The Music-First Audiophile Manifesto

[Analogous]

Darko has posted this on his website. Good food for thought​

The Music-First Audiophile Manifesto​

1. The Music-First Audiophile knows that music and sound quality are important but that music will always be the most important.
2. The Music-First Audiophile has many thousands of albums in his library and will choose audio hardware that elevates the sound quality of those albums.
3. The Music-First Audiophile knows that there are many other music genres beyond those that he enjoys (or she will hear at a hi-fi demo). To name a few: hip-hop, metal, funk, soul, grime, techno, country, noise, psychedelic rock and folk.
4. The Music-First Audiophile isn’t trying to bring the live experience home. She understands that music playback is its own art form – a movie is not made by pointing cameras at a stage play.
5. The Music-First Audiophile understands that sound quality is affected more by the listening room’s acoustic make-up than the electronics chain that feeds the loudspeakers.
6. The Music-First Audiophile understands that a software app’s user interface, the hardware’s aesthetics, its ergonomics and its haptics all play a part in the overall listening experience.
7. The Music-First Audiophile knows that hi-res audio can enhance sound quality but she will never choose or refuse an album based on the delivery format's sample rate or bit depth. Why? Because she knows that mastering quality matters more.
8. The Music-First Audiophile knows that the pursuit of better sound is not “all about the music”. She’d be happy listening to music on laptop speakers or tiny white earbuds if it were.
9. The Music-First Audiophile knows that being an audiophile isn't about how much money she spends on audio gear but how much she cares about sound quality without letting the tail wag the dog. Music comes first. Always.
10. The Music-First Audiophile thinks music first, hardware second, format third.

 

[bornfi]

ah, then I am Quality-First because of which, the genre Metal, which I never had an interest in, has become a stress-busting music for me.

 

[Analogous]

Any thoughts on this ? (Apart from the genders inclusion part)
“The Music-First Audiophile isn’t trying to bring the live experience home. She understands that music playback is its own art form – a movie is not made by pointing cameras at a stage play.“

 

[argho]

Am fully in sync.

I got into this hobby because I love listening to music.
The audiophile gear is only ameans to an end - to enjoy the music of my choice.
It is not an end in itself.

I would rather listen to music I like, on a bluetooth speaker, than music I dont like, on a million dollar system

 

[arj]

Any thoughts on this ? (Apart from the genders inclusion part)
“The Music-First Audiophile isn’t trying to bring the live experience home. She understands that music playback is its own art form – a movie is not made by pointing cameras at a stage play.“

yes..live can never be brought at home ! Live is live...amplified or otherwise.

Darko has posted this on his website. Good food for thought​

The Music-First Audiophile Manifesto​

10. The Music-First Audiophile thinks music first, hardware second, format third.

I do go with hardware+ music first, its always a combo for me as difficult to separate the 2 ...and then format

 

[Analogous]

hardware+ music first, its always a combo for me as difficult to separate the 2

Makes more sense as we choose equipment after listening to how music sounds on them.
I have met a few who bought hardware based on appearance and “looks”

 

[sudokpr]

My wife and I debate music versus gear. She's into retro tunes, even if the recording quality isn't great. I used to be like that too. If I liked a song, I'd enjoy it anywhere – radio, tiny phone speakers – until I got hooked on the hi-fi setup. Now, it's been almost a year since I got my high fidelity stereo system, and I'm realizing that some of my favorite songs just don't hit the same if they're not well-recorded. I still listen to them casually, but when I sit down for a proper music session on the hi-fi system, I crave that immersive soundstage that fills my ears.
I'm afraid I've become an audiophile, though not the "Music First" type, prioritizing recording quality and equipment over the music itself.

 

[Bhaskar Jyoti Talapatra]

I think there is no feud in between listening to music and buying new gears. People buy gears to take their listening pleasure to another level. Like many i started listening to music playing cassettes in a the then available two in one. Before this i used to play my father's record player. After getting job I bought a VCD player and started enjoying CDs. At that time I bought many mp3 cds . Gradually i bought 2 TTs, tapedeck, amplifier , speakers and then I could feel music much better than what I used to get before. I could understand audio cds are way better than mp3 and first pressing vinyls are things to collect. So to me gears are the means to enjoy our fav music.
Regards

 

[Nalzan]

Darko has posted this on his website. Good food for thought​

The Music-First Audiophile Manifesto​

1. The Music-First Audiophile knows that music and sound quality are important but that music will always be the most important.
2. The Music-First Audiophile has many thousands of albums in his library and will choose audio hardware that elevates the sound quality of those albums.
3. The Music-First Audiophile knows that there are many other music genres beyond those that he enjoys (or she will hear at a hi-fi demo). To name a few: hip-hop, metal, funk, soul, grime, techno, country, noise, psychedelic rock and folk.
4. The Music-First Audiophile isn’t trying to bring the live experience home. She understands that music playback is its own art form – a movie is not made by pointing cameras at a stage play.
5. The Music-First Audiophile understands that sound quality is affected more by the listening room’s acoustic make-up than the electronics chain that feeds the loudspeakers.
6. The Music-First Audiophile understands that a software app’s user interface, the hardware’s aesthetics, its ergonomics and its haptics all play a part in the overall listening experience.
7. The Music-First Audiophile knows that hi-res audio can enhance sound quality but she will never choose or refuse an album based on the delivery format's sample rate or bit depth. Why? Because she knows that mastering quality matters more.
8. The Music-First Audiophile knows that the pursuit of better sound is not “all about the music”. She’d be happy listening to music on laptop speakers or tiny white earbuds if it were.
9. The Music-First Audiophile knows that being an audiophile isn't about how much money she spends on audio gear but how much she cares about sound quality without letting the tail wag the dog. Music comes first. Always.
10. The Music-First Audiophile thinks music first, hardware second, format third.

Spot on! For me,it’s always all about the music! Not that I have anything against “the gearheads”! They derive joy from constantly trying out new gear and often hearing the same track ad nauseam till it sounds “perfect”! Whatever floats your boat! This is just a hobby and as long as one derives pleasure from it,that’s all that matters. I,however,subscribe to Darko’s polemic!

 

[hydra]

Any thoughts on this ? (Apart from the genders inclusion part)
“The Music-First Audiophile isn’t trying to bring the live experience home. She understands that music playback is its own art form – a movie is not made by pointing cameras at a stage play.“

I liked how this was put, and it definitely made me think of how rewarding music played through a system at home can be. It also reminded me how good or bad a live performance can be, depending on the setup of the live sound, the volume the engineer sets it to, the seating position, etc.. (And it also reminded me of how truly sublime and electric an intimate, un-miked, live performance can be).

The home experience through a good system, and a live performance, both have their own special pluses and minuses (with those varying, depending on many conditions on the ground in either case).

 

[Yelamanchili manohar]

I was never a headphone guy, but my recent tryst with a Sony XM5 has me thoroughly impressed. For the majority of the music first folks, this with a phone, is all the system they might ever need.

 

[Nagaraj S]

“Can’t bring the live music experience home.” This is spot on! The intimacy live music offers would be incredibly difficult to replicate at home.

 

[IndianEars]

Darko has posted this on his website. Good food for thought​

The Music-First Audiophile Manifesto​

1. The Music-First Audiophile knows that music and sound quality are important but that music will always be the most important.
2. The Music-First Audiophile has many thousands of albums in his library and will choose audio hardware that elevates the sound quality of those albums.
3. The Music-First Audiophile knows that there are many other music genres beyond those that he enjoys (or she will hear at a hi-fi demo). To name a few: hip-hop, metal, funk, soul, grime, techno, country, noise, psychedelic rock and folk.
4. The Music-First Audiophile isn’t trying to bring the live experience home. She understands that music playback is its own art form – a movie is not made by pointing cameras at a stage play.
5. The Music-First Audiophile understands that sound quality is affected more by the listening room’s acoustic make-up than the electronics chain that feeds the loudspeakers.
6. The Music-First Audiophile understands that a software app’s user interface, the hardware’s aesthetics, its ergonomics and its haptics all play a part in the overall listening experience.
7. The Music-First Audiophile knows that hi-res audio can enhance sound quality but she will never choose or refuse an album based on the delivery format's sample rate or bit depth. Why? Because she knows that mastering quality matters more.
8. The Music-First Audiophile knows that the pursuit of better sound is not “all about the music”. She’d be happy listening to music on laptop speakers or tiny white earbuds if it were.
9. The Music-First Audiophile knows that being an audiophile isn't about how much money she spends on audio gear but how much she cares about sound quality without letting the tail wag the dog. Music comes first. Always.
10. The Music-First Audiophile thinks music first, hardware second, format third.

Yes, saw this on the Darko site...

So Much Yada Yada to justify his perspective.

I disagree.

To me there are 2 distinct pursuits:
1. Audiophile
2. Music Lover


To me, he is a music lover.

I am firmly an Audiophile.

I like the definition of an Audiophile, given by the Merriam-Webster dictionary:

"a person who is enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction"

Note, an Audiophile is focused on Music REPRODUCTION

 

[keith_correa]

 

[arj]

Yes, saw this on the Darko site...

So Much Yada Yada to justify his perspective.

I disagree.

To me there are 2 distinct pursuits:
1. Audiophile
2. Music Lover


To me, he is a music lover.

I am firmly an Audiophile.

I like the definition of an Audiophile, given by the Merriam-Webster dictionary:

"a person who is enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction"

Note, an Audiophile is focused on Music REPRODUCTION

Most of us will firmly be on on side but the 2 are very interlinked as well..perhaps a continuum rather than black and white on one or the other side- very Yin-Yang'ish !

Most audiophiles here will enjoy music but via the primarily via the performance of the system so audiophiles should be a subset of music lovers right ? ven if one expresses of being here only for the music...99% of discussions are about equipment hence.. maybe there are closet audiophiles not ready to come out yet

 

[DB1989]

View attachment 84492

Couldn't agree more with the last bit. As much as I'd like to be cool, my heart would immediately plunge if they (the layman) did NOT think the experience was the next best thing since sliced bread. It's not a bad reference point though and something to aspire for gearphiles.

 

[MIOM]

Darko has posted this on his website. Good food for thought​

The Music-First Audiophile Manifesto​

1. The Music-First Audiophile knows that music and sound quality are important but that music will always be the most important.
2. The Music-First Audiophile has many thousands of albums in his library and will choose audio hardware that elevates the sound quality of those albums.
3. The Music-First Audiophile knows that there are many other music genres beyond those that he enjoys (or she will hear at a hi-fi demo). To name a few: hip-hop, metal, funk, soul, grime, techno, country, noise, psychedelic rock and folk.
4. The Music-First Audiophile isn’t trying to bring the live experience home. She understands that music playback is its own art form – a movie is not made by pointing cameras at a stage play.
5. The Music-First Audiophile understands that sound quality is affected more by the listening room’s acoustic make-up than the electronics chain that feeds the loudspeakers.
6. The Music-First Audiophile understands that a software app’s user interface, the hardware’s aesthetics, its ergonomics and its haptics all play a part in the overall listening experience.
7. The Music-First Audiophile knows that hi-res audio can enhance sound quality but she will never choose or refuse an album based on the delivery format's sample rate or bit depth. Why? Because she knows that mastering quality matters more.
8. The Music-First Audiophile knows that the pursuit of better sound is not “all about the music”. She’d be happy listening to music on laptop speakers or tiny white earbuds if it were.
9. The Music-First Audiophile knows that being an audiophile isn't about how much money she spends on audio gear but how much she cares about sound quality without letting the tail wag the dog. Music comes first. Always.
10. The Music-First Audiophile thinks music first, hardware second, format third.

I like it and agree since it basically expresses my feelings as well. And I just upgraded my gear, which was based on the music first principle.

And you'll never be able to please everybody as no matter how this is written someone will disagree so....