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General Asylum General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories. |
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General Asylum General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories. |
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In Reply to: "Critical" listening: a one-way ticket to the funny farm? posted by tinear on January 9, 2015 at 11:06:21:
because I wish to. I always have been a critical listener ever since I was a young teen and was putting together my first systems. I also analyze lyrics to assess the message. Again, because I wish to. I have done this consistently through the years; it is natural to me. I used to spend endless hours with a tape deck and various types of tapes attempting to make a perfect copy of a disc. I would listen critically to the copy to see how much variance there was between it and the disc. Why? Because I love doing such things.
In hindsight, I think I have the mind of a studio engineer in many respects. When I built my listening room I did so with a very critical eye toward creating a space with nearly perfect conditions to assess systems and have a sense of hearing the rig as opposed to hearing the room. I love the results and have been extremely pleased with the result. For decades I have applied critical listening to the formation of systems in the home. This is my pleasure, and I do love building systems every bit as much as hearing a new piece of music. It is a thrill to me to adjust a rig and hear the difference in sound quality. I enjoy building up a rig, not by waiting around for break in, but actively pursuing an acceptable level of sound quality. This requires critical listening, and it's a joy to do so.
Only when I have a book in front of me do I relax and stop the critical listening. Back when I had a hard limit on my audio budget I was frustrated because I wanted a supremely good sound, but I didn't want to pay for it. I wanted a fairly flawless experience, but I wanted it on the cheap. This is impossible to achieve; you simply have to put out the tens of thousands necessary to achieve that level of sound quality. If you don't you're fooling yourself into thinking you have it. I'm not interested in arguing this perspective, but I've arrived at it over the past decade and through building systems from below $10K through about $100K. I simply had to put thousands more into my systems in order to have pleasure at the result. Now that I have I still listen critically, but find great joy in the sound rather than displeasure. Performances are compelling, as opposed to simply OK.
It is a false dichotomy, and a perniciously persistent one, that suggests one cannot be a "music lover" if they are a critical listener. I would suggest that one cannot be much of an audiophile if they are not a critical listener. I am grateful I did not spend inordinate amounts on a huge media collection which sits largely unused, while those thousands could have been put to use in development of a supremely good rig on which everything heard would be a joy. I am intimately familiar with the music I play, and have regularly exciting experiences hearing it, as it is powerful, beautiful, inspiring. I would suggest that it's a great way to participate in the hobby.
So, in the end, if being a "music lover" means little critical listening, or pumping a large part of the finances toward bulking up a media collection, then no, I'm not a "music lover." Instead, call me what I love, a System Builder.
And who is there in the industry or the hobby to tell me I'm wrong about going at it this way? No one. :)
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Follow Ups
- I Listen Critically Almost Always... - Doug Schroeder 08:51:58 01/10/15 (0)
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