SQ vs. Music

I select the type of music and then the artist/group l like listening to. I try to rotate equally among all of the records I have of the artist, but there are a few that get skipped over or artists with only 1 or 2 albums that never seem to hit the table. It’s nice to play something I haven’t listened  to for years that I enjoy and remember why I bought it. It’s disappointing to pull one of those out that sound terrible & remember why I never play it. Luckily there are only a handful of those.

if I am looking for a little treat, I’ll put on a UHQR of the group I’ve selected. I don’t keep them sequentially within the main record groupings they fit in. They are also my reference point when I change something in my system. I know I am a little (or a lot) OCD about my records being organized perfectly. Think about the guy from the movie Diner. My wife has never touched a record. One time I thought a record was missing (Changesonebowie) that I don’t play much and it drove me nuts. Somehow it got embedded into another record which is hard to do if you use outer jacket sleeves, but it happened. A couple weeks went by looking for it and I was unnerved the whole time.

I never put on a record just because I want to hear something that sounds good. It’s a den, not a stereo store demo room. If I don’t like the music, I will not buy it just to see how good my system can sound.

Same orchestra playing same composition. Different conductors. In one case the performance is spectacular and in another so so. What is going on ? Same sounds and combination of notes and silence, even the same musicians. Conductor is our hi fi, without the conductor it's nothing, just outlines.

inna,
Good point about different conductors.  I have several versions of the Beethoven symphonies, some seem to be faster (though the track times are not), some seem more "dynamic" than others, etc.

When I was visiting dealer after dealer, auditioning speakers, it really bugged me when I'd bring in a stack of CDs for my audition and the dealer insisted on demoing with music I would never listen to, but that made the speakers shine.  I'd deliberately include a few older CDs, back in the day when the mastering equipment was not the best, to make sure I'd be able to listen for extended periods of time; I could not make it thru the first track of the original "Born to Run" CD, as the "highly resolving" system being demonstrated brought out all the rough edges in a way that was not at all pleasing.

@ejr1953 ,

I could not make it thru the first track of the original "Born to Run" CD, as the "highly resolving" system being demonstrated brought out all the rough edges in a way that was not at all pleasing.


The story behind the recording is pretty epic. A killing amount of rerecording resulted in an album with a sound that Springsteen hated.

According to his biography he initially felt crushed at the outcome. Time proved his concerns unfounded but no one will ever claim it’s a sonic masterpiece.

Various attempts at remastering over the years have made it a little more presentable. My 1993 gold cd disc version sounds acceptable and the 2014 Bob Ludwig 30th anniversary is about as good as it possibly will ever get.

Good question!

I personally distinguish two separate joys when listening to a recording. I may enjoy  just the sound, sound quality, how different instruments are recorded and reproduced, and of course I mainly enjoy the music I am listening to. If the music I like is well recorded then I enjoy double, in fact the dependence is not linear perhaps even it is exponential. Lately I find myself that often I tend not  to listen to music that I like but which is not well recorded.  At the same time,  for such recordings, I try to choose appropriate equipment or even listen to that recording in my car where the imperfections become less notable. Then you just enjoy the music and "forget" about sound quality. 

I admit that too much dependence on sound quality is not good - a "weakness" that we acquire with good audio gear. At the same time, good audio equipment makes possible to appreciate fully the music you like.