Quote:
Lunatique
I understand your position of "enough is enough" concerning buying gear and even more expensive gear and not paying enough attention to the real problem... musical enjoyment. But, perhaps, do you think it's worthwhile to seek out different gear, not necessarily better gear, but gear that offers different presentations to music? I don't want to use the term "color" or whatever else someone might apply to that, but it seems to me it's worthwhile to experiment with gear that can provide a preferred, tailored response to that particular listener.
Or is this what you were referring to in EQ'ing your music?
EQ'ing can definitely totally change the sonic characteristic of any piece of gear. For example, the D7000 grated on my nerves without EQ, but with my custom EQ setting, it turned into a very satisfying and beautiful sounding pair of headphones. Obviously EQ only address the frequency response, and there are other aspects like stereo imaging, soundstage, transients, texture...etc, but when people try to get different "presentation" of the music through different amps and cables, just how much of a difference are they really hearing, and how much money did they spend to attain that subtle difference? Whether the amount of money spent vs. the amount of differences heard is worth it depends on how rich you are and how important these subtle differences are in the grand scheme of your life. When Skylab said that he's spent far more money on actual music than gear, I think that's the right attitude, because in the end it's about the music, not the gear (though he's obviously well-off enough that he could buy the kind of high-end gear that will make most people's eyes bug out).
Personally, I'm very pragmatic about these things. If what I'm hearing when comparing gears is merely "different" and not necessarily "better," than I will be totally honest with myself about whether that difference is worth the money spent. Because I'm a composer/musician, I listen to music differently from those who aren't, and it's not like swapping out an amp or cable will suddenly change the orchestration/arrangement of a piece of music, or alter the performance and recording so much that it's now totally new and refreshing. Amps, cables, and sources do not make that kind of drastic changes to the music (unless we're comparing really abysmal crap to really excellent ones, but that's not what people do--people do incremental upgrades, which means very subtle and minor changes), but headphones do, and so does EQ'ing.
Take any epic orchestral cue from an action film or any rocking tune with distorted electric guitars and listen to them on headphones with recessed mids (D7000 for example), and then on headphones with full and lush mids (HD650 or M50 for example), and it almost sounds like the orchestration/arrangement's been altered in terms of what dynamics the brass, strings, and guitars are playing in relation to the rest of the orchestra/band, including changing instruments' distance depending on what frequencies are altered. EQ'ing does the same thing. If you add to the signal chain something like Isone Pro, your playground space for tweaking the headphones you already have becomes even more multi-dimensional and interesting, yet you have spent very little money. A high quality free EQ and a low cost but very high quality room sim + crossfeed like Isone Pro can already add so much fun and joy to one single headphone, why spend hundreds and thousands of dollars seeking something "fresh" and "different"?
I sort of think of it like this--let's take one of your favorite movies of all time--one that you have watched multiple times before. Now, we sit down and watch it in my living room. It's got a 50" plasma screen and a pretty decent surround sound system. Now, we go watch it in a different living room, which has a 45" LCD screen and a slightly better surround sound system. Now, think about the movie that you love--it's character development, the plot structure, the emotional and intellectual resonance it evokes in you, the scenes that really make you feel that cinematic magic. Does the differences between these two living room setups significantly alter your feelings and experience while watching this movie in the grand scheme of things? When you are immersed in the dramatic scenes in the movie, are you going to care that you are watching it on a 45" or 50" screen? Are you going to notice that one surround system is slightly more filled out in the lower-mids than the other? I seriously doubt it because when you are in the middle of the cinematic magic, the world simply disappears and you are living in that alternate universe along with the characters.
Now, take that analogy and use it on music. When the differences between amps or cables or sources are so minor and subtle, as soon as you stop doing vigorous A/B comparisons and just sit back and get lost in the music, you are then just enjoying your love for music. I think it's only when you are not doing A/B comparisons, but still feeling unsatisfied with what you are hearing (meaning you can pinpoint exactly what the problem is, such as the sub-bass not being extended enough, or the mids are too recessed, or the brightness is too harsh)--that is when you take action and try to remedy those issues you are so acutely aware of. But the problem with many people I see is that they often start out a post with "I'm really happy with what I have, but....." Why the "but" at all? If you are already happy with what you have, then just enjoy the music. Don't you have other things in life you could spend money on? Movies, books, games, and music you love? A present for a loved one? Dental bill?
My own journey to find audio nirvana was detailed in this post:
http://www.head-fi.org/forum/thread/541479/where-did-you-start/30#post_7304612
In it, I explained how I went from a little kid listening to crappy earbuds and boomboxes, to where I am today, with a studio built right into my home. You'll see that I always spent money on what really counts, and never on trivial stuff that made very little difference in the grand scheme of things. If I had to concentrate hard or do vigorous A/B comparisons to hear the subtle differences, then it's not enough of a difference to justify my hard-earned money.
