[geardoc]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ricola_pak ..snip Sure, listening to music isn't about analyzing the music that way. It's about the pure enjoyment. But, at least make an effort to know what it is you're listening to.

Whats a good way to do that for the average working stiff? Any good web sites or begginer books that tell me what a perfect 5th is?

 

[recstar24]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ricola_pak For example, some people can't tell you what a perfect 4th interval is, or what a fifth is, or what a ii-V-I chord progression is.

A perfect 4th interval is the distance between two notes where it equals 5 half steps, in solfeggio terms this would be like singing Do - Fa, or like the 1st interval in the theme of the Bridal song, "here, comes the bride..."

a ii-V-I chord progression is one of the most standard jazz chord progressions, I practically know 100's of jazz songs by memory because the ii-V-I is so prominent amongst jazz standards. Within a specific key, it consists of going from a minor ii chord, to a dominant V cord, and resolving the progression on a I chord, which is the tonic,.

Sorry for the tanget, but hey, I've got to find ways to justify my music education degree...

 

[recstar24]

Quote:

Originally Posted by geardoc Whats a good way to do that for the average working stiff? Any good web sites or begginer books that tell me what a perfect 5th is?

www.musictheory.net

Oh, by the way, a perfect 5th interval is the distance between 2 notes and it equals 7 half steps

 

[The Actual]

A few weeks ago I was hanging out with some people and one of them asked about headphones. Before I could say anything someone else starteed talking about their extensive knowledge of headphones (really good headphones cost about fifty dollars, good headphones cost twenty but sometimes as low as fifteen, and their are some headphones that cost around one hundred dollars for people who want to spend superfluous amounts of money). It was then up to me to say, "Well, as a matter of fact..."

But turned out alright since because of that coversation I got to sell my second-hand MDRG52s for ten dollars.

 

[wanderman]

Actually I think head-fi itis is worse then drugs and alcohol because there is no 12 step program. You just keep on going and diggging that head fi hole... *sracasm* It is a nice hobby and I love to build stuff so I don't mind it all. But I do beleive compared to other hobbies it seems the most odd. It is easy for people to justify spending money on golf clubs, lures, fishing poll, skates, computers, but headphones....Head fi stuff alwaysed seemed more underground and became even bigger when all these portable players came on the scene.

But one thing that I know is that I am too afraid to listen to anything better then my stuff now because I am saving up for a new sound card for my laptop. No more headphones for now...may be a couple more.

 

[plainsong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ricola_pak Some people know very little about music but have spent tens of thousands on hi-fi gear. That's when most "neutral" people have negative comments to make. For example, some people can't tell you what a perfect 4th interval is, or what a fifth is, or what a ii-V-I chord progression is. Sure, listening to music isn't about analyzing the music that way. It's about the pure enjoyment. But, at least make an effort to know what it is you're listening to.

Amen!... I mean - IV-I

 

[recstar24]

Quote:

Originally Posted by plainsong Amen!... I mean - IV-I

Very clever...im more partial to tricked and deceived...V-VI

 

[lan]

I'm still in the closet!

 

[catscratch]

Head-fi is a really niche hobby, which is where all the weird looks and comments come from. I mean, come on, spending as much on headphones as other people do on cars? We've gotta be out of our minds

I don't understand why guys spend $$$ customizing cars if they're never going to drive their souped-up tanked-out rigs faster than 100mph anyway, and I don't get why women buy expensive outfits, wear them once, and throw them out... But that very same non-understanding is what they feel towards my hobby, so in a sense, I can relate.

No one on the road can keep up with me on my slow Suzuki XL-7 POS simply because they don't have the balls or madness to pull off some of the stuff I do on a regular basis. My cheap little truck can do what their expensive rigs won't. But can their cheap little iPod headphones sound as good as my Stax 001's? I don't think so

 

[erikzen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by randytsuch To you guys who are still single, buy NOW. It is much harder to buy toys after you are married, especially after a couple of kids. Buy stuff now, that will retain it's value, so you can sell it later for new toys, and no out of pocket money will be required. Randy

Great advice! I wish I had known about Head-Fi a couple of years before I got married.

Not only does my wife not really understand spending money on audio and headphone related gear, but according to our "agreement" if I decide I want to break down and buy a new headphone for $300, I have to give her $300, too. Otherwise, I have to sell $300 worth of equipment to finance the purchase. If I had built up a collection of audio toys before the nuptials, I'd have a lot more to play with now.

 

[erikzen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ricola_pak Some people know very little about music but have spent tens of thousands on hi-fi gear. That's when most "neutral" people have negative comments to make. For example, some people can't tell you what a perfect 4th interval is, or what a fifth is, or what a ii-V-I chord progression is. Sure, listening to music isn't about analyzing the music that way. It's about the pure enjoyment. But, at least make an effort to know what it is you're listening to.

I couldn't respectfully disagree with this more. You don't need to know music theory to enjoy listening to music. I can't argue with you that it could help enhance your listening experience, but sometimes knowing too much about something destroys the innocence of just liking it because it sounds good.

 

[Girdag]

I got shocked looks from one of my friends for spending £80 on Shure e3s. Mind you. when you work it out, my Karma and Shure E3s (total cost: £250) was only £30 more than her iPod and crappy white buds (total cost: £220), and I can actually hear my music on the bus.

 

[videocrew]

Quote:

Originally Posted by erikzen I couldn't respectfully disagree with this more. You don't need to know music theory to enjoy listening to music. I can't argue with you that it could help enhance your listening experience, but sometimes knowing too much about something destroys the innocence of just liking it because it sounds good.

x2
you don't need to understand every nuance of auto mechanics to enjoy driving, and you certainly need not understand nuclear power to know that you like electricity

 

[Echopac]

I've told my wife, "be happy I'm not in to Harley's". I have a close friend and he and his wife have 4 Harley's always upgrading the chrome and leather. I guess you could say they like the [size=medium]sound[/size] of their systems.

 

[ricola_pak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by erikzen I couldn't respectfully disagree with this more. You don't need to know music theory to enjoy listening to music. I can't argue with you that it could help enhance your listening experience, but sometimes knowing too much about something destroys the innocence of just liking it because it sounds good.

Yes I know, I know. That's why I added that listening to music is about the pure enjoyment, not the analyzing part. But I was just trying to say, if you are going to spend all this $$$ on something, you probably like doing it, so why don't you also invest a little bit of time on knowing about the thing you like?

Of course, this is an issue that might be different for everyone. But for example, if I watched a movie and absolutely loved it, I wouldn't mind watching a "How it was made" documentary etc to see what it is that got me liking it etc.

Hope my post meant no offense to anyone, that was not my intent.