un-becoming an audiophile
Yes, the title is what is sounds like.
I remember long ago, as a boy, I used to be able to enjoy music without picking apart a track. is the bass tight? is the midrange clear and life-like? is the treble resolution spot on? What about imaging/sound stage?
Most people have this very same superpower - not being an audiophile. They can play a song from the worst earbuds, laptop speakers, or even computer speakers - and enjoy the music; even sing along. They aren’t thinking about "how it sounds" or scrutinizing the audio quality. Actually, they couldn’t care less. They can spend their time on other life pursuits and don’t feel a need to invest big money (or much money at all) in the hi-fi hobby.
Any psychologists or scientists in the building? (please no Amir @amir_asr ) since you are neither! ...despite the word "science" being in your domain name - audio science review.
Please, I beg you. Help me get away from this hobby.
Imagine - being able to enjoy all of your favourite music - while still achieving that dopamine rush, along with serotonin, and even oxytocin - the bonding hormone, which can be released while listening to songs with deep emotional messages, or love songs.
We’re very much like food critics or chefs in a sense. We want the best of something (in this case, audio) I’m sure michelin star chefs face the same thing in their own right...can’t enoy or even eat the food unless it’s up to a certain standard.
When we audiophiles want to listen to music, we often play it on a resolving system, so as to partake in a a "high-end" listening experience. We often pick apart music and fault the audio components in our system, cables etc. All of this takes away from the experience of enjoying music as a form of art/entertainment. It has been said that some famous artists don’t even own a high-end audio system.
I gained a great deal of wisdom of from the documentary - Greek Audiophile. In it, we have audiophiles from all walks of life. Their families think they’re crazy for spending all this money on audio. They say it sounds "nice" or "real" but still can’t justify it.
I think it’s all in the brain. If we can reset our brains (or me at least) I can still enjoy music without needing a great system for it.
- Jack
I guess I've always thought the this whole thing was about the music. It is for me. I grew up in a musical family, listened to lots of music, played music and a youth and at age 72 am constantly seeking out new music to listen to. I would rather listen to good music badly reproduced than bad music played on the world's finest system. That said, hearing as much as possible of a piece of music as close as possible to the way it was performed is great. More to hear, more to learn more to love.
|
There are certainly more than the two extreme types @grislybutter refers to. I think a larger (probably the largest) group are people looking to get the most bang for the audio buck somewhere in between the cost no object @mikelavignes of the world (if there are any more) who is extremely knowledgeable and invests time and funds and is generous with his experience, and the extreme tinkers/hobbyists/tube rollers like @millercarbon and misers like @mahgister(although haven't seen their posts lately) looking for any, even the most questionable tweaks that can make the most minimal of differences, if any, on a "highly resolving" system, whatever that means (expensive?). There are the prove it to me on paper ones, who if they can't measure it say it doesn't sound like anything or of it is measurable it sounds like something. There are the close to cost no object ones that share their sometimes biased or myopic opinions which may nonetheless be of value, and lastly the ones just here to read the humorous comments. So that's at least 6 types. You can also add the vinyl only, tube only (who frequently intersect), digital only, electrostatics only, McIntosh lovers and haters, etc. etc. And don't forget the trolls. |
@grislybutter I'm sorry that has happened, it certainly isn't something I advocate as I believe in free speech. Here is the problem with your supposition about why your post were deleted. I am not a rich man by most standards; then again, I believe rich is a fluid term. I am rich to some but the poor in our country are considered rich by the rest of the world's reckoning. Twenty-five years ago I was a homeless man on the streets of New Orleans. There is an economic ladder, a legal one, available for any who care to climb it, at least in our good ol' USA. Like any ladder it has two directions based on the choices you make. You know how I display my compassion for people? I provide them jobs where they can earn a paycheck and have dignity and ambition. I probably make less than 70% of the members of this forum. I admire them. Guess what? People who have money are the most charitable! I have no children to depend on me, that helps. My wife and I care for my mother who has Alzheimer's. We feel as if we know best how to spend our money on what we need and what we want. Always amazed at people who feel the need to decide for other's how their money should be spent. Point is, they didn't remove it because I'm rich! |
@dadork the word rich wasn't about a number but about an attitude.
for one, I disagree with this sentence, I donate a much bigger percentage of my income than the most charitable rich people, not to mention I pay way more taxes. I won't repeat my points, other than: people in the US have opportunities to become rich. In the rest of the world (aside from a few other countries) they don't. People commenting here often display an attitude which ignores the fact that they can afford things because they are lucky (to have born here/be here). They have typical rich people attitude. (I have no problem with how they spend their money - NONE OF MY BUSINESS, I have a problem with how they think they deserved it) At the end you and I disagree 100%, and we can leave it at that. |
@grislybutter "not to mention I pay way more taxes." This is a somewhat silly comment that gets brought up a lot. A person who earns more pays more taxes. You can argue about the percentage of gross income that is paid but it's just not true that rich people don't pay more taxes. An estimated 72.5 million households -- or 40% of total households -- will pay no federal income taxes for tax year 2022, according to an analysis from the Tax Policy Center. |
