What other hobby...


has has an infinite number of variables like this one?
needlebrush
We have a diesel club called NW Bomber. Also a part of First Amendment Audits on U-Tube. I'm Emerson ICU 
Motorcycles and sleeping. I try not to do both at the same time.  My wife and I have four bikes. Oil change day is a hoot. 
If you think listening to music is enjoyable, try recording it. It’s a popular hobby. For me it’s a 30+ year carreer, but the studio is where I go even on my days off (i.e.: It’s Saturday afternoon and I’m in the studio. Probably will be tomorrow and Labor Day too...).

Recording is the big brother hobby to listening. It seems to me that a working knowledge of microphones, mic technique, signal chain (and signal flow) and performance space acoustics is essential in appreciating listening fully. There is nothing that any audiophile listens to that wasn’t first arranged, produced, recorded, mixed and mastered. There are certainly a lot of direct to two-track stereo recordings that are purist in nature and have very short signal paths. But the vast majority of recorded music- and certainly all modern pop/ rock stuff- is manipulated in ways many (if not most) audiophiles are completely unaware of. When people talk about being able to hear the bass player standing in the back of the room, off to the left of the drummer on a song that was multitracked I chuckle to myself. He may have been there, but he may have just as likely been in another studio on the other side of the world months after the other musicians recorded their parts. Making the bass player sound like he is standing there first requires understanding how our brain locates sound, and then knowing which tools to use to achieve that sense.

Understanding microphone proximity effect, the difference between a compressor and a limiter, inductor vs chip EQ, electronic phase manipulation vs acoustical phase manipulation, etc. etc. etc. allows *so* much greater understanding and appreciation for what the playback system they have at home is doing, is capable of doing, and what can be improved vs what’s baked in.

When I’m not in the studio, and where I really ought to be today, is sailing, which is the only other real hobby I have that isn’t audio-related. It’s funny though, as different as sailing is to audiophilia, the same kind of nitpicky, tweaky fiddling is very much the same- always trying to wrangle the last bit of speed for a given hull with given sails. It never ends.

Any hobby with an objective endpoint doesn’t interest me in the least.
Fly fishing 
Radio control aircraft 
Metal detecting
Playing instruments (clarinet, etc) 
Japanese swordsmanship

AND audio.

I have too many damned hobbies... 
All other hobbies tough has infinite numbers of variables also...

Some activies becomes hobbies because the players involved in them where the one that discover and enjoy all the variables.... The one who dont, will rather say that this activity is boring....

Reading or gardening is not always appealing for motorcycles riders because it is boring...
For some it is the exact reverse, motorcycles are almost boring activity compare to books or plants....

"Why do you collect transfer tickets ?" Some journalist was asking to the most intelligent man in the last millenia,(it is not Einstein) who wrote an entire book about them; he answer : it is because it enlightened me about roads, transports, history, economics, psychology, mathematics, urban design, politics, philosophy, sociology, archeology, linguistics and even astronomy... :)

The number of variables that may be look for in an hobby is limited by our brain abilities not the hobby....

:)

« i collect grains of sand, dust is a universe that takes no place in my room » -Groucho Marx
Eating healthier with pain-free daily workouts, driving a sports car 1-2 hours, 3-4 times weekly under clear coastal skies, home and garden projects, enjoying our pool, observing bird feeding stations on a lake, watching daily golfers approaching a nearby green from the 150 yard marker, large home aquariums...Italian renaissance art. Reading, historical videos and well-done "walking tours" through famous places on You Tube. 

One enjoyable hobby leads to the next for a day well spent. Music is usually a favorite evening hobby.  


Motorcycling and occasionally making videos, here’s one I made for a friend a few years ago... https://vimeo.com/user10883022/marc-and-woody-ride-the-dragon

Headed out tomorrow to ride the full length of US129 - Knoxville TN to Cheifland FL. Wife and I will be capturing the last Lower48 state we haven’t ridden through on our bikes (yet). Looking forward to stopping by Lochloosa Lake for a photo op. And if you haven’t heard this JJ Grey & Mofro song, check it out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63Dxb54AeSo

Grandparenting, bibles, guns, Porsche, technology, 3D-printing, CAD, roller coasters, anything automated (including software), web development, music...

Reminds me of another great song Fink The Blue and the Green https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBydaSPH0SE

Enjoy!
We can listen music and appreciate then great audio even while reading stupid posts.... :)
You can still appreciate great audio while pursuing any of your other stupid hobbies!!
Used to be (along with Audio) all out door sports - Motorcycling, Boating, Hunting/Fishing, Back Packing, Skiing, Extreme Snowmobiling and ATVing. Also building up Classic Muscle Cars.

Now that I'm pushing the big 70, retired and a bit more cautious with body and wallet (aside from Audio) it's mostly Harley Motorcycles, Motorcycle Rides, Boating and taking care of my yard and Dogs.....Jim 

Motorcycles, Sports Cars, and Sea Doo's were my passion.  Plus!  Listening to music, not equipment.
Driving my Airstream across the USA and Canada, getting off the Interstates and photographing it with Leica and Hasselblad. Building furniture when at home. Not having a boss or a clock. Drinking wine. @coasttocoastphotoatl
Try settling on that "perfect" set of guitar strings. Then do it for six guitars. 

For those of you with more than six?  My sincerest condolences. 
My first love, drag racing. Never the same conditions at the various tracks you go to. Constantly tuning for power and tuning for how much power the drag strip can handle on any given moment. Upgrades or reconfiguring of your race car to stay on top and beat the competition 
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Maintaining a koi pond, keeping a 1980 Triumph TR8 on the road, and all things canine

daj,

"I'm up for trading some of my tinkering time for meditation."


Let me think about it.

@tk21....Ah, the single-malt Scotch fan....*S*

The previous variant of the modern sensimilla lover....

Both get upset if spilt....*L*  Both to be enjoyed away from hi-pile carpets..
oh.....another 'hobby' is to break unstated rules of behaviour.

If you're going to 'talk hobby', show some excitement about it.

Otherwise, it seems you're refering to changing the TP roll...

"...we tried some Charmin the other day....we all turned blue and acted antimated...."

...go like the guys @ the press event.....

"Donald! You're Boring!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzfLoRvm84U

...pity, I can hear the stylus tracing the groove....but the song remains the same...;)
" Have yet to meet anyone who does."

...quoting self....except, of course, kenjit.....

He obviously does....😷
DeKay....Oh, I'm sorry!  Here I was hoping that your prose was potentially posed with a preference poised on the more typically (and previously  posted by others) prefered leisure activity...*chagrined G*

We don't have many rodentia in this immediate area; they are in town, just not 'here'.  Back in Houston, our neighborhood had a protected black squirrel, about the size of a large guinea pig.  They had 'crosswalk rights', and generally treated in a royal fashion...for a squirrel, anyway...*L*

There's always this, to keep them in shape...or to breed a more intelligent local variety...
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=322483618737526
...but that could be counterproductive on a number of levels...;)

Squirrel thugs @ the door....*bangbangbang*...

"'K, home....where's the nut stash?  You holdin'?"

*high pitched leathered leader with his posse'....*

glupson wants to know where we find time for a hobby or hobbies...

Well, despite being 'technically retired', and expected to work 'on real work' 24/7/52/inf. or 24/365.25/inf. (same thing, tho....)....

I go 'on strike' in the evenings while spouse is engaged watching 'food porn' on the sat stations....

I can only handle watching chefs opening a mystery basket of items I might not eat in the first place and whipping up an item that the judges get to eat Cold after the crew has reset for the shots....and telling X contestant that it's inedible....but tasty in some ways...🙄

(One could say my 1st hobby is becoming a better escape artist...*L*)

I've been messing with audiomisc. for the better part of 50 years.

Know enough to listen/read more than talk/write and prove that I don't know Everything about Anything....

Have yet to meet anyone who does.

Rest of the time available to f'about with is working on making the improbable with very little.

When I learn to do the impossible with nothing, we're all in trouble.*S*

Todays' hot tip?  Cleveland artist making a pointilism Prez portrait with steel 'items'....and just in time....;)

Regardless, J

Sports was my main bliss ex-pro baseball( minors) until I blew out my pitching arm, then an USTA 5 tennis player until I blew out the other arm. Picked up some sticks and was a USGA 7 handicap when I blew out my back. Now I'm a newbie audiophile until I blew out my ... not yet lol.  I currently enjoy photography been in a number of shows. 
Astronomy, cycling (both road and mountain bike), reading and listening to music (90 % classical), archery big game hunting. 
Seems to me that no matter what hobby your into there is an industrial complex behind it to drive you into insanity! There is always the upgrade, MKII, and newer better technology that keeps us running like rats to a dumpster! I’m a golfer, boat owner (blow and motor), enjoy good wine, scotch and bourbon. And yet still fall prey to the hype of what I think is better rather than what I known is good! Off to the dumpster...
If it weren’t for cycling, I would have a six-figure killer system. It’s not the nine bicycles so much as the 75 days I’ve spent riding  many of the most iconic climbs in France Italy and Spain. Silly as at 6‘4“ and 275 pounds, I am a circus bear on a bike. All time favorite climb, the Stelvio
asvjerry:

Sadly enough (for some perhaps) I was referring to squirrels (as in moose and squirrel).

They (squirrels) have been ilegally (in CA) feeding from my "bird feeder" for the past 29 years ($250/pop citation if/when busted).

They seem to like/appreciate the in shell nuts, cubed apples/squash and grapes more than the birds - which really shouldn't be my problem as that is what I prefer to feed the birds.

Our indoor cats are also avid squirrel watchers, though they do get a bit upset if I feed "the birds" before I feed them. 

DeKay


I was thinking in terms of the self becoming the infinite hobby. None of you guys up for the contemplative life where the focus turns to what is doing the all the hobbies, all the seeking and avoiding? Whatever taste I've had of delusions dissolved by deepening understanding, and I've certainly had my share of delusions in this life, just makes me want more. I'm up for trading some of my tinkering time for meditation.
I'm with oldheavymech in that I have a lot of gas still in the tank.  That said...
Downhill skiing.  I enjoy the art of tuning my skis and getting the most out of them.  Quick, sharp, and precise turns that secure the most g-force.

Offshore fishing.  It takes a lot of trial & error, and patience, to get those elusive bluefin tuna.  But when you do, especially the bigger ones at between 60 to 150 lb., what a thrill and what a reward.  All other pelagic species are a great catch too, but those bluefin tuna are the best thrill of them all.
I got into antique jukeboxes around 1990. Buying, restoring, selling, collecting, etc.  I'd be up untill 3 am working on them.  I had nine at one point, I have three favorites now.  I joined the American Historical Jukebox Society.  Meetings, a newspaper, jukebox shows, jackets, the whole works. I met guys with so many jukeboxes they had no room for furniture. I still love those darn things I just don't put in that much effort these days. It was great fun, no regrets. 
tk21, you and Douglas_Schroeder ain’t no fun. You both took a light hearted question way too seriously. I loved all of the answers except those from both of you. I fear you are both too contentious and defensive to ever be on my party list. 
What do you mean by an "infinite number of variables"?
Are you referring for instance to all the factors involved in choosing "what is the best [X]?" (where "X" = speaker/amp/cable etc)?
So for example in choosing speakers, one might want to consider price, size/weight, build quality, local availability, placement constraints, Wife Acceptance Factor, etc etc, not to mention factors of SQ such as frequency response, dynamic range, bass impact.

Now try framing a similar question for another hobby.  Say, woodworking. What's the best workshop set-up and choice of tools for a budget of $N? You'd be facing a whole 'nother complex set of variables and supporting questions. Like, "Do you prefer hand tools or power tools?"  (~= classical or rock and roll).  

daj
14 posts09-01-2020 10:22pmNot a downer if you get it... but, preparing to die. (Hopefully not for a long time!) The older I get, the more my perspective on all the activities and fuss evolves. "You may die a hundred deaths without a break in the mental turmoil. Or, you may keep your body and die only in the mind. The death of the mind is the birth of wisdom."

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>..

Call Fader McBluber,

Crap, got me right in the ol tear duct. You sure let the FART out of the bottle. Geez dude.... You have the ol .5 amp fast blow fuse syndrome.

Me, I’m more of a 100 amp, auto resetting breaker kind of guy. I got plenty of juice left in the ol’ tank..

RECHARGE, and REGARDS
@daj...Yup, perspective is All.  And it keeps ones' priorities grounded.  Although I've not been able to do the majority of the experiences I'd have like to done, I've certainly been through and about Enough. *S*

With the company of my beloved spouse and the plethora of pets we've shared our times with...we've had a pretty good time about it.  Of course, there's always a 'bucket list', but there's always going to be Something Desirable to Do.  That's just the nature of our beasts...;)

One can always be disappointed about Something,  It's being able to let it go without remorse, without fret, without the feeling of being deprived or blocked by anything other than ourselves.  And most of the latter revolves around the practical pursuit of existence in the day2day...

One could complain....but nobody really wants to hear it, and one would rather put the time and energy into Something Else more interesting, perhaps fun, or just plain productive and practical.

Death is inevitable...OK.

Meanwhile, I think we should stay 'entertained'; as to what that means to You....is up to You. *G*

Have @ It.

Yers, J
Online Chess, propaganda posters collecting, target shooting, guns customization, fishing lures making.