[Frankie K]

Uncle Erik, You hit the nail on the head and drove it straight home! You are right with the bloated bass statement to, that's what a lot of our newer member's ask about, I want more bass, but sometime's that's how the song was recorded and it sound's weaker compared to another recording from a different tape,cd etc. I'm listening to   Led Zeppelin as We speak   In The Evening   just came on and the natural bass is perfect coming thru My Grado's via the DecWare ZH1 and Sony portable cd player. If I use the sound button (Baas) it sound's like complete crap, muddy, under water or the driver's are going to give out. Sad but True, what are You going to do!
 
Keep the Faith! 

 

[blackcoffeex1]

I definitely agree on music education. I had piano lessons from when I was four up until high school. I joined band in high school. That made a huge difference in my appreciation and love for music. Most people barely know anything about music. Anything beyond Ke$ha, Little Wayne, and Lady Gaga is beyond them. Music for most people is about being catchy, controversial, or being good for dancing. When you don't love and cherish music, how could a hobby like high-end audio mean anything?

 

 

[Infoseeker]

Its because of Itunes. Before Itunes everybody was using the .wav files from their CDs. Not buying low bit-rate mp3 for their player that can play 80081355 amount of low bit-rate sized songs.

 

[WhiteCrow]

because higher end audio producers don't have flashy add's or packaging. 
 

 

[sammyrambler]

I think it has something to do with there being more people engaged in "passive" (as opposed to "active") listening.
 
If music is something that occurs as a backdrop for other activities (driving, drinking, jogging, screwing, etc.) then sound quality has to fail to reach a pretty low bar to be noticed as not acceptable.
 
I would guess that most of us fall into the "active" listening category and as a result find ourselves intrigued by the dangling fruit of a better sound/experience.
 
Of course we are all passive listeners too, but I wonder if there are less people who are seeking a truly visceral, emotional experience from reproduced sound; one in which actively focusing on music is the entire activity.
 
I hope I'm wrong and it's just a matter of exposing the masses to something great...kinda like the sushi phenomenon. Mmmm...sashimi

 

[Borgbox]

Indeed, sir! 

 
Quote:

Mmmm...sashimi

 

 

[edvardd]

1. Because people are not so picky about details, and it may sound cliché but the just want to enjoy the music. And they are able to do so without highend sound. isn¨t that great?
 
2. They don´t know about anything better. Even if they did know point 1 may still rule
 
3. It costs too much money. Which isn¨t really true anymore. You can get decent portable gear for 200-300 $. 

 

[moriez]

Quote:

1. Because people are not so picky about details, and it may sound cliché but the just want to enjoy the music.
 

 
It's as simple as that.

 

[Avro_Arrow]

One of the first questions I get asked when I tell people I have a high-end
sound system is either "how many watts is it" or "how loud can it play?".
 
Then I show them my electrostatic speakers and they don't understand
where the speaker is...

 

[Snow_Fox]

I have seen a number of great answers.

I hate to diss anyones music but, most people now days openly admit they don't care what they lyrics of a song are.
 
LANGUAGE WARNING
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OzdHqULPe0

The lryics are more or less important.. all people care about is some sort of catch beat... 

It doesn't take any level of "quality" to reproduce a beat... it doesn't matter if the beat sounds "hollow"... all that matters is it meets the very low minimum requirement. And if they don't care at all about the lyrics.. who is going to care about the sound of cymbals reverberating while the guitarist is doing a serious riff?

Most of us have "serious interest" and then "not so serious interest".

Popularity tends to kill a lot of stuff..
 
I think this is really more or less the same thing that happens when anything gets "popular"  I could go on a video game console bashing rant for days.. especially that horrifying xbawx 360 about how people so easily settle for low quality graphics,  for those awkward controllers and lack of insanely high dpi mice. 

Anytime I see there is more to something than I originally thought.. I become interested.. This goes for sound (amazing how there are bands out there which really don't have justice served by low bit rates), it goes for video, and it goes for all the periphreals involved. 

I have "gambled" a few times.. It was hard to say whether or not it would be worth it for a soundcard and heapdhones (every penny was well spent). Just like I didn't know I would love my xarmor U9BL keyboard as though it were mine.. Or even how nice having a high dpi mouse is over that horrifying acceleration for lower dpi mice..

but, anytime something gets popular the quality usually gets over looked.

Everyone has a keyboard, not everyone has a mechanical.
Everyone has earbuds, not everyone has real headphones.
Everyone has a computer, few game on them.
Ect, ect, ect,

In other news... since i've joined here.. the value of stand alone mp3 players seems to be decreasing.

 

[Permagrin]

^^ Quite an interesting subject. The land of superior quality products that the conventional consumer is never aware of. Luckily with the advent of the internet more and more people are becoming aware of this (like me). Of course you have to deal with the snake oilsmen but they're generally easy to detect.

I still stand by my original post to this query, exposure. But perhaps that is on an individual basis as I've met many supposedly interested, but ultimately uninterested individuals who had the funds available but didn't care enough to take action. To each his own I guess.

 

[marvin]

Everyone has hobbies, their hobbies may not intersect with yours. Just look at the Gear-Fi forum.

The enthusiast market generally radically differs from the general market, and often for good reason. Just don't expect most enthusiasts to understand why.

 

[sebastian589]

I would add that a lot of people think they have high quality audio systems because they own one of the most expensive speakers pairs or HTIBs from the big box stores. People just arent aware, and most are happy not to care

 

 

[yepimonfire]

THIS
Quote:

The answer is, in one word, marketing.  If you saw as many headphone ads as you did TV or car ads, then better headphones might be ubiquitous.  A lot of people just don't know.
 
I do find it funny that people will spend a sizable chunk of change on an iPod or PMP of their choice, but then use the crap earbuds that come with them.  Guess that just comes back to people not knowing what's out there, though.

 

 

[yepimonfire]

great post. spot on.
 
Quote:

Audio used to be taken seriously. Some decades back, the three biggest purchases for men, in order, were a house, a car, and a stereo.

Now audio is just a small niche and isn't taken that seriously.

Back when audio was a major hobby, it was mostly driven by science and measurements. Audio magazines took measurements seriously and there was actual progress. Then, by the 1980s, most of the tough engineering challenges were solved. Speakers have improved somewhat and digital servers have become very popular. Aside from that, the industry has stagnated.

Instead of improving quality or lowering prices, the audio industry went the fashion route. They turned audio gear into status symbols and competed for higher and higher prices. Consumers lost interest.

Around the same time, objectivity was thrown out. All sorts of snakeoil got pushed on audiophiles. Sure, there's a cable controversy around here and other audio forums, but 99% of the public think cables, magic rocks, green markers, et al. are pure BS. There's zero scientific backing for any of that, so the vast majority think that audiophiles are a pack of deranged lunatics. The only contact most people have with audiophilia these days is when someone posts the Amazon reviews to a $3,000 cable to a news aggregator. Then 100% of the comments mock audiophiles.

If audio is to be taken seriously, the pseudoscience and mythology has to go. You can find believers in every audio forum, but any time you suggest good headphones or speakers to outsiders, they associate it with snakeoil.

The other problem is pricing. Manufacturers keep recycling designs and upping the price. Prices have to come down.

Keep in mind that audio remains very popular. The iPod was a genuine advance and Apple sells millions and millions of them. People are interested, they just don't want to pay too much for something they associate with BS.

Another huge problem is today's music and the state of music education. Music ed is more or less dead. People used to grow up playing instruments and hearing live, acoustic performances. That rarely happens today. Instead, people are exposed to badly recorded music on bad speakers. They have no frame of reference for good sound. If all you've heard are crappy car subwoofers, you start to expect bloated bass. When headphones produce bass that's similar to real life, it becomes "weak bass." Today's popular music doesn't help much, either.

TL/DR: Snakeoil has poisoned the public against audiophilia, everything costs too damned much, and the public can't tell good sound from bad any longer.