Why isn’t more detail always better?

Just so you don’t have a conversation with yourself. :P I am experiencing this right now on a smaller level. I have switched from a Chord 2Qute to a Holo Cyan 2 DAC and the "bloom" on Cyan 2 is much more emotional and has that sense of naturalness. While detailed, it’s not as clear or resolving as the 2Qute. I use an LTA MZ3 as a preamp and headphone amp both. For 2 channel, the 2Qute, MZ3, Orchard Audio GaN amp, and Neat Petite speakers has amazing synergy. When I add in the Cyan 2 it goes away, but is amazing with my headphone setup.

I am listening more with headphones these days due to my space and work scheduling. I was listening to an album(Peter Gabriel: I’ll Scratch Your Back) the other night and it nearly brought me to tears with the Cyan 2. While not as detailed as the 2 Qute the instruments and his voice were so emotional and had that "bloom".

I want it all: Detail and bloom. :-)

Detail is important to me but I don’t chase it or look to keep getting more of it per se. 
 

I really prioritize the ability to scale.  I often describe this as the difference between a hyper resolving thumbnail view of the music that borders on precise VERSUS another that is less detailed but has size and body. 
 

every year at AXPONA I hear some hyper detailed system and enjoy looking into the picture for a short while, then I miss hearing a less detailed presentation. 
 

Whatever floats your boat! 

@snookhaus , that DAC was on my shortlist but I never tried it! Sounds great by your description.  I went LTA Aero. 

Don't blame your system if the music is lacking. The recording/mixing/mastering has something to do with the final product. Too much detail? If it's on the disk, I want to hear it. 

The way I think about midrange bloom is to consider a system that is very devoid of it. Bose used to sell a woofer (which I think it was used in the Best Buy vinyl section) with separate tweeter in a tiny 4" by 3" by 2" box. It sounded just like that, details and no midrange... the opposite of the full sized Bose systems. This illustrates the end point.

If you get a chance to go to the symphony and just listen as if it is a system, this can illustrate the appropriate role of details and help to show where systems can go wrong. If you listen very carefully, for instance before a concert, and then during the quiet sections and the different concert volumes you realize that the details do not stick out, they are there and if you focus your minds eye (ear) on them you hear them you can hear them... but they don’t stick out. When a piano (my seats were 7th row center... so it is a solo instrument) key is struck... you hear a rich warm resonance without the hammer standing out. Most symponic instruments lead with midrange... softly and not by the details of them being produced. Many systems essentially attenuate the midrange and emphasize the treble and bass. You loose the gestalt and it pulls your hearing away from the music and towards the detail. Many multiple hundred thousand dollar systems are like this.

Some tube electronics, particularly old stuff can overdo it in the other way. Overemphasizing the midrange and attenuating the bass and treble. Audio Research carefully walks the line, presenting a balanced gestalt of the music, so the music leads and the details are in proportion... just like they are in the real world... whether symphony, acoustic jazz, etc. Since it gets these right, it is getting other fully electronically reproduced forms a good neutral rendition.