Audiophilism is a hobby

Julie is the writer. Buddy is the producer. Neither could do it alone.

I love all Sarah’s albums but Build Me Up From Bones probably tops the list. The new one is infectious and brilliant, but more commercial. Not the free flowing sound of the others, but I think she deserves to have some hits and make a living.

IMO Julie Miller is the better 7/8 …. and i like Buddy… a LOT

BTW really do check out Sarah J…. especially Blue Heron Suite

I'm guessing that most of us have some favorite cuts that we use to measure the performance of our system (s). When we hear new things in the music or have it presented in a different way that seems more pleasing or realistic then we get a satisfying measure of pleasure. Because we enjoy this feeling so much we continue on the path until that experience can be achieved again (and again). Call it a kind of obsession or perhaps call it a journey. Either way I personally have no regrets and still enjoy the quest now some 50 years.

 

Thanks @mashif, I look it up.

I recently saw Buddy’s pal Jim Lauderdale live, just he and his guitar in a medium-sized bar in Portland. Last time I saw him was at Pappy & Harriets in Pioneer Town, close to Joshua Tree (I was living in Palm Desert, about an hour away). The first time was when he replaced Gurf Morlix as Lucinda’s bandleader, singing harmony and playing acoustic rhythm guitar on the Car Wheels tour.That was a quarter-century ago! Playing lead guitar on that tour was Kenny Vaughan, now in Marty Stuart’s Fabulous Superlatives, imo the best band in the world.

Buddy and Julie never make it up to the Northwest (neither does Marty Stuart), and I’m dying to see them on stage. Marty too!

 

@bdp24 

I'm deep into that whole scene of artists, and fortunately live in Nashville. I've seen Buddy several times, including with Emmylou. Do you know WMOT radio? If not, there's an App. Roots Radio. 

Enjoy Sarah. Gonna see her next month. Steve Earle in October.

 

@mashif : Buddy Miller! Buddy has been my favorite music producer, band leader (for Emmylou Harris), singer, and guitar-stylist for a number of years now. His productions also bristle with the kinetic energy of live music (many are recorded live, with the entire band and singer captured at the same time), recorded in various rooms in his Nashville 2-story Craftsman house.

 

 

Thanks for the heads up on Sarah, who I have somehow missed. I’ll get the Undercurrents album and work my way back.

 

If I wasn't fascinated by sound, I would not be on Audiogon.

People fascinated by food can still enjoy textures, combinations, platings, wine pairings, etc. No one ever says, "It's just about nutrition."

Why is this an issue at all? Honestly curious.

I was listening yesterday to one of the first all-digital rock albums Peter Gabriel's Security. I had the original CD in a vintage 16-bit player and was amazed by the vividness of the sound quality!  I felt what I was hearing was the master such was the explosiveness of the transients and the strong rhythmic drive of the bass. Shock the Monkey never sounded better!

Get the hires studio master of his album "Us", put it through your hires dac and listen to "digging in the dirt".

 

Another dimension to this discussion is appreciating some music or artists because of how good their music sounds. Not my gear, but the recording quality.

In 2017 I came across a local news article about a young female recording engineer who was up for a Grammy. So I listened to the album mostly out of curiosity.

I immediately fell in love with the sound of the record and by the end of the album I was in love with the music and artist.

The album was Undercurrent by Sarah Jarosz. After listening to it obsessively, I found it was not her debut album but her fourth. As I went back through her earlier records, there was that same beautiful soundscape and voice. She's now my favorite artist,and just released her 7th album. 

I also discovered that Sarah's recording engineer cut his teeth working with Allison Krause, so it all made musical sense. 

All of this musical joy just from curiosity about sound. It's happened before (Buddy Miller) and will likely again. So in that sense sometimes I listen just for sound and discover music I love. 

I also routinely listen to records that win Engineering Grammys as potential music I might like. 

@rvpiano

Unfortunately, as we know, too often the hobby becomes so engrossing that it closes off the enjoyment of the world music we deeply care for, resulting in a sum negative. On the other hand, music can be gloriously enhanced by good sound.

The trick is to recognize the difference between the music and the hobby.

100% agree with that. While I admit I lost site of the music on more than one occasion on this trip, ultimately the whole journey has led me to place I’m very happy to be, and I really don’t regret how I got here. what I learned, the sweat equity, or the excursions involved.  I suppose we all have a different map, and a different destination.  Happy trails!

Unfortunately, as we know, too often the hobby becomes so engrossing that it closes off the world of music we deeply care for, resulting in a sum negative. On the other hand, music can be gloriously enhanced by good sound.
The trick is to recognize the difference between the music and the hobby.

It was not really a hobby for me to have a really good sound experience, It was a life or death question almost, a passionnate obsession.

Because i was retired and i had time more and more to listen to music, i was not happy with a mediocre sound on all acoustics aspects..

 

Then my hobby self transformed from listening the music to listening my system...😁

Not a pleasant experience at all. because this focus may kill musical enjoyment .😁

 

Then without being conscious of it i begun to read about "tweaks"... At first minerals and quarz tweaks ... Then i explore all minerals effects on sound... i bought many stones... It was more fun than changing cable and more instructive...😊

 

Then i explored vibrations and resonance controls in my non satisfying 9 headphones of many types... I succeeded in modifying them all for the better ... But i was not satisfied...I takes speakers experiments anew after selling my Tannoy which were too big and after few trying experiences with few brand names i settle for the best Mission speakers.

I was not happy with them either anyway...😁

Then the real hobby begun, i read about acoustics concepts in scientific articles and few books and this inspired my set of tempting new experiments...

Each new concepts inspired me for a new experiment.

I discovered my new hobby : acoustics experiments in my dedicated room full time each day...

This last 2 years...

I used a balance of reflective-absorbing- and diffusive surfaces and devices... All homemade for cost reason ... 😁

I used secondary but very powerful devices at low cost as a grid of Schumann generators.. Ionizers too ...My own shielding device for cables and gear and speakers...

I used a very huge grid of tuned by ears and hands 100 Helmoltz resonators at the end of the process... Size of them and their parts being critical, and i used specific location distribution in the room ... The grid was like a snake head and tail near each of the speakers drivers and around the room and near my listening position. i used a foldable screen (wood one) with the right surface materials as an acoustic lens ...

In short at the end my soundfield was ambiophonic, holographic detailed as headphone with completely out of the head soundstage ... All my headphones were like trash can compared to this...

For the first time i listened to the original recording acoustics trade off choices of the recording engineer in so much details that differences betwwen albums were stunning...

Even bad albums were interesting because i could hear the acoustics original choices in my room as if i was there, it works specially well with many well recorded one ... My room was no more a nuisance or an impediment ...

 

Then i loose my room ... And my speakers ...😂

 

 

I was so sad i quit audiogon for a year...I had nothing to say anymore... 😂

 

I came back after extensive experiment on a select headphone i never optimize completely before and which was promising.... It takes me 6 months working on it : the AKG K340 the only world hybrid with an acoustic set of resonators inside... very hard for me to understand its working i even read the Dr. Gorike patent 😊...It was not easy to optimize it and make it shine... But i succeed3ed and this headphone now gave me a speaker like sound "outside of the head" if the recording is made in Great Hall or church or well done in studio...

 

But i wanted speakers too ... The problem i did not have money as usual for buying costly good one... The only one i had was the one i hated for 12 years since i bought them. They had universal good reviews but were trash to my ears i never used them for music.😁

But acoustics and Helmholtz helped me ...😊

Speakers are resonators and with a porthole they are perfect Helmholtz resonators... But Why the porthole designers present us with a neck of zero lenght ?

For marketing and esthetical reason not acoustic reasons ... 😁 Some creative designers use internal labyrinthic porthole... This inspired me ...

Then i modified them by adding a complex bundles of straws of different size behind inside the porthole from 3 feet lenght to few inches with slight variation in diameter... i used my ears as for my room resonators for the tuning...the fun part...

The improvement were going from trash to TOP speakers with 80 hertz instead of 50 hertz now ... no frequencies bad interaction ...A timbre natural and detailed... A soundfield encompassing which beat all my headphones save the mighty AKG K340 modified which go from 25 hertz and is my first audiophile tool of choice now...

But the tweeter guide wave form i modified it too... At the end i also tune the speakers with damping load, vibrations/resonance materials under them and around them a shield of my own design.... others homemade tweaks too with min erals and shumann cheap generators...

i designed them for near listening in a dedicated acoustic corner of my basement... It was perfect ...

At the end i could listen music on them and they beat almost my past speakers or rival them on many acoustics aspects...

Think about it : low cost active modified chinese speakers : M-Audio AV40

 

Lesson : I had learned acoustics, i did not  need other hobby now save listening music 5 hours each day....I walk , cycle and read ...

 

Acoustics rules audio not price tags ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It really needs some diagnostic coding. Medical bills will be extremely high especially for those that in the need of constant upgrades. 

That’s true. We all have different sensitivities and needs from our systems in order to be able to get a visceral feel from the music. We’re all unique in that regard....my wife and girls are just as happy with a crappy stock car radio, but I rarely listen to it,,,,it sounds like noise to me.

Many of us are fascinated by all the sciences involved with what makes the gear tick, and/or what’s required of the gear to allow us to get past the physics of the gear and lost in the music. It is indeed a "sub-hobby" within the audiophilia world, and it can be a very diverse journey by itself.

I suspect sub-hobbies are a part of many hobbies.

True! I was listening yesterday to one of the first all-digital rock albums Peter Gabriel's Security. I had the original CD in a vintage 16-bit player and was amazed by the vividness of the sound quality!  I felt what I was hearing was the master such was the explosiveness of the transients and the strong rhythmic drive of the bass. Shock the Monkey never sounded better!