[Driftwood]

One of the reasons that I enjoy headphones is that I feel that they are a good mechanism to teach yourself how to "hear." Headphones give you a relatively inexpensive way to experience the differences between varying approaches to sound reproduction and have the additional benefit of allowing quick comparisons.
 
Unfortunately, a side effect of listening "in" to the music is that now I'm always noticing the defects in recordings. For example, where the recording itself is clipped, or in the event of live performances, extraneous noises like coughing, turning sheet music, etc. While I'd like to say it doesn't take away from my enjoyment of the music, I do find myself distracted by it during listening. I'll be listening and then suddenly I'll be thinking "what was that? Is that in the recording?"
 
How do you listen critically to recordings without being distracted by imperfections?

 

[DonCarr]

Thats funny, I actually enjoy those noises in live recordings, I think it adds to the ambiance and "frames" the music, as apposed to the music just existing out of silence. I listen to live stuff more and more frequently for just that reason.
 
 As long as the quality is rich, full and clear I do not notice imperfections. Perhaps take a break from the sound science for a bit , and go on a hunt for some fresh music that will stimulate you emotionally , then if you drink pick up a bottle of wine.... or go and see some live music to get the feeling of spontaneity and imediacey back. 
My advice might be of no use to you but I hope you get the gist of what I am saying

 

[Argyris]

I've learned to ignore a good portion of it. To me, at least, all that extra detail I first perceived with decent kit was novel for a time, but I hardly notice it anymore. And, paradoxically, I still can pick it out when I go back to lesser cans because it's not that higher quality headphones reveal things that lesser ones don't produce at all, but rather they make this low-level detail easier to pick out and more readily apparent.
 
Other than that, I tend to zone out when I'm doing other things, anyway, and as such the little imperfections don't really come to the surface. I also choose my analytical tracks carefully--Pink Floyd's The Wall is one of the greatest headphone experiences I know. Some of the earlier Genesis albums-...um, not so much.

 

[Pianist]

Probably the most important thing for me when I listen to music is to be able to focus clearly on the different sounds that I am hearing. If there are vocals, I want to be able to tell that they are over there to the left, near the top of the refrigerator where I am looking at the moment, while the cymbals are playing over on the other side near the sink. lol If I listen with my eyes closed, then instrument separation and detail are very important to me because I need to imagine the performance taking place in the blackness before me.

 

[Driftwood]

It is definitely less of a problem to listen to flawed recordings on speakers, but I'm not really sure why that is... maybe it has to do with the proximity of the sounds to the ear when wearing headphones that make extraneous noises grab your attention. It is easier to block out noise when it sounds like it is coming from farther away.

 

[Redcarmoose]

The best part of my collection is live recordings. Just last night I played the new remastered Song Remains The Same by Led Zeppelin. There may be some imperfections in the recording? Even now in my memory I hear that guy going owwwo right before they start Rock And Roll.
 
 
The point I'm making to you is that I first heard the recording in the mid 70s. When you first hear a live recording your mind says "@#!$%#, that's not the song" After you really get into loving the recorded piece you will love all of it! The older live recordings have all those little imperfections that are just part of what it is. It is what it is!