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Headphoneus Supremus
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- Dec 31, 2008
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Thanks Abstraction, for this great missive.
I couldn't agree more with your sentiments on what some music is intended for etc. and why I'll always listen to my music in various settings. There's a lot of my collection that I simply am not interested in listening to with my headphones, but get a real kick out of playing in the background over speakers while doing something else.
Originally Posted by Abstraction /img/forum/go_quote.gif I have an excellent speaker system, with Rosinante Signature II speakers--never well marketed and little known (msrp $6500 and comparable to the best speakers in that price range) and RWA Audio 70.2 monoblocks, in a dedicated and acoustically good, if not excellent, room. I have never had high-end head gear, but I listen a lot to an Ipod Classic with Westone 3, and it makes me think that getting really high-end cans and a high-end amp is worth doing. I heard HD800 at the B&H before Christmas, and I expect they were not running from the best amp and source (in a display with probably 100 other cans); it sounded wonderful. But it seems to me that the two experiences are completely different. If I had to choose, I agree with uncle Erik, that I would go with the speakers, because music is importantly social. With friends or lone, my wife and I listen to music almost daily. I have been away from my home system for nearly two weeks, and I miss it. But if I really want to listen music in the deepest, meditative sense, I find I can get into the music more deeply even with my Ipod. Listening to speakers can be a more physical-visceral experience. Cans can't rattle your bones and windows and bone-window rattling is fun; cans do not create an environment that can be shared. Much music is not made to be listened to closely; it has other purposes, to make you dance or serve as background music (both Brian Eno's Airport Music and a lot of Mozart were not written to be listened to intently). Much of the music I listen to--David S. Ware quartet, for example--requires concentration, and it will drive you crazy is you don't pay attention. A lot of music is good for its feel and spirit, not for the detail of the sound. Some music has to be listen to carefully and every detail counts. I am just back from the wedding of a niece in a haciendo in the mountains north of Gaudalajara. On the edge of a spectacular canyon, the place was stunning, and there was a mariachi band, which seemed very good to me, and the locals (Jalisco is where mariachi originated) agreed. One of my niece's friends from Gaudalajara said to me, after the accordion player had puffed up like a large frog, and bellowed a rousing song, "the guy's got lungs." It was wonderful fun, but you wouldn't want to listen too closely to music like that. Of course, head gear is necessary on planes and trains and, when your family and neighbors don't want to be disturbed, but I think if you really want to get into complex music--and there is complex music in all genres--and if you can't hear it live, cans are the way. That said, hear it live, if you can. I am going to hear Ras Moshe and Earth Space tonight at the Stone in NYC , Ras Moshe on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads Listen to "Turtle all the way down." |
Thanks Abstraction, for this great missive.
I couldn't agree more with your sentiments on what some music is intended for etc. and why I'll always listen to my music in various settings. There's a lot of my collection that I simply am not interested in listening to with my headphones, but get a real kick out of playing in the background over speakers while doing something else.