The Music or the Gear?

[rando]

Not sure about an equation. As the article laid out, something is causing the music industry to put its money where it does. It doesn't seem a matter of fairness so much as what's happening today. If the marketplace does not support something then simply making more of that thing will not make it viable.

Being gently forced into picking music or gear over the other could be viewed as a social equation.

Mostly I was just teasing you for keeping things moving in an orderly fashion. Knowing fully well you are complicit in understanding the general population has rarely if ever attained the current level of interest in music or the means to hear it played for them. That younger listeners have taken antilinear paths which are steadily gobbled up by corporate interests. I also suspect you are well aware their attaining means to play back higher resolution PCM and DSD acceptably is blocked by the music industry putting the money where it does.

A dire outlook on youth and digital is quite well established here. Again, I was teasing the background you were working against in this regard.

 

[tima]

Being gently forced into picking music or gear over the other could be viewed as a social equation.

It's a classic question on many audiophile forums.

I also suspect you are well aware their attaining means to play back higher resolution PCM and DSD acceptably is blocked by the music industry putting the money where it does.

Well actually I'm not aware of that inasmuch as I don't have time to pay attention to digital formats.

From my view, in-home music reproduction grew out live audience attendance. Nowadays 'new' music comes out of a studio and there are far fewer live performances. The quality of a live performance is much less a benchmark than it was. Listeners respond in the way they do to give us what we have now.

 

[rando]

Well actually I'm not aware of that inasmuch as I don't have time to pay attention to digital formats.

From my view, in-home music reproduction grew out live audience attendance. Nowadays 'new' music comes out of a studio and there are far fewer live performances.

Might we be absolving awareness at least 90% of the reason for making music is the opposite sex delivers themselves and pays for the privilege. Even the biggest acts rely on touring for sustaining revenue and other critical elements of survival.

The quality of a live performance is much less a benchmark than it was. Listeners respond in the way they do to give us what we have now.

Oversaturation is hand in hand with overexposure nowadays. Audiences more focused on their cell phone recording of performance drastically pull down the energy collecting around any live event. Even Classical halls are intriguingly corrupted by modern concerns that detract from the experience.


I'll abstain from taking what was veering away from audiophilia even further. Electrically powered components are prone towards improvements that suggest replacement. 5 second or 50 year old physical media never change and don't need to once they have been accepted. Digital media interrupted that relationship in ways that understandably add too many variables for a lot of people. Obvious differences can exist in the mastering used on discs made the same day or files pulled back and redelivered to distributors.

 

[PeterA]

WBF is a site for audiophiles. We enjoy music and we want that music to sound good, but until we assemble our final system, we are searching for ever better equipment and learning about set up and fine-tuning. We are interested in the equipment and the mechanics of getting good sound to enjoy our music. And for some reason we enjoy talking to others who are trying to do the same thing.

A friend of mine asked me for turntable advice the other day. This guy is all about enjoying music. He goes to concerts all the time. I asked him what kind of turntable he has now and what his budget is. He told me he wasn’t aware that they are selling full size 45 RPM records new today and thought that was pretty cool so he wants to buy a turntable to play his new records from MoFi. His budget is $500 for turntable tonearm and cartridge.

He is looking at Project turntables and I suggested that he also consider Rega because he wants to buy new with a warranty. I told him he should just borrow my old turntable from college to listen to his records and go from there.

I will be delivering my old 1980 Denon DP 45F to him later this morning. That will get him started. He is not an audiophile, and he simply wants to listen to music. I’m not sure he even knows that websites like this one exist. He does not care about chasing “what is best“. He just wants to put on a record and listen to music. He doesn’t have a lot of space so he’s moving his CD player out of the way to try the turntable.

 

[Jackl3y]

Music is life.
Me spending so much on equipment is me investing in my enjoyment of the music. Regardless of it being Norwegian black metal, blues, Japanese power electronics, 80’s & 90’s alt, jazz or 50’s-80’s reggae. The system must do no harm and elevate the music.

 

[the.dan]

For me, it's always been about the music. I love the feeling of sitting down with my guitar and just playing, whether it's a favorite song or something I just made up on the spot. The gear is just a means to an end; it's what helps me create the sound in my head. That being said, I also have a huge passion for gear. I love researching different guitars and amps, and trying out new pedals and effects. To me, part of the fun of playing guitar is finding the perfect setup that brings my vision to life. So for me, it's not one or the other; it's both))

 

[Amir]

There’s Audiophiles that enjoy music the most, others the equipment, and yet others both.

Mine is the music with the caveat that I need the proper gear to listen to it with.

What’s your goal as an Audiophile? The music? The gear? Both? And why?

I think audiophiles enjoy both high end game and music , I think to me those are two different worlds.
I can not say there is no relation between two worlds but most of the time I feel those are independent.
I really really enjoy music listening by cheap apple airpod when I climb in the morning. fast climbing and looking to sunrise and listening to music gives me so much energy.
I never find expensive high end Audio as an essential tool for enjoying music.

 

[XV-1]

The music drives the gear and that compliments the quest for new music if things are working well. If you find your expensive audiophile gear is not encouraging you to go out and but new music, something is wrong.

I but a lot of new release music as well as good quality older reissues. Many new releases sound excellent on vinyl although are digital - there is magic in them grooves.

If I am happy with the sound quality of an album, I am not going to to buy reissue after reissue with every increasing prices. How many times can you flog a horse?

I would rather buy new music I haven't heard before.

 

[TooCool4]

If I am happy with the sound quality of an album, I am not going to to buy reissue after reissue with every increasing prices. How many times can you flog a horse?

I would rather buy new music I haven't heard before.

I am with you on that one.

 

[Amir]

the relation between enjoying Music and the Sound of High End System is a super complex subject.

"A Russian audiologist A. Likhnitsky’s published a book “Sound Quality: New approach to testing of the home audio equipment”. (P&K, 1998)
Romy the Cat"

if you can read this book it is very useful about this complex subject

 

[PYP]

For music that I'm familiar with, almost any device will do, including the grocery store's system.
For that music, there is already an association with an event, or time in my life, etc. Very easy to connect to those feelings.

While I do revisit familiar albums, nearly all of my listening time is devoted to discovering new music. That pleasurable activity is made easy via streaming. For new music, I prefer a setup that allows me to hear into the artistry without being distracting (I want to listen to music, not gear).

That said, as my setup has become more transparent it provides greater insights into familiar recordings. That insight might be the mastery over a given instrument, or the order of songs on an album, or how how respectful musicians are toward each other when they have played together for decades, or how the music reflects the period in which it was created.

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

I've always found that to be an interesting topic for discussion. I'd rather listen to my favorite music on bad gear than have the best gear in the world but none of my favorites to listen to. Thankfully, we don't have to choose, and can have the best of both worlds

 

[PYP]

I've always found that to be an interesting topic for discussion. I'd rather listen to my favorite music on bad gear than have the best gear in the world but none of my favorites to listen to. Thankfully, we don't have to choose, and can have the best of both worlds

Agreed. Wouldn't want to be without my favorites, including the new favorites.

And it is easy to put together a satisfying system at all price points, so no need for bad gear.

I'm currently playing around with an $85 600W class D chip amp. I may lose my audiophile membership card for saying this, but it is quite good, with no obvious distortion or frequency imbalance. Given the price vs. performance, I'm completely surprised, even astounded.

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

Agreed. Wouldn't want to be without my favorites, including the new favorites.

And it is easy to put together a satisfying system at all price points, so no need for bad gear.

I'm currently playing around with an $85 600W class D chip amp. I may lose my audiophile membership card for saying this, but it is quite good, with no obvious distortion or frequency imbalance. Given the price vs. performance, I'm completely surprised, even astounded.

You're right, it's often surprising how much value you can get out of a less expensive system. And I don't think anyone is going to revoke your membership card for this comment What amp is it that you're currently testing out?

 

[PYP]

You're right, it's often surprising how much value you can get out of a less expensive system. And I don't think anyone is going to revoke your membership card for this comment What amp is it that you're currently testing out?

It is actually an integrated amp since it has a volume control: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MJBG53V?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details The chassis never gets warm (must have some good heat sinking internally) and there are no sounds/transients when powering on/off. And best of all for sensitive audiophiles, the LED isn't bright.

I can actually enjoy listening to music with this little amp. Regarding cost, perhaps it is worth noting that any audiophile wall plate for an electrical outlet will cost more than this amp. Is it any wonder that some folks get fighting mad about the cost of audiophile audio? (well, why anyone should care is the bigger question for me).

In the U.S., Schitt audio has carved out a price/performance niche. I haven't heard any of their gear yet, but from user reviews it seems that there are many happy customers. Of course, this isn't WBF territory, but it does provide alternatives to those who don't want to spend a lot on audio but want to enjoy their tunes with a higher quality than one-piece units that can also tell you today's weather.

 

[Fishfood]

For me the goal of my gear is to make every LP I have sound great and that's a very diverse group of genres and physical condition and ZERO audiophile show off records. I feel like I'm almost there!

 

[AMR / iFi audio]

It is actually an integrated amp since it has a volume control: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MJBG53V?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details The chassis never gets warm (must have some good heat sinking internally) and there are no sounds/transients when powering on/off. And best of all for sensitive audiophiles, the LED isn't bright.

I can actually enjoy listening to music with this little amp. Regarding cost, perhaps it is worth noting that any audiophile wall plate for an electrical outlet will cost more than this amp. Is it any wonder that some folks get fighting mad about the cost of audiophile audio? (well, why anyone should care is the bigger question for me).

In the U.S., Schitt audio has carved out a price/performance niche. I haven't heard any of their gear yet, but from user reviews it seems that there are many happy customers. Of course, this isn't WBF territory, but it does provide alternatives to those who don't want to spend a lot on audio but want to enjoy their tunes with a higher quality than one-piece units that can also tell you today's weather.

Congratulations then, it seems that you have a solid piece of gear on your hands. What music would you say sounds best on it? And yes, indeed, nowadays high-quality playback is obtainable for lesser budgets as well, so no need to fight...

 

[PYP]

Congratulations then, it seems that you have a solid piece of gear on your hands. What music would you say sounds best on it? And yes, indeed, nowadays high-quality playback is obtainable for lesser budgets as well, so no need to fight...

Since we already have a very compact second system in our bedroom that we both enjoy, this is just an experiment with Class D. And it is eye opening. Like others here, I like my audio jewelry and don't expect that to change. But it is interesting how much has changed since I got into this hobby.

The quality and the musical enjoyment that is available at a modest price is astounding. I was looking at the latest DIY from Hypex. Hypex has apparently improved upon the Bruno Putzeys modules and offers kits that can be assembled without soldering. Might that be popular? Well, you can order one now and receive it in June because they are sold out.

So far, I have only listened to Jazz, but now that my ears are adjusted I will try other kinds of music. Obviously, this kind of amp is best suited to bookshelf speakers, not the floor-standing speakers I have. It will be an interesting experiment.

I should add that as someone who experiences breaking-in/settling in with nearly all gear and cables, this amp sounds very good right out of the box. And when I turn it on, it seems to warm up and reach its usual sound after only 15 minutes or so.

 

[JackD201]

Horses for Courses guy here.

I enjoy music in 3 main ways. The first is purely for emotional pleasure. In this mode I'm typically midrange centric and am in a mental state that welcomes pleasing colorations even at the cost of homogeny. The second is to enjoy the musicianship and hopefully some virtuosity of the performers. These add boxes to check mainly separation through the mitigation of noise and of temporal smearing and other factors that contribute to the same as this relates to two loudspeakers and how they interact with each other in a defined space. The third is as a student of the recording arts. I have immense respect for the "other" artists. Those that are tasked to capture the musicians output and reassemble what's been recorded into a coded package of information that must be unpacked and delivered back into the acoustical realm. This requires a system the criteria of which extends to wide bandwidth, consistent frequency response contributing to easier timbre differentiation and an acoustic space that does not dominate the reverberant cues that are in the recordings themselves be they naturally captured or artificially added. Basically, in the third I think of it as being able to have monitoring that might allow mastering work and the minute decisions that can make huge musical differences.

I believe that all audiophiles enjoy music in these three ways but will ultimately be satisfied when these are balanced according to the individual's personal priorities. The unpacking and delivery of the information is squarely in our hands and that requires injecting our own aesthetics for it to be personally fulfilling. This is what makes me a bit agnostic because the end justifies the means as far as I am concerned. I know that this is and should be personal choices and that is the reason my pet peeve are people that try to push their personal tastes, and thus their paths, on others instead of trying to help others achieve their very specific objectives through whichever way that can be made possible. There are as many roads to success as there are to failure.

Personally I'm somewhere in between virtuosity and the recording arts and am willing to make tradeoffs by adding pleasing coloration in careful doses to achieve purely emotional pleasure. For analog that is mainly by choice of arm and cart combos and their set up. I am generally a Koetsu Stone Diamond C guy on one side and a Matsudaira guy on the other so again somewhere in the middle leaning more towards resolution. In digital I'm limited to filter selection and ladder DACs again in the middle but leaning towards a softer top end. If I had a tube DAC, I would be tube rolling. Not for each track mind you, again just to find my personal balance of attributes. Same as what I do with pre and power of my tube systems.

This is how my system has been built up and executed. I can say that at this point I can fully enjoy the music even as my brain cycles through all modes in a single sitting, zooming in and out or hopping through the musical threads. After all, the greatest appeal of music as an art form as far as I am concerned is that it can be enjoyed in many levels and thus can make listening to the same piece different, new and even fresh with each listen.

 

[Fishfood]

For me the goal of my gear is to make every LP I have sound great and that's a very diverse group of genres and physical condition and ZERO audiophile show off records. I feel like I'm almost there!

Oh, I forgot to mention that the goal is to have the gear that transports me to the recording space which is different than "The singer sounds like she is in the room with me".