An audiophile under 30 does not exist? It may be our fault

[Analogous]

An Audiophile Under 30? They Don't Exist and it's Our Fault - Wifi Hifi Magazine

Parents have done a lousy job hading down their love for audio gear to their children. We need to fix that.

wifihifi.com

 

[arj]

Man arent you on a roll today

I spoke to Raghav of headphone zone during his show in bangalore. Most of those who buy headphones are the youth and many of these are pretty High end.

Perhaps in india, while there is access to disposable income space is the reason younger folks move on headphones snf go high end of that and some of them might move to a speaker rig later.

Looks like thats the age where you have settled in your career and life and start moving away from spending more time away from home to being at home ?

 

[keith_correa]

The insinuation that people who listen to music through headphones are not "audiophiles", is ridiculous, condescending and disparaging.

 

[Analogous]

The insinuation that people who listen to music through headphones are not "audiophiles", is ridiculous, condescending and disparaging.

Agree. They must be “private and personal audiophiles “
As @arj has pointed it the major difference might be in disposable income.
My 19 year old son seems perfectly happy with his headphones and rarely comes to listen to my painstakingly curated set up. The difference in music preferences might be a reason, amongst others.
He does ask me for help setting up speakers in his room when he has friends over.
But I am hopeful that some day…

 

[Analogous]

Man arent you on a roll today

There are some sayings about empty vessels, noise, idle minds, curiosity and such?
I strongly recommend retirement at the earliest possible time

 

[sbg]

The insinuation that people who listen to music through headphones are not "audiophiles", is ridiculous, condescending and disparaging.

then we have to include non-headphone guys and gals too.
The Pure Audiophile . no intermediaries.

 

[arj]

The insinuation that people who listen to music through headphones are not "audiophiles", is ridiculous, condescending and disparaging.

True that today there might be more audiophiles listening on headphones than speaker setups whether under 30 or over 30..

Maybe because the target audience of the article is perhaps US/CA ? headphones are far more popular in the eastern part of the world as space is a premium here. If i remember right China+Japan+India market for headphones is 3 times that of NA.

 

[Yelamanchili manohar]

I guess we all grew up on radios and stereo systems in general... Atleast I did. So that has remained as my medium for consumption. I could never warm up to headphones. This generation is different. My daughter likes cycling with her earbuds on. And she listens to music while going to sleep through the same.

The main reason I think is that musical preference is such a personal thing. And the younger generation prefer having their privacy enjoying the same. I think the only way I can draw my daughter into my room is by installing a headphone rig there that performs better than her current BT buds.

 

[reignofchaos]

The youth typically goes towards headphones/earphones these days. Most of those folks are in their 20's and early 30's. Not everyone has the luxury of a listening room in India. Many of these folks stay in shared accommodation .

 

[keith_correa]

The youth typically goes towards headphones/earphones these days. Most of those folks are in their 20's and early 30's. Not everyone has the luxury of a listening room in India. Many of these folks stay in shared accommodation .

Even I don't stay in "shared" accommodation if I assume what you meant by "shared".
I live in a home that is shared by me and my family and I don't have the luxury of a "listening room" if I assume what you meant by a "listening room". My listening room (not!) is where my rig is least obstrusive to the folks at home and is a compromise based on necessity. I'd wager good money that this goes for ~90% folks here.
Now compare that to Gen. X who listen to music via headphones, enjoy what they listen to and by virtue of their headphones, carry their own personal listening room wherever they go vs. us in our set in stone "listening room".
Thinking logically, we're the bigger fools, no?

 

[reignofchaos]

By shared I mean 2-3 guys renting out a flat or PGs.

 

[keith_correa]

By shared I mean 2-3 guys renting out a flat or PGs.

That's exactly what I assumed.

 

[mbhangui]

Thinking logically, we're the bigger fools, no?

True. This statement made me feel like I'm sitting under the Bodhi Tree

 

[Decadent_Spectre]

The main point isn't disposable income or space, those have played a part, the main issue is the generational divide and the general psychology of the younger generations. They tend to be more mobile and have an unhealthy focus on socializing and competition and success. These three things drive the youth of today. They are less interested in forms of entertainment that do not involve competition or socializing in general.

Also to note is the much larger population of today, the rising income of the middle class (and even the poor) who can afford cheaper modern audio products but not perhaps "proper" systems or the space to keep them, the newer and more accessible technologies which make headphones/mobile personal audio cheaper and easier than ever.

That last line brings me to my last point, the youth of today are lazy, they don't wish to work but they want the world.

These are all generalizations and of course, my opinion.

 

[arj]

...

That last line brings me to my last point, the youth of today are lazy, they don't wish to work but they want the world.

These are all generalizations and of course, my opinion.

reminds me of the following phrase which although associated to Socrates popularly ( and perhaps untruly but thats another controversy) just shows that every generation has an issue with the next gen and in the end they do a better job than the earlier one else we would not be where we are.

“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”

 

[mbhangui]

The main point isn't disposable income or space, those have played a part, the main issue is the generational divide and the general psychology of the younger generations. They tend to be more mobile and have an unhealthy focus on socializing and competition and success. These three things drive the youth of today. They are less interested in forms of entertainment that do not involve competition or socializing in general.

Also to note is the much larger population of today, the rising income of the middle class (and even the poor) who can afford cheaper modern audio products but not perhaps "proper" systems or the space to keep them, the newer and more accessible technologies which make headphones/mobile personal audio cheaper and easier than ever.

That last line brings me to my last point, the youth of today are lazy, they don't wish to work but they want the world.

These are all generalizations and of course, my opinion.

The last point made is true and negates all earlier points. My father said the same thing about my generation and my grandfather said the same thing about my my father's generation.

I find many postives about the new generation. They are much more gender neutral than us, more concerned out the planet than us and more smarter and knowledgeable at that age than we were. They are better human beings than us and that matters a lot and I'm not generalizing

 

[Decadent_Spectre]

reminds me of the following phrase which although associated to Socrates popularly ( and perhaps untruly but thats another controversy) just shows that every generation has an issue with the next gen and in the end they do a better job than the earlier one else we would not be where we are.

Every generation has an issue with the next (they say) and we can only speak of what we see. We didn't see what was there 10 generations ago and what happened 9 generations ago. I feel this thought of they do a "better job" is wishful and hopeful thinking. One day humanity will destroy itself, this is my belief. My only regret is that I will probably not see it.

The last point made is true and negates all earlier points. My father said the same thing about my generation and my grandfather said the same thing about my my father's generation.

I find many postives about the new generation. They are much more gender neutral than us, more concerned out the planet than us and more smarter and knowledgeable at that age than we were. They are better human beings than us and that matters a lot and I'm not generalizing

It doesn't negate anything, I'm merely pointing out the obvious for those who have thin skins. Your post is equally generalizing and also your opinion, needless to say, even if you say you aren't generalizing. Things like gender neutral/concerned about the planet (assuming its true) are not important, further whether this is a positive or negative (or indifferent) depends on your beliefs. I don't think they are more knowledgeable if by that you mean intelligent, if you just mean raw data as knowledge then yes, but only because more knowledge exists and is easier to access than ever before. It has nothing to do with their capability or inherent nature. It is important to see a generation for what it is, discounting for technology, society and so forth.

 

[Nitin K]

My personal observations are that most of the kids prefer ear buds and headphones over a full blown component system and the same is true in my case too. I am writing this as I am seeing my daughter too with headphones. Hence the timing of this thread is very apt thanks to Analogous
Keeping aside the financial and room constraints, the present generation in general are restless , on the move and prefer listening to music while doing any task whether it is walking/jogging, travelling or waiting at the clinic etc. They sure can multi task and are a smart gen. A lot of them prefer casual hearing rather than intense hearing while sitting in that perfect equilateral triangle spot. Other aspect is that quite a few of them don't want to go through the hassile of maintaining a full blown component system & would prefer an all in one streamer similar to an Alexa, Bose or Sonos and headphones. It could be due to lack of time going for classes after school/college or late working hours.
The only aspect I am worried is the damage headphones/ear buds can do to the ears if worn for prolonged hours.
The good point is that they seem to be enjoying the music a lot rather than pointing out the flaws present. To each his/her own as long as everyone is enjoying their choices.

 

[Yelamanchili manohar]

Their money, their ears their choice. Not our fault.

If I was under 30 again, I would be out with real friends instead of taking lectures from baldies on a forum.

And I would listen to millions of the latest songs on my BT headphones and smart speakers in between doing all the other fun things that youth offers. I definitely wouldn't sit fixed before speakers to listen to music unless I had piles.

 

[arj]

Going back to the topic. audiophiles always have been a rare breed. Eg dont have any friends who are audiophiles rather audiophiles who became friends due to the hobby itself.

lets expect the same statistic to continue ..its anyway not going to increase due to component systems . But appreciation for high quality music has increased due to good headphones and tats one for the headphone guys !