[xkRoWx]

There's these questions I've meant to ask for a while..

We keep emptying our wallets for new (to oneself), better and different equipments to seek true fidelity in music. But what is truthful to "source"? What the artist want you to feel (heart) or what the producers/engineers wants you to hear (ears)?

Is good music about expression of emotions (heart) or mastering techniques (ears)?

Would you enjoy listening to "good" music (heart), but poorly mastered (ears)?

Do you listen to music (heart), or equipments (ears)?

If one day you were to throw out all your equipment, would you still be able to enjoy music?

I am envious of people who can hear the difference they claim to hear. I often find myself disappointed from purchases because the sound is not as I read in reviews. Amped or unamped, it all sounds the same to me, let alone trying to differentiate the three amps I owned. I've given up on amplification and sold all my amps.

Over the last year I've tried very hard to train my ears. I closed my eyes while listening so I can concentrate on the details; but when a certain "climax" in a song hits, I get carried away from all the passion and emotion that details and sound quality often don't even matter anymore. The first couple of months after joining Head-Fi I went into a lossless fetish, but as of lately I find myself ripping music from YouTube..

I guess, I'm one of those who listens from the heart..

What about you?

 

[Menisk]

It's all about the emotion and the mastering is just a tool to aid the artist in conveying the emotion. Being true to the source is being true to the emotion as that's where the source of good music is.

Good music has nothing to do with the mastering, however good music poorly mastered will fail to convey emotion even if the music is good. When it's live it's good on the disc it'd be terrible.

Don't think I'd be able to listen to poorly mastered good music. Poorly mastered music frustrates the hell outta me. The only way I'm able to listen to Red Hot Chili Peppers is with the volume up and the windows down in a car with a friend, singing along. I listen to the music and the equipment, depends on mood and the music.

There's some music I could enjoy but there'd be a lot I couldn't. I'd only be able to enjoy the kinda music I'd live to sing along to in a car with my best friend while driving with the windows down at the coast. For music that requires the intimacy and dynamics of good headphones the memory of the emotion would still be there, but it wouldn't be anywhere near as moving.

I'm genuinely surprised by what I can hear. I'll go in expecting a much smaller difference than I can actually hear. There are days that everything sounds absolutely terrible and then there are the days where I find something new in music I've been listening to on that equipment for months and it's only on the days when things sound really good that I get the emotion of the music, otherwise it's flat and disappointing. Don't worry about an inability to hear differences. If you can get the same emotion on lower equipment feel blessed with your non-picky ears.

 

[timmyGCSE]

both to be honest depending upon my mood and what I'm feeling. Somtimes being able to hear every last little detail in the music is a highly emotional and beautiful thing, being able to hear the subtle little nuances in the singers voice, little sound effects that you've never heard before, having an expansive soundstage with the music surrounding you. Music can be technically good and emotionally charged at the same time. Sometimes I'll just sit back and forget about the details and stuff and just listen to the music, usually when I'm tired, but I love to listen critically and listen for every little bit of difference in the music. Some IEM's tug at your heart strings and make you feel the music more than others, don't feel bad that you can't hear the difference as long as you are enjoying the music..if I were like that I wouldn't be spending £900 on JH13's eh lol

 

[Stitch]

imo good music is about expression of emotion and passion for the craft, something that seems to be lacking in most music you find in the popcharts these days. The quality of the music is also a result of the skills of the people who play the instruments.
I dont realy care if the record isnt mastered great. Hell, if a record is mastered too good it sounds too slick and clean that it can become too sterile and the feeling gets somewhat lost. Dwelling the metal scene for over 10 years now, i found that most records aren't mastered very good. Older stuff is of poor quality even, but still they stand out as some some of the greater albums.