[Hifianddrumming]

Quote:

Do you actually have any evidence to claim this "fact" is accurate?  I know a lot of people who own PMPs and portable headphones/IEMs.  All of them have times when they just sit on their couch and just listen to music.  I've also seen plenty of people (young and old) sitting on a bus/train/public bench/etc with the earbuds and they are just listening to music - not doing anything else.  Does one have to be sitting at home, in a special room, to be considered to be listening to music as a singular activity?
 
Despite what has already been said in this thread, you seem to be making up this "fact." Music players have become cheap and ubiquitous and so you see more people listening to music now.  30 years ago you were forced to sit at home and listen to music and only a select handful of people could afford the time and money to listen to music as a singular activity.  If you were a working adult with kids, maybe you listened to an hour or two of music on Saturday morning, and you could only do that if you had the peace of mind to sit down focus only on music.  Things are different now.  More people can enjoy recorded music and you can do it in a wide range of situations.

 I've talked to many people who just say that music is for "on the go." Some say they just listen to it to have the noise as a comfort or relief from complete silence. I do agree, some people just sit and listen, but music is generally regarded as an activity to waste time, not use it. I think if people got a pair of SR-60is or something along those lines, they could realize the potential of their music. I know when I used to use my old Skullcandy earbuds, at the time I didn't realize it, but it was like I was disconnected from the music. I didn't feel captivated or anything. It just seemed like noise. But when I came into this world of hi-fi (or headphone hi-fi) I felt I was truly enjoying the music. It captivated and impressed. Which is why when people have cheap/bad headphones or speakers, you won't find them listening to music as much. Just the noise
 
 I also agree with the whole portability issue, as I said before, it means more music for the people. But again, it generally makes people think of music as an activity to provide noise on a bus, that's better than the whole crowd of people's noise. I know everyone I've talked to in school at least have admitted music as noise to occupy their time, not music, noise. They mostly listen to dubstep (which I have no problem with) but cranked up to volumes where you're actually missing parts of the song it's so loud. Also, most of them only have one earbud in so they can hear their friends. believe me, I've also heard numerous adults mention music as a background activity. It just seems like true enjoyment of the music is seeping away, leaving us with people who only want background noise, not really listening to the intricacies of music.
 
 

 

[Head Injury]

Quote:

 I've talked to many people who just say that music is for "on the go." Some say they just listen to it to have the noise as a comfort or relief from complete silence. I do agree, some people just sit and listen, but music is generally regarded as an activity to waste time, not use it. I think if people got a pair of SR-60is or something along those lines, they could realize the potential of their music. I know when I used to use my old Skullcandy earbuds, at the time I didn't realize it, but it was like I was disconnected from the music. I didn't feel captivated or anything. It just seemed like noise. But when I came into this world of hi-fi (or headphone hi-fi) I felt I was truly enjoying the music. It captivated and impressed. Which is why when people have cheap/bad headphones or speakers, you won't find them listening to music as much. Just the noise
 
 I also agree with the whole portability issue, as I said before, it means more music for the people. But again, it generally makes people think of music as an activity to provide noise on a bus, that's better than the whole crowd of people's noise. I know everyone I've talked to in school at least have admitted music as noise to occupy their time, not music, noise. They mostly listen to dubstep (which I have no problem with) but cranked up to volumes where you're actually missing parts of the song it's so loud. Also, most of them only have one earbud in so they can hear their friends. believe me, I've also heard numerous adults mention music as a background activity. It just seems like true enjoyment of the music is seeping away, leaving us with people who only want background noise, not really listening to the intricacies of music.

I think you should look at a more diverse sample than just middle and high school kids who listen to dubstep, if you want to make blanket statements about the digital age as a whole.

 

[Hifianddrumming]

Quote:

I think you should look at a more diverse sample than just middle and high school kids who listen to dubstep, if you want to make blanket statements about the digital age as a whole.

 I have spoken to people outside that range. Not as many, but remember the Demographic I'm appealing to IS the middle/high school kids who listen to Dubstep.

 

[Head Injury]

Quote:

 I have spoken to people outside that range. Not as many, but remember the Demographic I'm appealing to IS the middle/high school kids who listen to Dubstep.

Then make a case about them, and not digital audio. It would strengthen your argument.

 

[Uncle Erik]

I think you're skipping a bit of history.

Portable cassette players have been around for some time. Further, portable audio took off around 50 years ago. Small transistor radios were hugely popular and some are collected today. They had little mono earplugs, too.

Though you can stretch back a bit farther, to the 1930s. There were battery-powered tube radios for areas withou electricity and also designed to be transportable for outdoor events. Radios started appearing in cars around then, too.

 

[Uncle Erik]

No idea, I wasn't around back then. >_>
A little OT but what ever happened to horn speakers? They just sunk into oblivion a century ago or something?
Curious because my Dad bought a horn/dynamic hybrid speaker a few years back and I never really 'got' why.

Horns are still around. Klipsch makes some good ones. You'll also find quite a few employed with singledrivers - popular with hobbyists.

I think they fell out of favor because horns have big cabinets and require a lot of material and labor to build. It's a lot cheaper to knock off a 2-way in a ported cabinet. Plus shipping them is awful.

Still, horns are wonderful if you have the room for them and your significant other can tolerate the cabinet size.

 

[customcoco]

Quote:

Horns are still around. Klipsch makes some good ones. You'll also find quite a few employed with singledrivers - popular with hobbyists.
I think they fell out of favor because horns have big cabinets and require a lot of material and labor to build. It's a lot cheaper to knock off a 2-way in a ported cabinet. Plus shipping them is awful.
Still, horns are wonderful if you have the room for them and your significant other can tolerate the cabinet size.

It depends on how they are used, with a "wrong" system and In a bad listening room they can be awful.. no soundstage out of the sweet spot, harsh highs...
 

 

[logwed]

 
Quote:

It depends on how they are used, with a "wrong" system and In a bad listening room they can be awful.. no soundstage out of the sweet spot, harsh highs...
 

Have you owned a set?
 

 

[customcoco]

I've had a friend who owned a pair of avantgarde acoustics duo omega. I used to listen to them every weekend for an hour or so...

 

[The Mourning]

Quote:

Hifichild, what are you talking about? You're 14, you obviously weren't there, so how can you present this fantasy as history?
 
EDIT: Read the last paragraph, your post was a fact-check. ^^Scompton is right. War, war never changes.

Logwed,
 
Love the reference haha.