Yes. That particular quote is very incisive.
Getting into the music
I’ve found, to my dismay, that it’s very difficult for me to listen to music for the music itself these days. Since I got into this audiophile game many years ago, little by little my musical appreciation has eroded to the point that I find it very hard to comprehend the music itself if it doesn’t sound good. Too often I’m listening for sonic delights rather than the message the composer is trying to convey. I find myself going from composition to composition looking for audio niceties. When something sounds good I can then begin to get into what the composer is saying.
As a former musician, this would have been unthinkable years ago. Music was everything to me.
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@rvpiano , Stagnation in discovery of new artists/music can lead to the above mentioned. The thrill of new music discovery tends to save me from all the cons of audiophilia OCD. |
@rvpiano I’ve experienced exactly what you’re describing. The first time I hit the wall I stopped listening to my system for several years. I had a very musically engaging system with B&W N803 speakers, Audio Research CD3 player, ARC LS-25 tube preamp and Pass Labs X250.5 amp. I then “upgraded” to Dynaudio speakers, sold the ARC components and went DAC direct to amp with Mac Mini as a source with my entire CD library ripped to it an external drive. And few months in I reached the point you’re at now. It was all about listening to how the system sounds and listening to and purely appreciating music became difficult. I took a long break and when I came back to listening I figured out what the issue was. I changed the speakers, DAC, got the separates again and began the journey of getting it all back on track. My recommendation would be to first take a break and then reassess your components. Looking at your system with the Benchmark DAC and amp, that could be a potential starting point. I owned a few Benchmark DACs (DAC 3 HGC was the last one) over time and found the Benchmark house sound to be geared more towards honest albeit cold and analytical presentation. It’s going to show you what’s on the recording but won’t engage you emotionally. Never heard their amps but I’m pretty sure they adhere to the same principles. |
I appreciate your comments. As far as the Benchmark equipment, it synergises with my tubey vintage Conrad-Johnson preamp (recapped by CJ) ideally so that I have the best of both worlds: incredible accuracy and sweet sound. I tend to agree with you that physical media probably sounds better than streaming (and I have tons of it) but, trying not to be compulsive about the sound, I don’t care. It sounds so good I don’t miss that 1% difference. And, of course, it’s more convenient AND you have the whole word of recorded music at your disposal. |
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