Posted on Gizmodo.
My personal favorite comment:
Quote: By devwild on Gizmodo
I'm a bit surprised at all the audiophile hate on this thread. I wanted to give my $.02 about who you're talking about.
There are two common classifications of audiophiles, and both of them are wrong. One, popular on the blogs and in magazines is that audiophiles are pretty much anyone willing to replace their ipod buds with something which costs $50 or more. The other, popular in comments, is that audiophiles are all people with more money than brains who lay down multiple cnotes for a single speaker cable.
I've known a couple dozen audiophiles over the years thanks to my own interest in headphones and other audio gear, and neither of those definitions fit what really makes an audiophile - which is someone who is fascinated with audio recording and reproduction, and takes their own path in finding just what exactly about that process makes their spine tingle when they hear music under just the right circumstances.
Some will follow or become pro audio engineers and focus on pitch perfect studio recording, production, or monitor equipment. Some will try out a quality turntable and stylus to get beautiful sound out of old vinyl without destroying it, and see for themselves if they really think it's better than the CD. Some will try a couple different headphones, notice they sound different, then start trying out different equipment just to see why and figure out what they like most, or even find that different equipment better suits different music or moods. Those with less money or more skill will even go DIY, and maybe try building a basic vacuum tube amplifier, just to see how differently a variety of vacuum tube can affect musical tone, but still produce wonderful details.
All of these are real audiophiles, and they may all work at almost any price point from $20-$100,000 depending on their own values and limitations. The money usually starts rolling when this turns into an obsession, but what really makes an audiophile isn't money and ego, it's curiosity. And it is only because audio is more subjective and vulnerable to placebo effect than megapixels, framerates, tv sizes, and app store counts (though these are far from immune) that people who enjoy the hobby get more crap for even trying to begin with, even before they get into the hell of brand wars and fanboys.
As someone who's been a gadget geek in several hobbies, it's really simple. It's just another gadget fascination, and perfectly valid. The real benefit is that as long as their are real audiophiles out there, manufacturers have a reason to continue to improve - same as TVs, cameras, cars, etc. It's the technology tested in the top end that trickles down to truly noticeable improvement elsewhere.
There are two common classifications of audiophiles, and both of them are wrong. One, popular on the blogs and in magazines is that audiophiles are pretty much anyone willing to replace their ipod buds with something which costs $50 or more. The other, popular in comments, is that audiophiles are all people with more money than brains who lay down multiple cnotes for a single speaker cable.
I've known a couple dozen audiophiles over the years thanks to my own interest in headphones and other audio gear, and neither of those definitions fit what really makes an audiophile - which is someone who is fascinated with audio recording and reproduction, and takes their own path in finding just what exactly about that process makes their spine tingle when they hear music under just the right circumstances.
Some will follow or become pro audio engineers and focus on pitch perfect studio recording, production, or monitor equipment. Some will try out a quality turntable and stylus to get beautiful sound out of old vinyl without destroying it, and see for themselves if they really think it's better than the CD. Some will try a couple different headphones, notice they sound different, then start trying out different equipment just to see why and figure out what they like most, or even find that different equipment better suits different music or moods. Those with less money or more skill will even go DIY, and maybe try building a basic vacuum tube amplifier, just to see how differently a variety of vacuum tube can affect musical tone, but still produce wonderful details.
All of these are real audiophiles, and they may all work at almost any price point from $20-$100,000 depending on their own values and limitations. The money usually starts rolling when this turns into an obsession, but what really makes an audiophile isn't money and ego, it's curiosity. And it is only because audio is more subjective and vulnerable to placebo effect than megapixels, framerates, tv sizes, and app store counts (though these are far from immune) that people who enjoy the hobby get more crap for even trying to begin with, even before they get into the hell of brand wars and fanboys.
As someone who's been a gadget geek in several hobbies, it's really simple. It's just another gadget fascination, and perfectly valid. The real benefit is that as long as their are real audiophiles out there, manufacturers have a reason to continue to improve - same as TVs, cameras, cars, etc. It's the technology tested in the top end that trickles down to truly noticeable improvement elsewhere.
