Let’s ask the question a little differently:
“When sitting down to listen, what percentage of the time do you FIRST choose the artist (perhaps based on genre) that you want to listen to and what percentage of the the time do you choose an album simply for its ear candy factor, regardless of who the artist is?”
I pick the artist I want to listen to first, almost always. I then pick which album by that artist I want to listen to. Sound quality seldom enters into the decision process. The choice of music wins maybe 95% of the time. However, there are times when I just want to indulge in a “knock your socks off” sonic experience and those audiophile faves, even those with questionable (at best) artistic value come off the shelf. Kind of like that weekly dessert.
I prefer to ask the question this way because I don’t agree that sound quality and appreciation of the artistic merit (the music) are totally inseparable. At least, not to the extent that one needs exceptional sound quality to appreciate the music. Of course, this assumes that the recordings in question are of decent enough quality and better than that of grandma’s scratchy 78’s. We have all heard recordings and/or systems that are so bad that the SQ definitely detracts from the appreciation of the music. However, lets be honest and lets be realistic. For example, the often quoted “revelation” that “I can finally clearly hear that it was an English Horn and not an oboe!” Really? I submit that the difference can clearly be heard on a table radio. The problem is that listener has little experience with live performances.
Of course good sound quality adds to the appreciation of the artistic merit of the recorded performance. However, as soon as the audiophile hat comes off the hook there is a good chance that at least some of the attention will be on the SQ and a little less on the music. For me, it can even become a distraction of sorts, away from the performance. Most of the time I prefer to keep the two experiences at least somewhat separate in my mindset. If a recording that I want to listen to happens to have good sound, that’s great; but the attention is on the performance.
None of this precludes putting a lot of energy into having a great sounding system; nor is it a judgment of how anyone chooses to approach the listening experience. In short, I would say that (for me) good SQ has the potential to enhance the appreciation of the performance (the music) much more than inferior SQ necessarily hinders it.
“When sitting down to listen, what percentage of the time do you FIRST choose the artist (perhaps based on genre) that you want to listen to and what percentage of the the time do you choose an album simply for its ear candy factor, regardless of who the artist is?”
I pick the artist I want to listen to first, almost always. I then pick which album by that artist I want to listen to. Sound quality seldom enters into the decision process. The choice of music wins maybe 95% of the time. However, there are times when I just want to indulge in a “knock your socks off” sonic experience and those audiophile faves, even those with questionable (at best) artistic value come off the shelf. Kind of like that weekly dessert.
I prefer to ask the question this way because I don’t agree that sound quality and appreciation of the artistic merit (the music) are totally inseparable. At least, not to the extent that one needs exceptional sound quality to appreciate the music. Of course, this assumes that the recordings in question are of decent enough quality and better than that of grandma’s scratchy 78’s. We have all heard recordings and/or systems that are so bad that the SQ definitely detracts from the appreciation of the music. However, lets be honest and lets be realistic. For example, the often quoted “revelation” that “I can finally clearly hear that it was an English Horn and not an oboe!” Really? I submit that the difference can clearly be heard on a table radio. The problem is that listener has little experience with live performances.
Of course good sound quality adds to the appreciation of the artistic merit of the recorded performance. However, as soon as the audiophile hat comes off the hook there is a good chance that at least some of the attention will be on the SQ and a little less on the music. For me, it can even become a distraction of sorts, away from the performance. Most of the time I prefer to keep the two experiences at least somewhat separate in my mindset. If a recording that I want to listen to happens to have good sound, that’s great; but the attention is on the performance.
None of this precludes putting a lot of energy into having a great sounding system; nor is it a judgment of how anyone chooses to approach the listening experience. In short, I would say that (for me) good SQ has the potential to enhance the appreciation of the performance (the music) much more than inferior SQ necessarily hinders it.