Have You Lost Taste in Music?

[admin_exported]

A few yars back, when I had a cheap system, I used to listen to music and enjoy it! As you may know, recently, I upgraded my system which is £4500 at the moment, now, I sort of seem regretful, because when I listen to the music, I am not listening to it, I am trying to find flaws with it, instead of enjoying it.

Anyway, my question to you guys who own expensive equipment is when you listen to music, do you focus more on the sound, or the actual music? Because I keep trying to find flaws etc...

 

[professorhat]

Nope, I enjoy the music.

But then my setup is pretty cheap compared to others here.

 

[RodhasGibson]

professorhat:

Nope, I enjoy the music.

But then my setup is pretty cheap compared to others here.

Like Wise

 

[Anonymous]

RodhasGibson:professorhat:

Nope, I enjoy the music.

But then my setup is pretty cheap compared to others here.

Like Wise

+1

unless its really badly recorded or something (there are a couple of Ben Godwin tracks that always make me think my speakers are distorting) then i just sit back and listen. The only thing that sometimes gets to me is if the 'soundstage' is right, but then i stop and just listen again.

 

[method man]

Aj. On looking at your setup in you sig. maybe its not so much that you are distracted by having a more expensive system. As that you are distracted by the lure of all those toys mate.

Sony PS3,
XBOX 360, Nintendo Wii, Sony S2530, Sky HD, DMP-BD35, Apple TV, Sling
Player Solo.

Personally having just gone all PC wireless to a pair of ADM AVI 9.1 speakers using squeezebox. I have sat down and actualy listened to music more in the last 2 weeks than I have in the last 5 years. (I was using an ipod instead which is why I changed the setup).

My wife on the other hand. Even though she loves to ask me to order a cd after seeing an advert on the TV or an interview on Jonathon Ross. never seems to actually listen to them. I have ripped all her stuff. And 'obtained' shedloads of stuff that she has expressed an interest in. And she says she loves the system. But every night when she gets in. she puts up with 10 minutes then its off. and we have an absolute poo-fest of reality TV, soaps and property progs.

The thing is. Love of music, sense of humour, good driving ability, generosity of spirit. are things we all like to claim we have. But we cant all have them. And we certainly cant all have them equally. When I tell her that she buys albums but never listens to them because I feel she doesnt really care for music and therefore its not that important to her she gets really defensive and argues. i even bought her an ipod shuffle cos she said she doesnt have time to listen to music. and I put her favourites on there but 2 years later its still in the drawer. instead, on her commute she watches pre-recorded TV on her Archos.

Each to their own. But dont keep buying bleedin James Blunt albums then love.

.

Whereas for me. at 42. Whilst hi-fi has never been a constant concern for me. Music has. i have all the same stuff. never lost or thrown away. Mix tapes I made back at school. Minidiscs I recorded from public library Cds. I even DJayed for a few years in my youth.

When the media was giving us A-Ha and Kajagoogoo I was going to Soul Weekenders and seeing Bobby Womack live.

As many people get older. they lose that. All our friends have a stereo tucked into the corner of a room. On the floor with speakers sat next to it etc. Covered in dust. They will all say they dont have the time.... kids .. work. BUT theyve all got a bloomin Widescreen TV and Wii...................

Thats one of the reasons I like it on here. You have adults that have kept that love of music. Just sitting and listening to a full album on a dedicated stereo. sure you may have to work at it a bit. there are lots of other distractions nowadays. Dare I say we have shorter attention spans. But keep the faith brother. You're still in there. You might be finding some flaws and not be able to relax for so long a time as you used to and just let the music wash over you. But as i say i think thats more down to getting older, modern life, other distractions. You can train your mind to enjoy it again.

 

[lordmortlock]

Nice post Meth... totally agree about making time for listening properly (and the poo fest - believe it or not the point of getting sky+ wasn't that she could re discover neighbours and record every s*dding episode.)

I know what you mean AJ - its easy to get distracted by hifi but ultimately its all about the music for me. I will admit to having re ripped my cds into lossless and I certainly find myself uttering things about 'bad recordings' more than before I bought my Quad kit but the clarity and substance it has added to my favourite tunes has bought me a huge amount of pleasure.

 

[method man]

Very true Lord. quality of recordings is very apparent to me now. But luckily we have the web where we can obtain the latest re-mastered versions of a lot of our old favourites. Even spotify is good for this. I wanted some Blues. Lightnin' Hopkins to be exact. There must be 100 albums with his stuff on. some sounding like the crackling 40s music they play in Dads Army. But by selecting 'Mojo hand' about 40 times i found the best quality album of his out of all those put together over the years. it sounds just like a well recorded modern artist.

If anyones interested I have done the same for Madness, The specials, The stone roses. Bob Marley.

 

[pwiles1968]

I have not lost my taste for music possibly the opposite since and upgrade early in the year, but my tastes have changed in the last 20 years, I tend to steer toward well recorded CD's also, not sure if that is my system or my age

.

I like to switch the TV off early enough to get a CD on before bed, even if it is only 15 minutes, listening in the late evening is quite magical.

 

[jaxwired]

Method man,

You're not alone. It's a very common affliction among Hi Fi enthusiasts. I'm most guilty when I first get a new piece of equipment. I will spend hours trying to find what's "not right". In fact, I will purposely play anything I think highlights any flaws. However, with that said, I'm not totally obsessed. I can still enjoy the music. I like to have a beer and read a magazine while I'm listening. I find this totally emerses me in the music and I have zero focus on finding Hi-Fi flaws.

Just try and keep some reasonable perspective. There is no such thing as "perfect sound". I can't tell you how many times I've read a blogger post that he has now found his dream amplifier or speaker or whatever and then they list what they've tried before and the list is as long as your arm.

 

[crusaderlord]

my preference for listening to music over other entertainment forms such as tv and computer games has increased significantly over the last 2 years when i started to improve my kit such that it is the main thing i do when i finally get 45 mins at the end of an evening to myself

my wife however is much more a tv programme to unwind person

i did go through a listening critically period while setting up my system but then suddenly it just sounded right and i dont feel the need to upgrade now - maybe just add a squeezebox to convenience

 

[method man]

Jax. i think your post was for the OP?

 

[chebby]

Music. Love it. Don't like being analytical about it. Not the point. I would 'overload' if I tried because this system is on between 12 - 16 hours a day depending on what shift I work. (I work from home so my system is a bit of a 'workhorse'.)

I marvel at the vocabulary my fellow forum members can summon to describe all the nuances of a new piece of kit. Sometimes I wish I could do that and sometimes I am glad I can't.

Radio. Voice mostly Radio 4, Radio 7.

TV very little. About an hour and a half a day on average from around 9:30 pm - 11pm (ish) and more often than not a DVD.

 

[Anonymous]

I'd love to get the chance to sit and listen to music analytically. Since laddo came on the scene I really only get to hear it rather than having a good listening session. Most of the time I now seem to listening to music off of my Touch in my van through a Griffin Autopilot. I must admit I have a coouple of albums which sound great in the van but are pants when played on the hifi.

 

[Anonymous]

In addition to my post above. I find that I'm listening to more music now than I did say 5 years ago. Just not sat in the sweet spot with a cup of tea looking through the CD booklet. I am buying more music than ever and experimenting with new bands all the time. Some picked up on through this site. I deffo' don't think I've lost my taste in music just evolved in the way I'm listening to it.

 

[ALTANPSX]

ajharris:
A few yars back, when I had a cheap system, I used to listen to music and enjoy it! As you may know, recently, I upgraded my system which is £4500 at the moment, now, I sort of seem regretful, because when I listen to the music, I am not listening to it, I am trying to find flaws with it, instead of enjoying it.

Anyway, my question to you guys who own expensive equipment is when you listen to music, do you focus more on the sound, or the actual music? Because I keep trying to find flaws etc...

In a good system, you will not look for the flaws, you feel them. Maybe your system is not good enough to hear, but not good enough to feel.

 

[jaxwired]

method man:Jax. i think your post was for the OP?

Right, my mistake...

 

[SteveR750]

Part of my love of music has been to figure out what is being played then go and do it myself. For me a decent system has to be able to better distinguish what each instrument is doing, be it a note, the timbre, the rhythm or "musicality". All of these things make the msic more pleasurable as I can better undertand and feel the emotion behind the song, after all music is all about enhancing or reflecting the modd we are feeling at that time. If it doesn't make you either want to leap around the room or cry then its not particularly good music.

I think most people, both hifi and non hifi types would agree that a love performance is much more emotional than a transistor radio of car stereo, so a system that better communicate that emotion, that ambience then the more exciting the experience. My system get used between 3-4 hours a night, and rarely do I watch DVD/TV. Often its there as a background to something else I am doing, and its often distracting as it sounds so good!

 

[Anonymous]

I have actually started enjoying music more. I always had music on at home/tube/car/office for many hours a day but now I look forward to relaxing at home because the music sounds so good with the current system.

The first week when I get some new equipment i listen carefully whether I like it or not. But after I 'settle' with something, I no longer look for flaws and just enjoy music. I love how my system sounds now and at the moment have no desire to change anything. If anything, my taste in music has changed a bit, as I have discovered new artists in the process.

 

[JoelSim]

It's both for me. I listen to music but I do find myself listening to things I wouldn't have done a few years back. And enjoying it.

 

[Gerrardasnails]

method man:
Aj. On looking at your setup in you sig. maybe its not so much that you are distracted by having a more expensive system. As that you are distracted by the lure of all those toys mate.

Sony PS3,
XBOX 360, Nintendo Wii, Sony S2530, Sky HD, DMP-BD35, Apple TV, Sling
Player Solo.

Personally having just gone all PC wireless to a pair of ADM AVI 9.1 speakers using squeezebox. I have sat down and actualy listened to music more in the last 2 weeks than I have in the last 5 years. (I was using an ipod instead which is why I changed the setup).

My wife on the other hand. Even though she loves to ask me to order a cd after seeing an advert on the TV or an interview on Jonathon Ross. never seems to actually listen to them. I have ripped all her stuff. And 'obtained' shedloads of stuff that she has expressed an interest in. And she says she loves the system. But every night when she gets in. she puts up with 10 minutes then its off. and we have an absolute poo-fest of reality TV, soaps and property progs.

The thing is. Love of music, sense of humour, good driving ability, generosity of spirit. are things we all like to claim we have. But we cant all have them. And we certainly cant all have them equally. When I tell her that she buys albums but never listens to them because I feel she doesnt really care for music and therefore its not that important to her she gets really defensive and argues. i even bought her an ipod shuffle cos she said she doesnt have time to listen to music. and I put her favourites on there but 2 years later its still in the drawer. instead, on her commute she watches pre-recorded TV on her Archos.

Each to their own. But dont keep buying bleedin James Blunt albums then love.

.

Whereas for me. at 42. Whilst hi-fi has never been a constant concern for me. Music has. i have all the same stuff. never lost or thrown away. Mix tapes I made back at school. Minidiscs I recorded from public library Cds. I even DJayed for a few years in my youth.

When the media was giving us A-Ha and Kajagoogoo I was going to Soul Weekenders and seeing Bobby Womack live.

As many people get older. they lose that. All our friends have a stereo tucked into the corner of a room. On the floor with speakers sat next to it etc. Covered in dust. They will all say they dont have the time.... kids .. work. BUT theyve all got a bloomin Widescreen TV and Wii...................

Thats one of the reasons I like it on here. You have adults that have kept that love of music. Just sitting and listening to a full album on a dedicated stereo. sure you may have to work at it a bit. there are lots of other distractions nowadays. Dare I say we have shorter attention spans. But keep the faith brother. You're still in there. You might be finding some flaws and not be able to relax for so long a time as you used to and just let the music wash over you. But as i say i think thats more down to getting older, modern life, other distractions. You can train your mind to enjoy it again.

I'm happy with my system (I know I can improve it and I will do one day) and now that I don't use cd's, we all listen to so much more music than we ever did before. I tend more to notice how good something sounds compared to previous systems.

When I switch my amp to "Music" the kids (not three yet and six) will scream, Lady GaGa Daddy or Pink or Amy. Saturday during the day is music non stop. TV is not mentioned. Life is good.

 

[carter]

in general no but their is a couple of cds that i used to enjoy that i just cant listen to now(thay just sound rubish)

 

[Big Chris]

method man:
Aj. On looking at your setup in you sig. maybe its not so much that you are distracted by having a more expensive system. As that you are distracted by the lure of all those toys mate.

Sony PS3,
XBOX 360, Nintendo Wii, Sony S2530, Sky HD, DMP-BD35, Apple TV, Sling
Player Solo.

Personally having just gone all PC wireless to a pair of ADM AVI 9.1 speakers using squeezebox. I have sat down and actualy listened to music more in the last 2 weeks than I have in the last 5 years. (I was using an ipod instead which is why I changed the setup).

My wife on the other hand. Even though she loves to ask me to order a cd after seeing an advert on the TV or an interview on Jonathon Ross. never seems to actually listen to them. I have ripped all her stuff. And 'obtained' shedloads of stuff that she has expressed an interest in. And she says she loves the system. But every night when she gets in. she puts up with 10 minutes then its off. and we have an absolute poo-fest of reality TV, soaps and property progs.

The thing is. Love of music, sense of humour, good driving ability, generosity of spirit. are things we all like to claim we have. But we cant all have them. And we certainly cant all have them equally. When I tell her that she buys albums but never listens to them because I feel she doesnt really care for music and therefore its not that important to her she gets really defensive and argues. i even bought her an ipod shuffle cos she said she doesnt have time to listen to music. and I put her favourites on there but 2 years later its still in the drawer. instead, on her commute she watches pre-recorded TV on her Archos.
Each to their own. But dont keep buying bleedin James Blunt albums then love.

LOL! Sounds exactly like my in-laws. When my father-in-law's midi system died, he was going on about getting a 'proper' hi-fi. We went to Bromley and had a look in Sevenoaks. He saw the Arcam stuff, but "liked the look of" (I know!) the Rotel kit.

Ultimately, he deemed they were not what he'd class as 'budget' kit, so we popped over to Richer Sounds. This seemed to be much more to his (wallet's) liking, and we left with a C.A 640C, 540A and some Mission M71i speakers (I did fight him on the cabling, I made him get the range above bell-wire).

We took it all back to his, set it up and stuck his favourite CD on...... And that's probably the most use it's got in the 4 years he's had it.

They have the Leona Lewis CD they bought after she won X Idol which is still in the polythene wrapper. I despair, I really do. He asked for The Sopranos box sets for the last few (about 3 or 4) Christmasses. Got them too, but has not wached a single episode. It drives my Wife crazy at Christmas or birthdays, there'll be requests for books, films or music which you know are never gonna be read, watched or listened to....... Craziness!

 

[idc]

ajharris:

...... when you listen to music, do you focus more on the sound, or the actual music? Because I keep trying to find flaws etc...

It depends on mood and what I am up to. A new bit of kit invariably means analytical listening. Chilled out, later at night it is for pleasure.

 

[method man]

I cansee you re fathers in law. I got a call about a year ago. his hi-fi had died. (decades old large goodmans one box. thin bell cables to speakers on shelfs 15 foot part and 2 foot from the ceiling). its in a wood and glass cabinet next to the tv and I have no idea how he knew it died as as far as I know its used once a year a xmas when...... oh i see. i got the call in january... LOL.

anyway. talked him through it. i knew he would want to go one box. But theres some decent stuff around, he could have some of my cable spend 100 quid on speakers and wow. he would be amazed. By the way they have plenty of dough. however. he actually took it into a 'electrical repair place, that ordered a part in for 50 quid and fixed it. i doubt u would get a fiver for this on ebay or a bootsale.

maybe he did the right thing if its only going to encourage her to listen to Cliff.

 

[Anonymous]

If anything, I listen to more music now. I spend at least an hour a day really listening as music is my first love above all other things I enjoy. I will say that as my system has become more expensive through the years, I am much more critical of recording quality. Critical is perhaps the wrong word as there is a lot of music that isn't recorded very well, but when I come across an album that has been recorded very well I will be drawn to it which has introduced me to more types of music. For instance, Stereophile had a piece about Allen Toussaint - The Bright Mississippi and although its not a type of music I've loved in the past its very well recorded and I've listened & really enjoyed it since buying it. So I wouldn't say buying more expensive equipment has made me more critical of my system, I just pay more attention to the music now than I did in the past.

Same thing happened last month with Antonio Forcione - Live (Naim label), its recorded very well and another type of music I'm enoying now.