[Tanalasta]

As i progress deeper into this rabbit hole, sometimes I wonder if I'm going in the right direction, chasing after the next best thing, trying to hear music "as the artist intended", when in reality, most of the music is mixed by an engineer wearing a Sony MDR 7506.. With all these high fidelity revealing headphones, IEMs and DAPs we have today, I suspect we might just be hearing things unintended by artist / engineer... Just some after dinner musings

It's easy to lose sight of the point of it all.

Which is to enjoy what you're listening to. Trying to hear music "as the artist intended" struck a MQA trigger.

I don't want to hear music as the artist intended. I want to hear music as I enjoy it. We tend to gravitate towards gear that suits our own tonal preferences and genres. These do evolve over time. Like many other hobbies. Part of it is discovering new things. Whilst FOMO is real, dollars are finite. So ...

It's very very hard to go back to mid-fi / low-fi stuff once you've acclimatised to the summit level. Except out of convenience. Those AirPods Pro Gen2 are great for the gym and commute. It's readily noticeable what I'm missing though once I sit down in a quiet spot.



And sometimes you chase something because it looks good... (Eletech cables are stunning). Sonically pairs better with my Spartacus but couldn't resist the photo.

 

[drftr]

It's very very hard to go back to mid-fi / low-fi stuff once you've acclimatised to the summit level.

And even this is very personal. If forced to choose between living with the very best gear possible plus good music, and my favourite music but permanently played through low-fi gear I would happily choose the latter and never look back.

drftr

 

[thaslaya]

Your gateway ! Yeah, there were enough positive impressions of it that I didn't want to leave it out. I got the green of course.

When I decided to start reviewing I purchased a few budget sets to start with. The green Wan'er almost made the cut but as the Zero 2 was just released I went with that instead. I still love the look of the green Wan'er and might just grab one eventually anyways

 

[gLer]

"as the artist intended"

This does not exist in my experience. Anyone who tells you different is probably doing this:

I've said this in the past, but as the artist intended is like the paramount of marketing BS in audio. The reality is, most music is recorded, edited, mixed and mastered in an extremely well-treated studio with speakers from Adam Audio, or Focal, or Genelec, etc. So, the only way to truly experience what the artist intended is to listen to those tracks in those very rooms with those very systems. At best, headphones and IEMs are just a second opinion they consult after doing 99% of the work on their speakers. That's not even mentioning the amount of producers who make changes based on how the mix sounds through a car stereo or radio, for example. So, there's really no headphone or IEM out there that can universally replicate what the artist intended. For me, the far less arduous path is to pick a transducer through which music sounds best to you.

Exactly this. Ultimately, art is in the eye of the beholder, which in our case translates to music is in the ear of the beholder. Even if we listen to the same music, which most of us don't, we'll individually likely fixate on different things, even in the same song. I might index for the sweet vocals, while someone else is moved by the guitar solo or drums instead.

And even this is very personal. If forced to choose between living with the very best gear possible plus good music, and my favourite music but permanently played through low-fi gear I would happily choose the latter and never look back.

drftr

Very astute observation. Although I have to say, I listen to plenty of new and different music nowadays as a result of better gear (jazz and classical music, for example), even though I'd still happily listen to my favourite music on any gear. Some music, for me, is just better for demonstrating technical performance in high-end gear (and I listen to it solely for this purpose), and conversely can be used to isolate technical deficiencies in not-so-high-end gear. The two - listening for enjoyment and listening for technical performance - can and usually are mutually exclusive, even though some people derive their enjoyment in part or whole from the technical performance of their gear.

 

[fejnomit]

I don't want to hear music as the artist intended. I want to hear music as I enjoy it.

Hear hear! A great reminder that enjoyment lies at the center of all this. That's what keeps me coming back - the promise of more enjoyment - both to my gear and this thread. Ramen.

 

[BlueA]

What's the pseudo of the watercooler in the episode 7 of Fallout in PrimeVideo?
Also curious about his player and advanced sound reproduction.
He's talking about a warm sound, trifecta maybe?

Spoiler: Youtube

 

[Deezel177]

I would argue most music is made in some dudes home studio or on their laptop.

Well, music in the 2010’s and onwards maybe, and for a select set of genres as well. Otherwise, I’d say the studio with speakers is far more likely.

 

[claud W]

Breaking in ISN Neo 3 this week. Himalaya waiting in the wings. Both are excellent examples of lower priced first class IEMs. It never hurts to occasionally check out the Discovery thread to hear how much the lower priced IEMs have progressed.

 

[theintention]

confirmed my 634ears LOAK2-Ti(CL) with copper blue back yesterday. Single dynamic driver model custom made in Japan. I have been searching for a perfect single DD set to be an all rounder, all genres every day carry for months.

With the conversion rate of the yen, it was hard to ignore.


* not mine but should look similar - apparently my set is going to be used as some sort of example since he hasn’t done this combo.

Now to find a cable… got some ideas though

 

[linux4ever]

For me, the far less arduous path is to pick a transducer through which music sounds best to you.

I was about to say the same.

 

[Hypops]

I've said this in the past, but as the artist intended is like the paramount of marketing BS in audio. The reality is, most music is recorded, edited, mixed and mastered in an extremely well-treated studio with speakers from Adam Audio, or Focal, or Genelec, etc.

I'm totally on board with you here, until...

So, the only way to truly experience what the artist intended is to listen to those tracks in those very rooms with those very systems. At best, headphones and IEMs are just a second opinion they consult after doing 99% of the work on their speakers. That's not even mentioning the amount of producers who make changes based on how the mix sounds through a car stereo or radio, for example. So, there's really no headphone or IEM out there that can universally replicate what the artist intended. For me, the far less arduous path is to pick a transducer through which music sounds best to you.

Even this is pure fantasy (or "marketing BS," as you call it). As you say, there are so many people involved in creating an album's worth of tracks that there is no single "artist" who "intends" anything. An album is the result of a lot of people who sometimes agree on a direction for the production, and sometimes disagree. It's necessarily a collaborative project made by people each with their own artistic vision, and it's listened to along the way on wildly different gear of wildly varying quality. There simply is no "as the artist intended."

In other words, listen to what you like on gear that you like tuned the way you like. When it comes to music listening, chasing "artist's intent" is like chasing the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

 

[Rockwell75]

Guys... YOU make the Watercooler what it is. Just talk about the stuff you wanna talk about. If there is a (hopefully friendly) response, you got something going. If there is no response, maybe your topic just was not interesting to the rest of the people that have read it. If you make your topic of conversation interesting, people will start talking more about it. You cannot force people to talk about what they don't want to talk about, surely that's not what you want either. A social circle of this size is always transforming, evolving. We all are part of these changes and responsible for their occurence. Take this responsibilty with pride and vigor and go, don't complain and moan about it. Respect has to earned through some kind of credibility, however small it is. Your values and morals, your helpfulness and support, your manners and treatment of others, your knowledge and willing to provide for the group etc. I believe most people have something to offer for this group and most people can learn a thing or two from somebody else. I have my better and worse days, too. But it's best not to get or take it too personal, especially on the internet. Just take it a little more easy, forget about your daily life and problems for a bit. Don't try to change people into something you want out of them. The most important things, almost everybody already inherits, if you look for it.

That post ended up longer than I intended. Sorry.

Wonderfully put, thank-you for sharing.

@emdeevee Lovely photo. Are the color differences in Trifecta purely aesthetic? In your opinion, what is the best cable pairing and/or DAP pairing for Trifecta?

Yes they are purely aesthetic. I can't speak as much to cables but my vote for best source for Trifecta is the Sony WM1Z.

As i progress deeper into this rabbit hole, sometimes I wonder if I'm going in the right direction, chasing after the next best thing, trying to hear music "as the artist intended", when in reality, most of the music is mixed by an engineer wearing a Sony MDR 7506.. With all these high fidelity revealing headphones, IEMs and DAPs we have today, I suspect we might just be hearing things unintended by artist / engineer... Just some after dinner musings

As others have said the whole "as the artist intended" thing is, in like 99% of cases, purely marketing BS. The amount of music that was recorded specifically for very particular types of playback is almost negligible. Most of the classic rock, pop etc. that I listen to was, I would guess, mastered to sound good through a wide variety of mediums, be it an AM radio, a car stereo, a walkman or an elevator.

Regarding the rabbit hole, that's an eminently personal question. For some people the chase is the fun-- they just want try anything and everything out there. For others, they are on a quest for "the one" (or at least, "the few") which requires a more systematic approach. There are many ways to skin the cat in this hobby and the ideal I guess is that everyone happens to find whatever pathway it is that works best for them.

 

[drftr]

There simply is no "as the artist intended."

I don't recall the exact story but it's about one of Jethro Tull's songs in which (I think it was) the record label insisting the flute had to be replaced by a saxophone, then 4 decades later when the album was remixed the group finally got their say and had it replaced with the instrument the artist originally intended. It may have been the other way 'round but you get the point: The artist is just a tool like we all are. It's money that makes the world go 'round. Or so we're taught

drftr

 

[Hypops]

I don't recall the exact story but it's about one of Jethro Tull's songs in which (I think it was) the record label insisting the flute had to be replaced by a saxophone, then 4 decades later when the album was remixed the group finally got their say and had it replaced with the instrument the artist originally intended. It may have been the other way 'round but you get the point: The artist is just a tool like we all are. It's money that makes the world go 'round. Or so we're taught

drftr

Or to spin it another way: “competing artistic visions” (Zack Snyder is waving frantically behind me, isn’t he?).

 

[Deezel177]

I'm totally on board with you here, until...

Even this is pure fantasy (or "marketing BS," as you call it). As you say, there are so many people involved in creating an album's worth of tracks that there is no single "artist" who "intends" anything. An album is the result of a lot of people who sometimes agree on a direction for the production, and sometimes disagree. It's necessarily a collaborative project made by people each with their own artistic vision, and it's listened to along the way on wildly different gear of wildly varying quality. There simply is no "as the artist intended."

In other words, listen to what you like on gear that you like tuned the way you like. When it comes to music listening, chasing "artist's intent" is like chasing the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, I’m completely aware of that. I made a similar post on this very topic some time ago talking about how some records can be 90% artist and 10% producer, or 50% of either, or even 100% record label. Sometimes, the artists aren’t even in the room when final mix and master decisions are made. So, as someone who has made records where decisions were made that I don’t fully agree with, or ones that I made completely of my own volition, I understand that a song or album is the result of many voices; not just the name on the record. When I said artist on my previous post, I really meant the collective, and was only doing so for brevity’s sake.

Also, if I didn’t make it clear, the hypothetical situation I posited (which you quoted) is just that: A fantasy. I could’ve gone further and said you needed to stand exactly where the artist (or their team) did and have their exact same ear anatomies to really hear what they intended. But, again, to me, that’s simply BS.