The music we listen to.

[rbbert]

I always assumed audiophiles chose easy listening, adult contemporary, family friendly, emotionless, awful music because it was well recorded. RMAF was my first show experience and pretty much every room was playing something I would never listen to at home. I've heard plenty of well recorded music, but there's a limited amount of music in the world that really grabs me and only a subset of that is well recorded. I have yet to experience a really well recorded piece that grabs me.

You must have hit the wrong rooms at the wrong times, because among the highlights (for me) of RAMF 2011 was the amount of exciting new music I discovered (like the Hadouk Trio mentioned in another thread on this forum).

 

[NorthStar]

I always assumed audiophiles chose easy listening, adult contemporary, family friendly, emotionless, awful music because it was well recorded. RMAF was my first show experience and pretty much every room was playing something I would never listen to at home. I've heard plenty of well recorded music, but there's a limited amount of music in the world that really grabs me and only a subset of that is well recorded. I have yet to experience a really well recorded piece that grabs me.

-----Hi Jason,

What are your favorite music genres? ...Are you an Analog or Digital or Both man?

Bob

 

[Bill Hart]

Bob, thanks for the list of all the blues labels, i have some on those labels and lot's of old stuff, but i will keep my eye out. Jason, I have lot's of those middle of the road, lawrence welk type bland records from the late 50's and 60's. Some are stereo samplers when stereo was being introduced, and some are novelty records, there was a whole series of "Music for" [a Chinese Dinner at Home][a Backyard BBQ], etc on RCA. One of the EMI's from this period, 'The Enjoyment of Music' has a console stereo on the cover. I have tons of this banal stuff. I like the cover art best.

 

[jdandy2]

After contemplating the WAF thread, I asked my wife last night to come and take a listen to the wonderful Patricia Barber LP of The Cole Porter Mix. This time, the wife was agreeable to take a listen. After about thirty seconds, she says to me, this isn't my kind of music and although i can see she is impressed by the sound, she gets up and leaves.

Does our hobby have to appeal only to a certain type of music listener?

I am in a different mindset when auditioning gear at a show or a dealer's show room than when at home enjoying my systems. My brain and ears tend to be in a more analytical mode, rather than relaxed and laid back mode. The type of music selected to demo a system isn't as important to me at a show because of all the other distractions. At best, it is difficult to focus on a system's performance at a show no matter what is playing. Room acoustics are generally horrible, background noise from people talking, ambient noise and other demo sounds filtering into the room don't make for an ideal listening situation. In the short time I spend with any one demo, the music selection isn't nearly as important to me as my initial impressions about system dynamics, clarity, sense of space and time, and how organic the music sounds despite all the hoopla and distractions. Another advantage to not being picky about music selections is the possibility of being exposed to something new that might pique your interest. That's always a fun thing to have happen. I love to discover new music that excites me.

 

[DaveyF]

Dan, I see your point. However, my experience at shows and at dealer showrooms is pretty much as I said. The typical situation I witness is where a listener comes into the room and depending on what's playing, decides to give a serious listen or not. How many times have you gone into a dealer's showroom or to a show exhibit and heard Hip Hop for example or Heavy metal. Personally, I am not a fan of Hip Hop or Rap, BUT I do see how it appeals to a large audience. It would seem they may have some interest in hearing a better reproduction of this music than on their typical ipod earbuds....or maybe not.

 

[Kal Rubinson]

In the short time I spend with any one demo, the music selection isn't nearly as important to me as my initial impressions about system dynamics, clarity, sense of space and time, and how organic the music sounds despite all the hoopla and distractions.

I do not see how one can get any impression of these features with unfamiliar and, often, offensive music. I do not mean to disparage anyone's musical taste and acknowledge that others might feel the same about my preferences. Still, with complete ignorance of the source and with limited tolerance for it, how can one make any useful judgments?

Varying source materials and accepting visitors submissions are necessary.

At the recent NY show, one demonstrator played (and had) only selections that were foreign to me and could play only LPs (which I do not carry). Sounded like crap to me but who knows?

Kal

 

[Bill Hart]

Kal- I took Jdandy to mean that he was listening to how the system performed and not for the enjoyment of music, and in that context, he was not picky about the source material as a matter of musical taste- I didn't take it to mean that the source material was entirely unfamiliar to him in the sense that he would leave that open as a variable too. When I was more actively involved in going to shows and dealerships to listen to equipment, I understood the importance of a known 'reference' but OMG, the same stuff, again, and again, and again, until I couldn't listen to that record for enjoyment or at all! It's funny, I can pull some of that stuff out now, and enjoy it again after a 20 year hiatus. (I even fire up Dusty doing The Look of Love, sorta the Wayne's World equivalent to me of "No Stairway to Heaven" if you get what i mean).

 

[Kal Rubinson]

Kal- I took Jdandy to mean that he was listening to how the system performed and not for the enjoyment of music, and in that context, he was not picky about the source material as a matter of musical taste-

I took it that way, too. I cannot do that.

 

[NorthStar]

---Me neither.