Your priorities are----?

[DaveyF]

I see that there are some very 'heated' threads that seem to boil down to a lack of understanding by posters as to the priorities of the 'offending' poster.



What is a little confusing to me, and from the looks of it...to most of us here, is the actual priority that each member of the group/thread/forum is using to determine the value system in regards to the audiophile hobby.
(Not just, or simply- Objective vs Subjective!!).


We are all under the same a'phile hobby...otherwise we wouldn't be here ( I believe this is the case, perhaps someone here is not here for that reason....hmmm)...
Anyhow, the question becomes what are the priorities each member has when either a) entering into the hobby and b) continuing to enjoy the hobby....

Then we ask, are they of the opinion/priority that: a) I would like my system to sound as close to possible to the sound of 'real' live unamplified instruments in a 'live' setting b) I would like my system to
sound as close to possible as another system that I heard that impressed me greatly, c) I am mostly interested in the technical side of the hobby and would prefer
to understand and enjoy the various inner workings of my gear...the sound is secondary to this, as I expect it to be great if the inner working meet my technical expectations,
d) I want a lot of gear that will fit into my room so that I can play all kinds of software and don't really care how it sounds so long as it can play back my software...whatever that
might be, e) I am only interested in gear that fits my decor and is acceptable to my interior designer...( I kid not, I have run into a'philes ( are they??) who tell me that this is the most important
part of their system!) or f) Something else.( Please elaborate here).

I am NOT posting this as a poll, as I believe that the individual answers to the questions need to be expanded on a little so that other members can determine the priorities.

I suspect/hope that we may all get a much greater understanding of where the posters that we are ..."perturbed" with, are coming from. Hopefully we will all have a greater tolerance for
their posts after this is made clear....

Ok, onwards..............

 

[amirm]

My priority 1, 2, and 3 are discovery and understanding of more music. It is where I am spending my time on, and threads that I read with anxiousness. I find the forum and membership in this regard kind, patient, caring and giving. Which is all I can ask for.

At some point I will want to upgrade my DAC and pre-amp. But not a priority compared to above.

 

[DaveyF]

My priority 1, 2, and 3 are discovery and understanding of more music. It is where I am spending my time on, and threads that I read with anxiousness. I find the forum and membership in this regard kind, patient, caring and giving. Which is all I can ask for.

At some point I will want to upgrade my DAC and pre-amp. But not a priority compared to above.

Thank you Amir...now a question. Is your priority in understanding of more music tied to the sound that you can produce of said music in your home, or is it tied to the amount/volume of music that you can obtain? When you state understanding of more music, perhaps you could elaborate for me what that means to you.

Thank you.

 

[Rodney Gold]

My priority re gear is that it must make listening to music an event..not just tunes .. thank you lawrence dickie
My priority re music is to explore all the new stuff I can before I die..thank you tidal

 

[Wonner Naus]

My priority re gear is that it must make listening to music an event..not just tunes .. thank you lawrence dickie
My priority re music is to explore all the new stuff I can before I die..thank you tidal

I am with Rodney regarding TIDAL. Perhaps the best thing to happen to music exploration in my 40 years. I am constantly amazed at the depth of their library.

Regarding music discussions in forums, I have always found them useless.

Regarding equipment, I have everything I need for the forseeable future, but idle curiosity and discussion is a fun part of the hobby.

Ragarding this forum, I don't know. From my personal perspective, the signal to noise is pretty low.

 

[amirm]

Thank you Amir...now a question. Is your priority in understanding of more music tied to the sound that you can produce of said music in your home, or is it tied to the amount/volume of music that you can obtain? When you state understanding of more music, perhaps you could elaborate for me what that means to you.

Thank you.

By understanding I mean learning to like new music and be able to articulate what it is I am listening to. Good example was learning to like Jazz. Didn't know where to start. People showed me the way, I got on the journey and now I am completely into the genre. I still don't have the vocabulary to describe much of Jazz but getting familiar with various albums, artists, etc.

As to quantity, I like to collect as many music tracks that are audiophile and it is music I like. I am thinking this is a finite list but may be mistaken .

 

[JackD201]

To me the search for new and enjoyment of found music is a given. I started when I was 10 years old and will likely continue to do so for as long as I am mentally and physically able.

Listening to recorded music for me is an experience in and of itself. I'm not trying to find perfection or even exert energy trying to construct a concept of what perfection might be. All I want is a an experience where I can just be immersed in the moment without having to be distracted by my own gear/tools. I look for a feeling of union with the "machine" analogous to how I feel when I ride a motorcycle and the level of familiarity and confidence is such that I don't even think of things like gear changes, amount of counter steer or most importantly the fear of unrecoverable loss of traction. The experience is fluid and organic. No need for intellectualization. You simply enjoy and relish the myriad sensations. To achieve that my machine has got to be able to do more than I dare to push it. In audio that translates to a sense of effortlessness past levels that are beyond what I would consider unsafe.

 

[Argonaut]

My priority re gear is that it must make listening to music an event..not just tunes ..

I can equate to this RG, I strive to create a large scale, 3D, visceral performance surrounding my listening chair, that has me almost participating in the event as apposed to merely listening to a nice approximation of the performance, in front of me, and between the transducers. I never fire up the big rig for background listening at sociably acceptable dB levels, I prefer to run it only for a handfull of hours a week at *experience levels*

 

[the sound of Tao]

To me the search for new and enjoyment of found music is a given. I started when I was 10 years old and will likely continue to do so for as long as I am mentally and physically able.

Listening to recorded music for me is an experience in and of itself. I'm not trying to find perfection or even exert energy trying to construct a concept of what perfection might be. All I want is a an experience where I can just be immersed in the moment without having to be distracted by my own gear/tools. I look for a feeling of union with the "machine" analogous to how I feel when I ride a motorcycle and the level of familiarity and confidence is such that I don't even think of things like gear changes, amount of counter steer or most importantly the fear of unrecoverable loss of traction. The experience is fluid and organic. No need for intellectualization. You simply enjoy and relish the myriad sensations. To achieve that my machine has got to be able to do more than I dare to push it. In audio that translates to a sense of effortlessness past levels that are beyond what I would consider unsafe.

Great post, yes, having a system that engages us into experiencing music as immersion, tapping into it as a physical experience as well as an emotional and intellectual one... finding yourself being drenched in music, that is the objective.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

I am with Rodney regarding TIDAL. Perhaps the best thing to happen to music exploration in my 40 years. I am constantly amazed at the depth of their library.

Regarding music discussions in forums, I have always found them useless.

Regarding equipment, I have everything I need for the forseeable future, but idle curiosity and discussion is a fun part of the hobby.

Ragarding this forum, I don't know. From my personal perspective, the signal to noise is pretty low.

An audiophile that finds music discussion useless. What's the point of being an audiophile then?

 

[NorthStar]

My first priority is "Discoveries".

* I've got to make acquaintance with ? Tidal.

 

[Wonner Naus]

An audiophile that finds music discussion useless. What's the point of being an audiophile then?

Maybe I'm not an audiophile; just a music lover--no talking required.

 

[bonzo75]

An audiophile that finds music discussion useless. What's the point of being an audiophile then?

That is an audiophile. Else you will be musicophile.

 

[FrantzM]

My first priority is "Discoveries".

* I've got to make acquaintance with ? Tidal.

North

Tidal goes beyond discovery. The darn thing is CD-quality and its library keeps getting bigger by the day... If it were possible to have it where I live now (and Qobuz too and a slew of similar service) I'd be buying much less music... IMHO it is the new model.. That cloud thing is very powerful. The future is upon us ..

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

Maybe I'm not an audiophile; just a music lover--no talking required.

You lost me.

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

That is an audiophile. Else you will be musicophile.

But why be one when music discussion is of no interest?

 

[bonzo75]

But why be one when music discussion is of no interest?

Because they are gearheads? They have OCD? They get a lifelong itch?

 

[NorthStar]

Because they are gearheads? They have OCD? They get a lifelong itch?

Is that contagious? Is there a cure?

 

[Johnny Vinyl]

My priority is music. I only got into being somewhat of an audiophile as I recognized I could get better quality sound from what I originally had. I don't look for perfection, nor am I interested into delving inside a component and discovering how it's built. My Dad was an engineer, my Mom was the creative one and that's where I got most of my genes from. I love good sound, but I love music more and a system only has to reproduce it to a level that pleasures me. I'd surely enjoy a better quality system than I have now, but its not a requirement and I don't long for it. If it happens, it happens.

 

[DaveyF]

By understanding I mean learning to like new music and be able to articulate what it is I am listening to. Good example was learning to like Jazz. Didn't know where to start. People showed me the way, I got on the journey and now I am completely into the genre. I still don't have the vocabulary to describe much of Jazz but getting familiar with various albums, artists, etc.

As to quantity, I like to collect as many music tracks that are audiophile and it is music I like. I am thinking this is a finite list but may be mistaken .

Thanks Amir, now I understand your previous post better.
Personally, as a musician, I come from a slightly different perspective in regards to music. As I have said before, to me all music is good. I'm not trying to understand music..( God forbid, I wouldn't want to go down that road, lol)...instead, I'm all about the 'feel' of music. What makes me have the 'blues' or makes me feel like I have some 'jive'-- or the shiver I get in my soul when things are moving me....does that make sense?

Making music and listening to music to me are both in the same plane.
With the system, I want it to sound as close as possible to my memory of what I remember a certain horn sounds like, or a particular piano or a flute or a specific guitar. As 'lifelike' as possible to fool me into believing, even if it is for just a brief moment, that I have that instrument in my listening room. Probably why I am more dissatisfied than not when I listen to most systems.