Does it have to sound good for you to like it?


I listen mainly to classical music.  The SQ of classical recordings is all over the place, not nearly as consistent other types of music.  Recording large orchestras is a complicated and difficult endeavor. Smaller ensembles are easier to record. So, if you listen to a great performance of an orchestral (or any) recording but have trouble with the sound will you avoid listening to it?

128x128rvpiano

I am a "music first audiophile". I would be hard pressed to not listen to a recording where I thought the music was great, but the recording, not so much.

Lucky for me, the 3 genres (classical, prog, jazz) and their various subgenres I listen to, tend to be recorded better than average.

So, I have very few bad recordings. But, for me, the music is more important, so I will listen to bad recordings, for the musical content.

I do tend to give a bit more priority to good sounding recordings, however. But not for the reasons most stereotypes of audiophiles would describe*, but because I find it easier to become more emotionally and/or intellectually involved with the music.

Let me add, that I do tend to disagree a bit with @rvpiano concerning the sound quality of classical recordings. I tend to find the majority of them to be quite good. I find it easier to find good sounding classical recordings, that band ones. Especially with regards to soundstage and imaging, the natural ambience of the acoustic space where the musicians were playing, and other spatial cues.

But then, the vast majority of the classical music I listen to, is from the 1950's up though the current era. So, I have the advantage of a very high percentage of it being recorded on good gear, with modern miking techniques.  

*the quote attributed to Alan Parsons is what I am referring to: “Audiophiles don’t use their equipment to listen to your music. Audiophiles use your music to listen to their equipment.

@simonmoon Great quote. That is exactly what I do, sometimes.

To answer RVP’s question. No, assuming the car is bad. Otherwise nothing sounds bad to me in my system and even SXM radio is pretty good these days.

But I would not sit down to a dedicated listening session and listen to a mediocre recording.

Music is on a lot in our house, and always in the cars, so don’t think I’m missing out on anything, quite the opposite really. Very fortunate.

Great question. Over the years there have been several LPS I've listened to less and less simply because they don't sound that good. If I can't locate or a Ford a better quality pressing, that I usually will just listen to that via streaming.

*the quote attributed to Alan Parsons is what I am referring to: “Audiophiles don’t use their equipment to listen to your music. Audiophiles use your music to listen to their equipment.

I don’t give a crap about Parson’s resume, he doesn’t get to lump all audiophiles into one overgeneralized group like that.  That’s just a stupid and ill-informed statement IMHO.

Except Parsons knows about gear and sound way more than any audiophile. Or even whole bunch if them.