Trained ears.

I was playing the Bach CD only the other week and it is superb sounding. JL wasTruly a great pianist. 
I will look into the zoom 6 digital recorder, its small and easy to slip into the house unnoticed. Thanks for the tip...

I heard a drum kit being recorded with a Roland BR600 little mixer just using the Internal mics of the BR600. Was Impressive Indeed.

Trained ears are overrated.  It can be mistaken for learning to speak/write like an audiophile.  Virtually anybody can hear differences in sound, but not everybody can verbalize what they hear.  If you know what a real instrument sounds like, then you have all the training you need to evaluate audio equipment and recordings.  It's not complex.

I agree that it can be taken too far. For me anyway. I do not wish to be come over analytical and I generally do not enjoy the time I spend listening to my equipment although some of that is necessary. It just not what I want my primary focus to be.

I can enjoy a song that i used to love way back when when it pops up on the oldies station while cruising through the country in my pick up with the windows open and that can be as meaningful and as enjoyable as an intense listening session with a high quality source of a moving piece of music.

I'm a bit of a gastronome and a fairly decent cook. But I can enjoy a can of Vienna sausages, a bag of Cheetos and a Budweiser too.

Anybody posting on this board is off the deep end....

but it if I am hunting or fishing, I prefer Landjagers, make them myself....