What’s your obstacles on the way of listening


Summer time is coming, birds are going crazy, saws and grass cutters are buzzing, hummers are knocking, leaves are rustle... what else is on the way of your listening? ... my best season of listening is Christmas time and fallowing couple of months. Looks like Arctic Circle geographically the best place for critical listening:)... lucky Alaskans and North Canadians :)
surfmuz
@elliotbnewcombjr,

"Incidentally, I was just lying in bed the other day, remembering how I was able to transport myself to another place while riding the subway to and from NYC and Brooklyn everyday. 1970’s, nyc over 8 million, horribly crowded subways, very few air-conditioned trains, and when that crowded, asses to elbows, track and brake noise, odors, OMG.
I would close my eyes, put my brain in ’I’m not here’ mode, think about .... Then, you had to have a clock, like a Cicada, to ’wake’ yourself, break the trance, to get off at your stop. 3 changes from NYC to Brooklyn (living near Pratt Institute). And that reminded me of the period when I could simply decide when I wanted to wake up, say 5:20 am. Just think it, bingo, eyes open at 5:20. Can’t do it now, but for years, any time I chose, bingo, awake."


Yes, it’s a weird habit that. I could do it once upon a time. Each morning I’d open my eyes and the clock would say more or less what I imagined.

Nowadays, my restful sleep seems to happen in the last couple of hours before waking, if at all, and without prompting I could very easily oversleep.

It was a good thing my daily treks on the London underground happened during the 80s - my late teens/early 20s - I couldn’t take it now. The trains were often hot, noisy and very crowded and back then you were obliged to give up your seat to a woman or an elderly person. I wonder if they still do it now?

It’s also kind of strange how some background sounds are quite acceptable eg surface noise, birds singing, general low level hum etc and yet the sound of a tap dripping is almost painful.

Ditto the sound of my wife’s kitchen blender - a horrible racket. She doesn’t seem bothered, whereas I’m checking noise levels on everything from fridges, washing machines, vacuum cleaners etc before buying them.

Voices too. The only less than harmonious ones (Dylan, Costello, Springsteen) I can listen to are usually surrounded by lavish production techniques.

I’ve also gradually gone from listening mainly to punk, rock and pop to easy listening (Frank, Nat, Matt) and now seem to be heading towards the string sounds of Percy Faith, Frank Chacksfield, Syd Dale, Roger Roger etc.

Oh well, I don’t care. Image no longer matters as long as my tastes are still expanding and not contracting.
My system is set up in the home theater room “dual purpose” treated and all, sound I’d fantastic but when my daughter invites friends and her boy friend over I seem to be kicked out more than not! Have lost my Friday night glass of whiskey listening sessions. 
@sgreg1  
familiar situation. That’s why I build two systems at opposite parts of the house:) plus nice earphone DAC amp. 
My audio room is  almost sound isolated relatively silent...

My wife dont disturb it because my room is on the second floor....

I enjoy silence between notes....And i killed in the egg any growing noisy bird....

Music is therapy and a road to heaven....
@cd318

Entertaining post!  To some of your comments:

I rode London's ("tube") a lot in the mid-late 90's.  Got a big kick out of "Mind the Gap."  Only the Brits.  A few times I rode it all the way from the West End to the far East End.  One could hear the accents change as riders boarded and departed along the way.  Probably the same in NYC.

Where I live, public transit has dedicated elderly seating.  If it's crowded, most folks honor it.

A suggestion for the blender (it only lasts seconds but it's a jolt if you don't know it's coming).  My sister uses a super-cheap blade coffee grinder at her place (instantaneous jump to 100+ db on quiet mornings).  Before I start it, I warn everyone it's coming.  I've told my family why I do that, but they don't get it.  Your wife doesn't need to get it - just ask her to warn you.

I'm pretty old, but I never ever expected to see punk and Percy Faith mentioned in the same paragraph.