[Hal-9Tdk]

I think of it as the space-boy's minidisc player. The one before that the NH1 was just as good. I thought of that as the HD amp player (but both have a HD amp which is what makes them sound so good).

 

[ralphp@optonline]

 
Quote:

So I'm wondering, are there performances that you'd listen to with pleasure, even if they're poorly recorded, because the performance is wonderful or unique? Or is SQ queen/king?

 
Quote:

Not at all. Good music is good music, even if its coming out of ibuds.

 
Based on the OP's original question, I believe that the reference was to the quality of the recording rather than the quality of the playback, which is what you're referring to.
 
One can usually improve playback quality (up to a point), for example by replacing those crappy ibuds with some nice IEMs, whereas something poorly recorded can only be improved at the expense of the music, for example the "No Noise" system which removes all the high frequencies, meaning the hiss and some of the music.
 
And of course lossy compression is another matter entirely.
 
Quote:

Not at all. Good music is good music, even if its coming out of ibuds.

 

[duotone]

Tbh as long as the music is good I can put up with most sound qualities.

I remember listening to "At The Drive In" at 86kbps again and again and still enjoyed it. 

 

[logwed]

The only SQ problem that really bothers me is sibilance. I hate hate hate it. Other than that, missing details don't bother me and frequency balance differences don't really affect how I listen, so it's all good. Basically so long as music isn't fatiguing, I can still get plenty of enjoyment.

 

[Justin Uthadude]

I have many times listened to a 1944 recording I have of Andrés Segovia made in his house with the windows open and you can hear the fishing boat motors in the background in the Mediterranean. The quality is probably in bits per minute and I don't even notice. For me the music always takes precedence over the gear.

 

[GeorgeGoodman]

I really don't care if the music is poorly encoded as long as it is good music. I can enjoy a couple songs I have that are in 96 kbps mp3 (the music is very distorted and sometimes sounds like the band is playing underwater) and I have a fair amount in 128 and 192 kbps. However, now that I know the difference in audio quality, the lowest I convert music too is Ogg Vorbis 500 kbps. It is much better than 320 mp3, getting close to lossless. Most of my music is in WAV, and I can hear more space, air, naturalness, and impact even with cheap buds in comparison between WAV and 320 mp3, and to a lesser extent with Ogg Vorbis. It makes the music that much more fun for me when I can hear most of what was performed without distortion or artifacts.

 

[dazzer1975]

never used to bother me, I genuinely did just listen to the music.
 
Now, while I do obviously listen to the music, I don't seem to be as fully immersed as I once was as I listen to the equipment too.
 
It's swings and roundabouts I suppose as I do get enjoyment from listening out for the different characters of the equipment, but yer, it would be good to go back to the bad old days.

 

[GeorgeGoodman]

Quote:

never used to bother me, I genuinely did just listen to the music.
 
Now, while I do obviously listen to the music, I don't seem to be as fully immersed as I once was as I listen to the equipment too.
 
It's swings and roundabouts I suppose as I do get enjoyment from listening out for the different characters of the equipment, but yer, it would be good to go back to the bad old days.

Sometimes I feel like that and I found the cure to be a short sabbatical from listening to your gear. It could be three days, or it could be a week. A month would probably do wonders. When you start listening again, it sounds amazing, just amazing. This little trick helps keep a healthy perspective, and can't hurt your will power, either.

 

[rataplan]

i've had an itunes collection much longer than i've been an audiophile and since i got grado 325is' i skip over anything on my ipod that i suspect may be a low bitrate. it's a long and slow process redownloading better versions of all my low quality music. ugh, i regret the days of compressing my music to fit on my 20 gig 3rd gen ipod and 80 gig powerbook.