Are Most HiFi Enthusiasts Musicians?

[abacus]

Ultimately, with yours truly, am about as musical as a Brussel Sprout.

One needs to have some sort of natural ability....

Brussel Sprouts are vastly underrated.

Bill

 

[plastic penguin]

Brussel Sprouts are vastly underrated.

Bill

Haha. Too true.

 

[Oxfordian]

Brussel Sprouts are vastly underrated.

Bill

Especially when cooked with pine nuts, yummy

 

[Witterings]

Brussel Sprouts are vastly underrated.

Bill

I believe they're the sole cause of global warming and Covid originated from them .... the world would be a better place without
them

 

[manicm]

Many musicians are probably hi-fi enthusiasts.
Of the hi-fi enthusiasts, most are probably more into music appreciation than the 'average' person (at least they should be).

There are probably an equal number of musicians who are not hi-fi enthusiasts. The fact is we just don't know. Fun fact - Alan Parsons is not a hi-fi enthusiast.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Fun fact - Alan Parsons is not a hi-fi enthusiast.

Another fun fact:
The same Alan Parsons co-produced the 'Sound Check' disc I own, described in the booklet as being for serious audiophiles.

 

[manicm]

Another fun fact:
The same Alan Parsons co-produced the 'Sound Check' disc I own, described in the booklet as being for serious audiophiles.

That may be so but
In an interview several years ago Parsons specifically said he did not own a fancy sound system at home, it was a discussion about sound quality and equipment. I stand by what I said.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

In an interview several years ago Parsons specifically said he did not own a fancy sound system at home,

Yes, I saw that interview.
I'm not surprised that a recording engineer would seek to disassociate himself from hi-fi enthusiasts 👍
To many people that would give him greater credibility - since quite a few hi-fi enthusiasts seem allergic to accuracy when choosing equipment.

 

[manicm]

Yes, I saw that interview.
I'm not surprised that a recording engineer would seek to disassociate himself from hi-fi enthusiasts 👍
To many people that would give him greater credibility - since quite a few hi-fi enthusiasts seem allergic to accuracy when choosing equipment.

You're making assumptions, obviously he like many other engineers and producers are meticulous about sound quality of the recording and playback in the studio, Parsons just doesn't apply that level of detail in the lounge for personal use

 

[nopiano]

The musicians I’ve met or know mostly seem ambivalent about Hifi, and at best only see it as a tool. My surmise is that they have the music already in their head so are less fussy about the exactitude of the sound.

I don’t suppose there’s much consistency here, but it’s interesting!

 

[Friesiansam]

since quite a few hi-fi enthusiasts seem allergic to accuracy when choosing equipment.

Surely whether an enthusiast prioritises accuracy or a pleasing sound, is just a matter of personal choice.

 

[Al ears]

Surely whether an enthusiast prioritises accuracy or a pleasing sound, is just a matter of personal choice.

Agreed.
You don't have to be a musician to appreciate a good reproduction system, nor do you have to be an audiophile....

 

[GeoffreyW]

I've had passing acquaintances with drum, when I was a Sea Cadet, then a euphonium when we were given (briefly) a failing a brass band's instuments, which then were taken back. I sang in the school choir, and still enjoy it in private. Then, after a few years, a Yamaha keyboard, then an alto sax, which my son thought he would like but didn't, so I thought I'd give it a go, and traded up to a tenor but I found that my brain didn't work fast enough to translate music notation to finger speed, so now don't have anything, but I have always been able to play records, cassettes, and cds, and, like the OP find music an emotional experience, so that's where I am now. I'm occasionally tempted to try one of the bass guitars our son has left with us, but not yet.

 

[plastic penguin]

Surely whether an enthusiast prioritises accuracy or a pleasing sound, is just a matter of personal choice.

Absolutely. My system puts a nice smile on my face, why it does is irrelevant to me, it's a smile maker. Surely that's the whole point of hi-fi: To entertain.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

You're making assumptions, obviously he like many other engineers and producers are meticulous about sound quality of the recording and playback in the studio, Parsons just doesn't apply that level of detail in the lounge for personal use

I'm not making any assumptions - just stating a 'fun' fact.
The fact merely is that, although he doesn't describe himself a hi-fi enthusiast (fair enough), he's made a CD specifically for enthusiasts to optimise their hi-fi 🤪

It seems to me that the only assumption here is that anyone might actually care how Alan Parsons describes himself 😆

 

[Hugh Jarse]

Surely whether an enthusiast prioritises accuracy or a pleasing sound, is just a matter of personal choice.

Of course it is 👍
And to me accuracy is a pleasing sound.
To a recording engineer it's his job.
That a recording engineer doesn't consider himself to be a hi-fi enthusiast should come as no surprise (nor be of any particular interest to anyone really. Maybe he doesn't want a 'busman's holiday' 🙂).

 

[Hugh Jarse]

The musicians I’ve met or know mostly seem ambivalent about Hifi.

Possibly because, more than most, they appreciate how far, even the best hi-fi falls short of the real thing 🤔

 

[nopiano]

Possibly because, more than most, they appreciate how far, even the best hi-fi falls short of the real thing 🤔

But in my experience, they never imagined it would, whereas us ‘audiophiles’ try to get close, or at least closer!

 

[nads]

What is a HiFi enthusiast? I am in it for the Music. Not a Musician.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

But in my experience, they never imagined it would, whereas us ‘audiophiles’ try to get close, or at least closer!

We do indeed.
But hearing the RPO at the Albert Hall cemented my own belief that we've got no chance 🤨

 

[matthewpianist]

I studied music to MMus level, have grade 8 on 3 instruments and have worked professionally as a pianist in many different settings (theatre pits, recitals, concerto solo, dance classes, as a repetiteur for choirs and for an opera premiere project at RNCM). I play clarinet in a local orchestra and have sung in several different choirs over the years. My family background is also music; Grandad played in brass bands and sang in Matlock Choral Society, and Mum played viola in the Leicestershire Schools Symphony Orchestra during their 60s heyday. She has sung in choirs and solo throughout her life.

I've found that I'm unusual amongst fellow musicians in also having a passion for hi-fi. There's a few, but I've often found very good musicians using basic and often elderly set-ups purely because they bring the music to life. NAD 3020s, for example, appear to be going on endlessly in musicians' systems, as do older Mission speakers, Marantz CD players and turntables from the likes of Pioneer and Sansui. I think this partly because their financial focus has been on keeping the wheels turning with unpredictable working patterns and buying and maintaining the right level of instrument and appropriate sheet music and accessories.

The other element is that anyone who is regularly close up to live music will accept that home reproduction is never going to replicate the sound fully and that there will always be limitations in both the recording and reproduction. We chase a holy grail in hi-fi and it feels great to get as close as we can to it, but it will ultimately remain forever out of reach regardless of how much we spend and what we buy. The best hi-fi can ever do is to reproduce the recording as faithfully as possible.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

....anyone who is regularly close up to live music will accept that home reproduction is never going to replicate the sound fully and that there will always be limitations in both the recording and reproduction.

✅
No matter how much the equipment costs.

('DACs below £1000 are not worth bothering with' said a poster on another forum 😆).

 

[Friesiansam]

Of course it is 👍
And to me accuracy is a pleasing sound.
To a recording engineer it's his job.
That a recording engineer doesn't consider himself to be a hi-fi enthusiast should come as no surprise (nor be of any particular interest to anyone really. Maybe he doesn't want a 'busman's holiday' 🙂).

I, on the other hand, prioritise a punchy and lively sound. I mainly listen to prog and alt rock and, my Pathos and Focal pairing, gives me exactly what I want. Beyerdynamic T5P Gen 2s seemed to clinical to me and got sent back.

 

[Hugh Jarse]

I, on the other hand, prioritise a punchy and lively sound.

We don't differ in our requirement.
It comes down to definitions and interpretations of them.
Punchy and lively sound is absolutely essential to me.

There's something about the term 'accurate' that gets misconstrued as a real negative.
To me, accurate means that, if the music is punchy and lively, then so is the reproduced sound.
Likewise, 'hi-fi' to some is a negative.
High fidelity means true to the original.
Accurate is true to the original.
That's all I require.

Some people prefer added flavouring....good luck to them. 👍

 

[plastic penguin]

Lovely thing about my amp is it sits back and lets the speakers and sources determine the flavour of what I hear. This is not about replicating concert hall sounds, instead pure studio reproduction/interpretation for the domestic environment.