What is "critical listening"?

Great question, but are you trying to start trouble? Audiogonland is a much happier place when nobody raises any troublesome questions.

I'm not someone who critically listens to a component (or a system). It tends to distract from my enjoyment of music. It usually takes me several weeks to determine if a change I made to my system is positive/negative/nuetral. It comes about via long-term listening satifaction. Then again, I readily acknowledge that there exist music reproduction "artist" who can make these determinations quicker and more accurately than I can. I sometimes wonder if they enjoy listening to music as much as I do? They could, but then again...

Personally, I think anyone who pays attention and spends some time listening to the art of the reproduction is a critical listener. My wife, who doesn't care at all about equipment, listens critically and can tell when something doesn't sound right (I'm not a mind reader so cannot determine exactly what "right" is for her). Should this type of listening get in the way of pure musical enjoyement? Nope. I really enjoy music on my crappy car radio. But I love music on my home system -- it transports me.

There are probably levels of critical listening -- sort of like a second degree black belt compared to a fifth degree black belt. Heck, I don't know where I am along that path and I really don't much care. I know what does and doesn't sound right to me but have difficulty articulating it in the exact (?) language of the press. That knowledge and language does help focus my listening though. If I remember all my sociology, language is much of the basis of focus. Therefore, a speacialized language leads to a crisper focus. It helps me to read and share ideas because it leads me to a wider focus.

For me, critical listening is a means to an end. From time to time, I focus on and notice some of the shortfalls and try to correct for the ones I care most about. After that, I really just want to enjoy. I try to reproduce jazz most effectively, which introduces some compromises in other kinds of music and that's OK. It's never perfect so why worry so long as the glaring issues are subdued (of course, everyone has their own idea of what the most glaring issues are, but mine are the only ones that matter to me) and don't get in the way.

Good question.

Critical listening is what you do when you're trying to evaluate or decide between components. Listening is what you do the rest of the time. We've all been "critical listeners" since the day we started shopping for our first system. How much time you spend on "critical listening" vs. "just listening" is a personal decision. This being a hobby, there is no right answer.

I think one form of critical listening just means dedicated listening - you're listening to music as your primary and only activity, usually in an environment that is set up to provide the best sound - ie, fully utilize your system. Or, perhaps, this is better known as "serious" listening. I like Bomarc's concept of "just listening" as it sounds a lot more light-hearted.

I think there is another form, often used by reviewers and, hence, re-used by audiophiles, of critical listening meaning that you're looking for strengths and flaws, and trying to determine how to maximize the former and minimize the latter. This is more listening to gear than listening to music and, as you suggest, is aking to trying to find nits on a bald head. It undoubtedly detracts from the experience of listening to music because it changes the whole scope and focus. Many reviewers, in an attempt to show their excitement over a particular component while evaluating it through critical listening, admit that they just "got lost in the music" - ie, they started "just listening". Whoops!