Random Thoughts (Audio Related)

[IEMusic]

Now, I'm in no way saying those who can afford it are elitist in any way by that statement.

I think statements like this are the key to enjoying this hobby, both personally and as a community. Realizing that we all have different music tastes, hearing, ear anatomy, budget, aesthetic tastes, etc. No need to make someone feel bad about spending a lot of money on a TOTL product, and likewise, not disparaging someone else for only buying budget gear. Mutual respect is key. Personally, I treat this hobby like a journey, and there is no true end-game for me. I can enjoy a TOTL IEM and also enjoy a $50 IEM.

 

[GREQ]

If we're competing, I can enjoy $2 Vido earbuds

 

[IEMusic]

If we're competing, I can enjoy $2 Vido earbuds

That’s where I draw the line! How can you listen to that and call yourself an audio enthusiast. You need to spend at least $4 on earbuds and $8 on IEMs.

 

[Uebelkraehe]

I recommended someone a $70 IEM as 'really good, not just for the price' as the reaction was 'why are you recommending me such expensive stuff?'. Audiophiles apparently do live in a different world...

 

[IEMusic]

I recommended someone a $70 IEM as 'really good, not just for the price' as the reaction was 'why are you recommending me such expensive stuff?'. Audiophiles apparently do live in a different world...

Yep, and in contrast, it’s pretty common to come across someone on head-fi that is asking for IEM recommendations in say the $400-500 range. When I recommend some superb options in the $150 to $300 range, their instinct is to be somewhat dismissive of it b/c surely it can’t be THAT good.

 

[IEMusic]

Hmmm....it seems I have a strong affinity towards a certain general tuning (I realize that the treble actually varies a lot between these three IEMs). One that doesn’t really have a name.

Maybe we could name it a “minima pinna“ signature.

 

[KutuzovGambit]

Looks like you would enjoy the Volt.

 

[Sebasistan]

I recommended someone a $70 IEM as 'really good, not just for the price' as the reaction was 'why are you recommending me such expensive stuff?'. Audiophiles apparently do live in a different world...

In our / my audiophile friends' defense, "normal" people usually shy away from spending upwards of $50 for IEMs simply because a normal pair of IEMs lasts about a year before the cable breaks and you need to buy new ones. I don't think removable cables are something a lot of "normie" products feature.

 

[Sebasistan]

I guess this might as well go into this thread instead of me making a dedicated one:

What genres of music are "doing audiophile wrong"?
I sometimes chuckle when I listen to dungeon synth or vaporwave on my equipment.
So you have a great set that you can hear all the janky synths on.

Or something like this: A remix album that the artists played onto a cassette tape, which he then played through six hundred times before recording it off of the tape.
So this sounds like a rubbed off old cassette tape someone listened to a lot.


I mean, it's still valid listening to stuff like this on great equipment, since you get (close) to listening to it at master / reference levels of sound quality.

 

[ChrisOc]

I guess this might as well go into this thread instead of me making a dedicated one:

What genres of music are "doing audiophile wrong"?
I sometimes chuckle when I listen to dungeon synth or vaporwave on my equipment.
So you have a great set that you can hear all the janky synths on.

Or something like this: A remix album that the artists played onto a cassette tape, which he then played through six hundred times before recording it off of the tape.
So this sounds like a rubbed off old cassette tape someone listened to a lot.


I mean, it's still valid listening to stuff like this on great equipment, since you get (close) to listening to it at master / reference levels of sound quality.

I agree with you on the recording. However, what fascinates me is how fragile our "Music Gear" fraternity is. Clearly, there are things which divide us in like politics and religion, but closer to home or our hobby (apart from cables and IMR) is music. The range of sounds which qualify as music is vast and any attempt to express a view on that "noise" may lead to endless battles.

Just like taste in food, it is difficult to question how someone perceives an arrangement of sounds which they call, Music.

 

[Sebasistan]

I agree with you on the recording. However, what fascinates me is how fragile our "Music Gear" fraternity is. Clearly, there are things which divide us in like politics and religion, but closer to home or our hobby (apart from cables and IMR) is music. The range of sounds which qualify as music is vast and any attempt to express a view on that "noise" may lead to endless battles.

Just like taste in food, it is difficult to question how someone perceives an arrangement of sounds which they call, Music.

Yeah audiophiles engage with "music gear" in order to enjoy vastly different kinds of music. And, sure, some things are simply good references when you want to talk about gear. So someone like me who has a fairly eclectic taste in tunes and listens to a lot of stuff that very few people engage with (no I'm not going for a "I was into x before it was cool" - much of the stuff I like will never be "cool" and I'm totally fine with that - Iranian ambient drone just doesn't have mainstream appeal) needs to swallow their pride and put on some Beatles once in a while, simply because many more people can talk about the way that "Come Together" sounds between various sets than the third track on the sixth bandcamp release from some obscure Swedish ambient musician.

And I have the impression that many audiophiles have a sort of "dad" taste in music. Lots of classic rock and classical music. And Jazz. Sure, there's the dweebs and the nerds who listen to Asian pop music and their preferred brand of chi-fi that's tuned towards that sound, and the metalheads always searching for the perfect set of full size headphones to accurately reproduce that sweet double-bass drum kick. But I do feel like most "serious" audiophiles are musical dads. Boomers. Whatever you want to call it.

 

[Whazzzup]

I beg to disagree, other than in general it takes an accumulation of discretionary capital to pursue an ‘end game’ system. Therefore the consumer tends to be older.
concerning taste of music I wouldn’t paint any brush. True music lovers are just that, where it starts and where it stops, no one knows.

 

[Sebasistan]

I beg to disagree, other than in general it takes an accumulation of discretionary capital to pursue an ‘end game’ system. Therefore the consumer tends to be older.
concerning taste of music I wouldn’t paint any brush. True music lovers are just that, where it starts and where it stops, no one knows.

So you'd say, audiophiles need cash to afford audiophile gear, therefore they must be older, which means their taste in music is different from what's playing on the radio?
I mean, fair. I might add that us aging millenials grew up with MP3 players and some may just have never left them behind.

 

[IEMusic]

A lot of people do have very eclectic tastes in music, and even dads can like metal and Kpop. Music is, however, extremely subjective, and as @ChrisOc stated, “it is difficult to question how someone perceives an arrangement of sounds which they call, Music”. That’s why I think forums such as this are not really meant to critique other’s tastes in music, but rather to learn about and hopefully appreciate some other types of music that one would o/w never listen to.

 

[Sebasistan]

Yeah I mean, I don't think anyone here would legit try to critique someone else's taste in music.
If anything, a forum like this is a great place to - if you want to - be exposed to new stuff that you wouldn't find otherwise.

My initial point was also somewhat tongue in cheek. I don't really think there is a way to "do audiophile wrong" - unless we're talking about using TOTL equipment and playing exclusively badly encoded 64kbps MP3s with it or something. I just sometimes chuckle at myself for listening to something as decidedly lo-fi as dungeon synth on expensive, revealing headphones.