"Emotionally Engaging"

[Ron Resnick]

I often use the term "emotionally engaging" in connection with my evaluation and understanding of audio components and high-end audio systems.

Is "emotionally engaging" a useful part of our high-end audio vocabulary and of our descriptive system?

I don’t think there is any useful or sensical way to quantify “emotional engagement” between or among individual audiophiles. The “incomparability of interpersonal utility” is a fancy economics way of saying that there is no way to quantify that Fred likes vanilla ice cream more than Joe likes chocolate ice cream. I think emotional engagement is, unfortunately, uniquely personal, and only helps each of us as individuals to evaluate components and stereo systems according to our own idiosyncratic ears and our own spectrum of more or less emotionally engaging.

I understand the approach of audiophiles who break down what they are hearing and evaluate components and audio systems in terms of discrete audiophile sonic attributes like “microdynamics,” “high-frequency extension,” and “bass articulation.” I can apply this approach deliberately to evaluate components and audio systems, but it is not the approach which matters to me.

I prefer to evaluate components and audio systems according to how easily and quickly they allow my body and my mind to relax, to wipe my mind clear of forensic audiophile sonic attribute analysis, to connect me in a passionate way to, and to make me laugh or cry in reaction to, the music I love. This, to me, is the essence of “emotionally engaging.”

What do you think? Do you think in terms of "emotionally engaging" when you listen to and evaluate high-end audio systems?

 

[Solypsa]

Your liberal use of "me" and "my" was intentional I'm sure. I can't imagine not using emotional connection as a guiding requirement for an audio system. It does not seem like a good consensus building term however, and that is often one of the goals of forum banter imo...

As far as reviewer / critic language I am of the school of thought that said person should write from a deeply personal perspective and from that a reader can develop a sense of the writers tastes, bias, quirks etc.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Hey Ron, if it's not emotionally engaging, it ain't worth it. For me the only systems that totally nail this critical attribute that I've heard in the last few years are Bill's horns, Tom's full range Tannoy RFC Canterburys.
Barry's Extreme/Duos make a very good case, as did UK Paul's Concert Fidelitys/modded ML Spires. Purite Audio's Bakoons/Cessaro Liszts were up there too. I'm getting there w my Zus.
Nothing else I've heard comes remotely close on the emotionally engaging front. If the music doesn't connect within moments, it's gonna struggle to later on, so immediate does this attribute present itself.

 

[Audire]

IMO, one of the reasons why “live music” is enjoyed so much is because of it’s natural emotional nature that we can have with it. A song being emotionally engaging cements it into our being in a particular way. One of my favorite songs is “Windmills of Your Mind” by Sinne Egg. A lot of artists sing it, but only when Eeg sings It do I enjoy it the best. Why, I don’t know - but there’s a connection. Now I need to go listen to it

 

[Scott Naylor]

“It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing” - Duke Ellington

 

[Audire]

“It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Don’t Got That Swing” - Duke Ellington

Love it!

 

[spiritofmusic]

I think Emotionally Engaging EE is the nexus point where Resolution meets Natural Sound, and from that point EE jettisons all typical and tired audiophile jargon for communication that's near impossible to describe in words.

 

[rubinken]

Emotional engagement with music is why people all over the world enjoy music. Everywhere! The foundation of all music is our beating heart. All too often audiophiles detour from their heart to their head to describe in words, analyze, and "understannd" hifi. Regardless of specs, price, new innovations, visual impact etc, feeling moved emotionally is the end game. Yeehaw!

 

[microstrip]

I often use the term "emotionally engaging" in connection with my evaluation and understanding of audio components and high-end audio systems.

Is "emotionally engaging" a useful part of our high-end audio vocabulary and of our descriptive system?

I don’t think there is any useful or sensical way to quantify “emotional engagement” between or among individual audiophiles. The “incomparability of interpersonal utility” is a fancy economics way of saying that there is no way to quantify that Fred likes vanilla ice cream more than Joe likes chocolate ice cream. I think emotional engagement is, unfortunately, uniquely personal, and only helps each of us as individuals to evaluate components and stereo systems according to our own idiosyncratic ears and our own spectrum of more or less emotionally engaging.

I understand the approach of audiophiles who break down what they are hearing and evaluate components and audio systems in terms of discrete audiophile sonic attributes like “microdynamics,” “high-frequency extension,” and “bass articulation.” I can apply this approach deliberately to evaluate components and audio systems, but it is not the approach which matters to me.

I prefer to evaluate components and audio systems according to how easily and quickly they allow my body and my mind to relax, to wipe my mind clear of forensic audiophile sonic attribute analysis, to connect me in a passionate way to, and to make me laugh or cry in reaction to, the music I love. This, to me, is the essence of “emotionally engaging.”

What do you think? Do you think in terms of "emotionally engaging" when you listen to and evaluate high-end audio systems?

Since long scholars addressed the emotion in sound reproduction. Read from F. Toole (Sound Reproduction)

"Audio—sound reproduction—engages both the emotions and the intellect.
Understanding the process is challenging because it embraces domains with
enormous contrasts: human perceptions in their manifold dimensions and
technology with its own system of devices, functions, and performance descriptors.
The subjective side is notable for its complexity, flexibility, adaptability,
and occasional capriciousness. The technical side is characterized by the nearabsolute
reproducibility of the devices, the stability of their performance over
time, and the reliability of their measured parameters. The interface of these
two cultures has met with mixed success over the years. Both sides seek excellence
in the final subjective experience, but there are fundamental differences
in philosophy, metrics, languages, and the economic and emotional attachments
to the results. (...) (End of quote)

IMHO, as you suggest, although mandatory in our evaluation, the emotional aspect is too personnel to be a point of debate, and particularly too bonded to the recordings.

The roots of the emotion in sound reproduction is also addressed by F.Toole

"The origin of emotion in a listener is the art itself—the music or movie—and
not the audio hardware. It is inconceivable that a consumer could feel an emotional
attachment to a midrange loudspeaker driver, yet without good ones, listening
experiences will be diminished. Since the true nature of the original
sound cannot be known to listeners, one cannot say “it sounds as it should.”
But listeners routinely volunteer opinions on scales that are variations of
like-dislike, which frequently have a component of emotion.
Descriptors like pleasantness and preference must therefore be considered
as ranking in importance with accuracy and fidelity." (...) (end of quote)

IMHO emotion is strongly bonded to our preference, and particularly to our previous experience and biases.

 

[bonzo75]

The question is, can greater resolution make a system more emotionally engaging

 

[spiritofmusic]

The question is, can greater resolution make a system more emotionally engaging

You mean more resolution of passion, heart, soul? I'd think so.

 

[DasguteOhr]

i just love listening to music with tube radio, accompanied by a good glass of wine and a book. just forego evaluating the sound, regardless of the lack of resolution and precision, just enjoy music. relax the soul from the hectic everyday life.
if you get involved in it from psyche, that's really good and you don't miss anything.
buy a tube radio for the kittchen, enjoy your morning coffee with it. I bet the day feels better afterwards that for me "emotionally engaging"

 

[Rensselaer]

The question is, can greater resolution make a system more emotionally engaging

I will use vinyl recordings (that is all I have) to address this because the recorded information is and always has been there on the medium and it is only the difference in the playback devices which uncovers and renders more or less of that information.

"Greater resolution", in audiophile terms, could mean that more information is being uncovered and pulled from the medium (LP), which is good. Or, it could be that the electronics are adding something to unheard information so that it is now heard, but in an altered form, not as recorded. That, not so good.

In the first instance such might bring about an enjoyable emotional engagement to the listening experience, whereas in the second instance, might actually bring about an unenjoyable emotional experience.

So, my response to the question, yes, greater resolution "could" make a system (or more precisely the listening to music through such) more emotionally engaging, but I would not say that such is the only factor, nor the strongest factor, in causing the playback of recorded music to be "emotionally engaging".

IMHO; purity/accuracy/realness in the reproduction of the tone has a greater impact on me.

When I hear the lovely plump resonating notes of an oboe, for instance, or the pure high but sweet reaches of the clarinet, it brings about images in my mind sort of like colours (both of which are created from frequency). The quality of that tone, like the purity/intensity of a colour, and how close they come to my ideal (we are all different) to what that tone should sound like if someone standing there in front of me with the best example of the instrument, and all the skill needed to get the very best from that instrument, playing for me live. This ideal is what I compare what I am hearing against. The closer to (my) ideal, the greater (my) emotional engagement.

And to answer your question before it is asked, yes, I did drink the Kool Aide.

 

[Rensselaer]

i just love listening to music with tube radio, accompanied by a good glass of wine and a book. just forego evaluating the sound, regardless of the lack of resolution and precision, just enjoy music. relax the soul from the hectic everyday life.
if you get involved in it from psyche, that's really good and you don't miss anything.
buy a tube radio for the kittchen, enjoy your morning coffee with it. I bet the day feels better afterwards that for me "emotionally engaging"

I heard that they are going to stop broadcasting FM and only broadcast DAT in Germany.

 

[PeterA]

Jim Smith told me his goal in his room play sessions is to increase emotional engagement for the listener. He does this by selecting the best location in the room for the chair and then working on speaker position. When it all locks into place there is a perception of greater resolution from less coloration caused by sub optimal speaker positioning or sitting in the wrong location. At least that is my impression of his method and goal.

When I visited Utah, resolution from all the systems was off the charts and emotional engagement naturally followed. Of course David add optimized each of the systems with careful selection and proper matching of components and set up.

 

[jeff1225]

This is a great subject @Ron Resnick! The most emotionally engaging systems I've hear have a common :

1. Vinyl
2. Tubes
3. High efficiency speakers

These systems delivered emotional engagement by delivering the most realistic representation of piano, violin and saxophone.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Jim Smith told me his goal in his room play sessions is to increase emotional engagement for the listener. He does this by selecting the best location in the room for the chair and then working on speaker position. When it all locks into place there is a perception of greater resolution from less coloration caused by sub optimal speaker positioning or sitting in the wrong location. At least that is my impression of his method and goal.

When I visited Utah, resolution from all the systems was off the charts and emotional engagement naturally followed. Of course David add optimized each of the systems with careful selection and proper matching of components and set up.

Agreed Peter, when I listened at Bill's and Tom's, and Gran Sfera horns at The General's, the music just billowed into the space. This unrestrained fluidity was totally engaging and immediately made me change my posture from head forwards (go on, impress me), to sat back (job done), within seconds.
So many other systems/sounds are initially dramatic and impressive, but the drama is impressed upon your brain, not taken in and enjoyed as a reflex relaxation.
I look forwards to a system other than vinyl or tape, tubes, horns or full range single driver/coax, high efficiency, doing this, but I haven't once come across it.

 

[PeterA]

Agreed Peter, when I listened at Bill's and Tom's, and Gran Sfera horns at The General's, the music just billowed into the space. This unrestrained fluidity was totally engaging and immediately made me change my posture from head forwards (go on, impress me), to sat back (job done), within seconds.
So many other systems/sounds are initially dramatic and impressive, but the drama is impressed upon your brain, not taken in and enjoyed as a reflex relaxation.
I look forwards to a system other than vinyl or tape, tubes, horns or full range single driver/coax, high efficiency, doing this, but I haven't once come across it.

The other comment that Jim Smith made to me near the end of his visit was that his goal is to create a listening experience that the owner thinks about the following morning and for days after that. I’ve always remember that comment.

Very few systems I’ve heard create that kind of engagement. Natural resolution is a big part of it.

Perhaps that’s the fifth goal to add to Ron Resnick‘s list of audiophile goals.

 

[DasguteOhr]

I heard that they are going to stop broadcasting FM and only broadcast DAT in Germany.

They have been talking about switching off since 2015, I watch calmly and enjoy my radio
In Germany there is a law that says that you have a right to information and news. there are people who have no television, so radio is their main source of information. as long as this law is not removed i am not worried.

 

[marty]

It's probably more productive to describe music as emotionally engaging or not, rather than how it's delivered. A good system may help deliver music that's emotionally engaging, but there's no guarantee that live music will do the same. I reluctantly admit I saw Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock live a few years ago and walked out. They basically looked at each other on stage and asked each other what they wanted to play. No prep, no program. Kind of like a garage band practice session. It was terrible despite the fact that it was played by 2 geniuses. I am also reminded how many times I squirmed in my seat or looked at my watch when listening to any number of totally unenjoyable contemporary composers who some music directors think are important to play as the price to pay for hearing the more accepted masterpieces in their orchestral concerts. I also cried when I heard Hey Jude the first time on my car stereo in 1969. It's the music that's emotionally engaging or not, not the means of delivery.