Is High Fidelity just a means or the end?

[greenhorn]

Once upon a time, I was quite happy listening to music the way I had it. Life was simple. Better sounding meant turning up the bass.
Then I found out about High fidelity, Foobar, resampling, high end DAC's, Dome tweeters and FLAC's, Rebecca Pidgeon singing Spanish Harlem, and went all in.
Then Life took me in a direction away from it, and stuck with a bunch of decidedly mediocre computer speakers, and I found myself listening to all those old songs I hadnt played in a long time - 80's pop, 90's rap, 60's country, 70's disco. It was fun, and I really didn't care how it sounded, because the music was all that mattered.
Then recently I stumbled onto a pair of active bookshelves, and a Decent USB dac, and found the lost pleasures of high fidelity again, but Now I find myself torn - Every time I play these older and non Audiophile recordings, I somehow feel like they're lacking, and the hiss and the distortion and compression artifacts etc begin to sound very annoying - things that my old 2.1 covered up so well now are blindingly obvious.

The problem is, I badly want to enjoy these songs like i used to, but I cannot. There just aren't better recordings out there of these songs. Sometimes I wish I never had upgraded . In my quest for better music, I seem to have thrown the baby out with the bath water.

Anyone else felt this problem?

 

[gobble]

The fact that you have realized means that you are on your way to recovery...

HiFidelity and Audiophilia is just another name for an acquired neurosis. hyeah:

I cured myself last year by forcing myself to lose interest in gear. But it wasn't possible for me without first satisfying myself with an expensive ill-afforded DAC that may be considered as a benchmark (if not the greatest or best) and that made me tell myself that "if this doesnt fix it nothing else will... no matter how much I spend"

Not that I will never upgrade my transport but ...

The first step to cure is in not spending hours reading equipment reviews. Do that and after 6 months you will automatically go back to the music.

The next step is to visualize what else you will do with the money instead and use it to do exactly that. Leave the gear in your living room and live life kingsize outside, spending your money on travel for example. I'm doing that now. hyeah:

I no longer care about what other FMs are buying or listening to. I expect myself to latch on unconsciously anytime I hear about a good transport someone posts about, but I'm not actually searching for it and it may be a few years before I spend $$$$ on one. But I am happy here and now knowing that the transport needs an upgrade but not actually thinking about it.

--G0bble

 

[Hiten]

The unease of the audiophile
Regards.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I know people who have fantastic collections of historic and amazing carnatic music. To them, its significance is such that they don't care that it is a third-generation tape copy of something that started as a bad recording. I can understand that it vital that such stuff is preserved, and students of music and musical history can benefit from it --- but I cannot enjoy it. Perhaps because my ear is the ear of the listener, not of the musician or the student, but there is a certain minimum recording and playback quality that I can stand to listen to at all. Below this, it is pain, not music. The irony of diminishing hearing is that my ears are more, not less, sensitive to harsh, bad, distorted sound. This is the way I am, regardless of "audiophile spend."

Actually, my spend, over the decades, has been quite modest. I have owned three amplifiers and two main-system pairs of speakers. I would have settled for the second of those amplifiers too, only replacing it due to failure. Most of my spend, back in the day when I did spend, was on adding capability, rather than upgrading.

I'd like to say that music is the ultimate aim, but I have to admit that a certain amount of gadget love is certainly involved, and a certain interest in the whole area of technology. I think that that lives in a different area of the brain to the actual listening, though. When I'm listening to music, I'm listening to music, not dreaming about how much better it could sound. I do the dreaming when I'm logged on hear, or otherwise not actually listening! I have 2-3 Lakh's worth of audio ambition, and that is all about having a really good PC-based monitor/headphone system, but I can certainly enjoy the one that I have!

If I had a great deal of money, I would probably go in for buying, listening, testing, trying out, experimenting. It's a hobby that I'd be happy to be able to afford, and it is one of the areas in which, should I ever get rich (not expected) I would enjoy being extravagant. It's usually first on the list if people ask me, if I had money, what would I spend it on.

At least at this time in my life, I find live music (usually with bad PA systems) far more satisfying than listening at home anyway, and thanks to the city I live in, it is available at minimum spend. If the millions do ever fall on me from the skies, I'll donate a few sound systems to sabhas and sponsor lots of concerts

 

[thevortex]

Music is the means...music the end.

Rest is just equipment.

Yeah...have at me..audiophiles

The day that we cannot listen to and appreciate a fantastic piece of music on a crappy system is the day we move away from music into the realm of pure equipment!

YMMV....

 

[malvai]

Firstly, for me, it is music. If the recording is great - it is fabulous. If the recording is poor, but the music is good, I really don't care.

I find my system to be very very revealing. It shows up flaws in bad pressings. But over a period of time, i have been able to train myself to ignore the faults.

Personally, whenever I meet an "audiophile" who only has audiophile pressings of music from artists who never got any acclaim for the music, I cringe.

That kind of music is not my cup of tea. But, yes, if I find good recordings of artists that I like, artists that are go beyond recording their "sighs" for audiophiliac oohs, artists that go beyond the carefully recorded 'tings' and 'tongs' to showcase the gear, I really exult.

And yes, its music first. It took me a while to get of the neurotic upgrades too. But then, sanity is always arrived at, after a period of madness. If it wasn;t that way, we wouldn't value it, would we?

 

[koushik]

It all started with music and ideally should end with music.

Back in early 90s I first started the journey with my own set of stereos leaving what I have inherited. Then in mid 90s I was happy with a locally hand made STK459 Amp and assembled 3way speaker with sweton drivers. Then moved to Sonodyne vintage. Eventually bought a pair of Sonodyne 306 floor standers that cost me 14k 15 years back. Quite a significant amount in those days considering that I was in 12th standard. It was then I stopped upgrading and enjoying my music for this long. Always missing something in the sound, reading avmax and itching to upgrade but was always careful to spend money wisely. Then only recently early last year I started upgrading my setup under the guidance of a very able audio engineer and a great audiophile.

But in between all these years till now the thing that never left the center stage is the music. Be it 60s bad recording to 2ks Rahman avg. to good recording. Tunes and melodies will always get priority.

Nevertheless, good recording is a treat to listen on a high quality system. So my line of conclusion is, set your budget (close to your 6 months income) and buy the best system to your ear, that amount of money can buy and enjoy the music; for which it all started!

 

[Vinod.R]

I thought it was just me, but I have now realized that no amount of great equipment can replace the enjoyment of good music.

Back when I was a kid, it was listening to music from dad's philips system (I am talking 75-77 here) was the greatest thing that I can recall. When I had to badger my mum and dad to play music for me (as I was a kid and might have broken it!) and sitting wide eyed on the floor, hearing radio (srilanka broadcasting) or hearing the record player (only carnatic classical english no way).

Then it was a little sanyo 2-in-1 which was first used by me to hear Michael Jackson's beat it in 1982.

I know now that it was not about equipment but was for the music and those old numbers are still my favourite.

 

[Staxxx]

What a great thread...a subject I often think about. It becomes particularly relevant when I think about how much more music I could have bought had I been satisfied with the audio system I had at any one time!

As a listener of western classical music (mainly) the one advantage is that there are great interpretations from the past (in horrible recording quality) but alternatives from the modern age with more than acceptable quality - leave alone the audiophile pressings, which make one's system shine. Sometimes I want to listen to a great interpretation and wonder at the glory of music - I know at that time I am enjoying the greatness of the power of music and I am no more an audiophile. The pops, crackles, hiss and even drop-outs just don't register....and at other times I truly enjoy the advancements of engineering and good electronic design and cannot stop the joy and wonder of listening to great audiophile equipment - such precise imaging and resolution in my living room or such real sounding equipment, even the slight scariness of a venue opening up behind the plane of the speakers to such improbable depths.

I wonder sometimes if these are just two different things and that there are so many facets to enjoy in this world of ours....

 

[lucksin]

The fact that you have realized means that you are on your way to recovery...

HiFidelity and Audiophilia is just another name for an acquired neurosis. hyeah:

I cured myself last year by forcing myself to lose interest in gear. But it wasn't possible for me without first satisfying myself with an expensive ill-afforded DAC that may be considered as a benchmark (if not the greatest or best) and that made me tell myself that "if this doesnt fix it nothing else will... no matter how much I spend"

Not that I will never upgrade my transport but ...

The first step to cure is in not spending hours reading equipment reviews. Do that and after 6 months you will automatically go back to the music.

The next step is to visualize what else you will do with the money instead and use it to do exactly that. Leave the gear in your living room and live life kingsize outside, spending your money on travel for example. I'm doing that now. hyeah:

I no longer care about what other FMs are buying or listening to. I expect myself to latch on unconsciously anytime I hear about a good transport someone posts about, but I'm not actually searching for it and it may be a few years before I spend $$$$ on one. But I am happy here and now knowing that the transport needs an upgrade but not actually thinking about it.

--G0bble

Gobble, when did i miss all of this. should have read it while i was still searching for the whole rig. i sure would have saved a lot. i started with meagrly 50k for whole rig including cables, source, amplification and speakers. Today what i have is many times more than what i initially started with.

Today after spending my fortune into it i still have this itch to buy whatnot and get closer to the mirage of sound that now sometime i believe can never be achieved and at times i believe i might just a step away from it.

i just purchased and i have already started saving and looking and finalizing for Upgrades. i might be lying if i may say i am enjoying my new setup but i have already started fancying the upgrade and the pleasure it might bring with it.

Like someone once said, happiness can be found in all the small things of life. i belive i have to start thinking the same way.

and then the other side of me fights back with a single question if not for this life then for which(on spending and upgrading)

my 2 cents

And cheers to the thought.

 

[shanmune]

My thoughts with an analogy ....
"Love for Music" (LFM) and "Love for Equipments" (LFE) are like two different paths. They both can go together only up to a certain point. Beyond that "certain point", they both go in opposite direction in 180 degree angle. It cannot co-exist together beyond that. If someone wants to have both beyond that "certain point", then he/she will end up compromising on LFM and that is for sure. Then the very purpose (that is, love for music) of having equipments gets lost. Now, what is that "certain point" one can go ? That varies from person to person and depends a lot on the individual. As long as one realizes or become aware of where his "certain point" is exactly lying, then that person is smart .

For a long time, I used to enjoy music with my simple computer and I had been doing that for more than a decade. Few months back, I bought a decent sounding system and I used to enjoy my new system with some modern day music and recordings. Of late, I started collecting some CDs having some old recordings and those recordings were just average. I was wondering on why I should be playing those old recordings on my newly bought/invested system. Later, I realized what a big fool I was ... I realized that I was just enjoying the system and it's sound with the modern recordings, but not the actual soul which was nothing but the music. After realizing that, I went back to my old ways of focussing only on music. Now, when I play the music on my system, I do focus only on the music and not on the way it is recorded or how it sounded. By this way, I am enjoying more with the music now and stopped looking at what equipment/system I am having. I am fortunate enough to quickly learn this lesson

 

[musicbee]

Unfortunately once you get used to "equipment" you cannot really listen to bad/low quality recordings. This is true for movies too... back in the day I was happy with 700 MB movie rips with stereo. Now I cannot watch a movie unless its DTS (at the very least)... call it a placebo effect but I cannot "hear" dialogues clearly when the audio is ripped in stereo or in upmixed/multi channel output. The center channel only sings (or sounds good) when its DTS or DTS-HD Master.

When I used to travel by bike there were a lot of places I would frequent for snacks, ice cream, tea (chai), etc. Now that I travel exclusively by car (forcibly after an accident involving a broken hip and metal screws that prevent me from riding a bike, sitting on the floor, etc.) I have given up on those places... simply because of the hassles in trying to find parking or even because of the trouble of driving through those narrow lanes... such is life.

Its a sad day when we stop listening to "good" music (or watching good movies) because the recording quality makes it sound bad on modern equipment... personally I'm not there with music (yet) but I'm there with movies. I love music too much to go without it and will probably be happy with mp3 rips @ 96 KBPS as opposed to nothing... but yet all things considered equipment does in many ways decide (or at least direct) what we listen to or watch.

How many of us can watch SD channels on our 55" plasmas? If anything we are limited to fewer channels and programs because of our TVs.

 

[just4kix]

In the world of hi-fi, there are no ends, just the means.