IMO, just because you find yourself specifically immersed in the sound, it doesn't mean much re: audiophile vs music lover. You may be a music lover that's moved more by tone/tone color than most other music lovers. Other music lovers may be unusually focused on rhythm, still others on harmony. I don't see a lot of differentiation there.
A lot of composers of electronic music focus on creating specific sounds as much as/more than melody/harmony/rhythm. Modern composition software like Omnishpere allows enormous control over every parameter of tone color. Often, the rhythms in these compositions are layers of "canned" samples. Melodies and harmonies are frequently quite simple. These musicians are still music lovers (and music makers).
if you obsess over the "authenticity" of recorded sounds, you're wading farther into purer audiophile territory. The pursuit of accurate reproduction doesn't mean you're not a music lover, but IMO it does mean that you're an audiophile. If accuracy is the PRIMARY thing you care about, I'd say you're more audiophile than music lover.
A lot of composers of electronic music focus on creating specific sounds as much as/more than melody/harmony/rhythm. Modern composition software like Omnishpere allows enormous control over every parameter of tone color. Often, the rhythms in these compositions are layers of "canned" samples. Melodies and harmonies are frequently quite simple. These musicians are still music lovers (and music makers).
if you obsess over the "authenticity" of recorded sounds, you're wading farther into purer audiophile territory. The pursuit of accurate reproduction doesn't mean you're not a music lover, but IMO it does mean that you're an audiophile. If accuracy is the PRIMARY thing you care about, I'd say you're more audiophile than music lover.