of it, is almost impossible.

Edit: found the tally: 5517 items, or 138 days of material. I imagine that's pretty normal, not exceptional. So possible to listen to it all, but difficult.

Yes, while I am not looking to excite a political riot here or figure out who is awake and who is dreaming, there just is a lot of waste in buying any new physical media.

Producing and accumulating material objects excessively is a problematic thing for sure. I'm not ignoring the energy impacts of those digital/cloud resources as well.

 

[Barrelhouse Solly]

Live performances can be awful! The deaf guy on the mixing board, the acoustics of the venue and your seat position play a large part in what you are experiencing. Apart from the communal shared energy, I prefer a well produced recording.

IMHO good engineers will produce a balanced stage with pin point accuracy on the instruments and performers. It's an illusion, but can be way more enjoyable and easy on the ears.

I said "good seat." When the room and the sound person aren't good, there are no good seats.