What kind of listener are you?

fusian -- Thanks for the article.  And yeah, it seems that dude knew what he was talking about....

For thrill and feeling, there are many songs that will never sound better, to me, than they did when we heard them the first time on the radio in our cars or at the beach or wherever.  Most rock music I grew up with fits into this category.   I became an “amateur audiophile” - emphasis on amateur - as my tastes evolved to classical and jazz music.

Our ancestors beating on a log only cared if their Gods listened. Well maybe it got the blood flowing, scared off the gnarly beasts, and meant a good night's sleep. 

Depends what I happen to be focused on at the moment.  

@mahgister I recognize inside me a satisfaction or a dissatifaction that goes on with the increase or a decrease of the S.Q. and his capacity to convey the rightful musicality and timbre...I can compare my past emotions to the new emotion, not a past sound to a new one

@mahgister +1

To me, culling out sonic cues can be fun and interesting, but really is only looking at a tiny part of the whole picture. I look to my feelings and emotions to evaluate SQ as a Whole. Being immersed is a state of emotion and being, and I want to be immersed.

How you listen probably depends on what your ultimate goal is. For me, it's a happy toe tapping head nodding live music experience. For others, hearing a mis hit  rim shot or singers inhale in a studio recording showing perfect microphonic resolution makes their day.

Great post, Millercarbon.

Not to distract but wondering whether  your values and the way you listen have changed and is influenced by  length of time being in the audiophile hobby, age, technical vs non tech vs musical background.

I'm older (not sure if wiser) and over the decades, my values have changed from technical thrills to emotional contentment. Or maybe I just don't want to think as much🤔

ENJOY the music, no matter how you listen.