Once you are addicted to a refined, audiophile grade system you built, it is very difficult to go back to a lesser system and listen to music at the same level of satisfaction. There is no point of retiring from a audiophile state of mind. One thing you could do is to STOP questing / procuring stereo audio equipments. Be content with what you have and just listen to the music. Start building the music library, do version comparison, and collect different but worthwhile collectibles. Start not only music listening but also "music appreciation" to enrich the experience every time you put something on the turntable, CD player or simply stream. You could probably find that type of music listening/appreciation experience has its own purpose, not just killing time or falling into boredom state of mind.
un-becoming an audiophile
Yes, the title is what is sounds like.
I remember long ago, as a boy, I used to be able to enjoy music without picking apart a track. is the bass tight? is the midrange clear and life-like? is the treble resolution spot on? What about imaging/sound stage?
Most people have this very same superpower - not being an audiophile. They can play a song from the worst earbuds, laptop speakers, or even computer speakers - and enjoy the music; even sing along. They aren’t thinking about "how it sounds" or scrutinizing the audio quality. Actually, they couldn’t care less. They can spend their time on other life pursuits and don’t feel a need to invest big money (or much money at all) in the hi-fi hobby.
Any psychologists or scientists in the building? (please no Amir @amir_asr ) since you are neither! ...despite the word "science" being in your domain name - audio science review.
Please, I beg you. Help me get away from this hobby.
Imagine - being able to enjoy all of your favourite music - while still achieving that dopamine rush, along with serotonin, and even oxytocin - the bonding hormone, which can be released while listening to songs with deep emotional messages, or love songs.
We’re very much like food critics or chefs in a sense. We want the best of something (in this case, audio) I’m sure michelin star chefs face the same thing in their own right...can’t enoy or even eat the food unless it’s up to a certain standard.
When we audiophiles want to listen to music, we often play it on a resolving system, so as to partake in a a "high-end" listening experience. We often pick apart music and fault the audio components in our system, cables etc. All of this takes away from the experience of enjoying music as a form of art/entertainment. It has been said that some famous artists don’t even own a high-end audio system.
I gained a great deal of wisdom of from the documentary - Greek Audiophile. In it, we have audiophiles from all walks of life. Their families think they’re crazy for spending all this money on audio. They say it sounds "nice" or "real" but still can’t justify it.
I think it’s all in the brain. If we can reset our brains (or me at least) I can still enjoy music without needing a great system for it.
- Jack
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- 216 posts total
wise words indeed... not what i do personally, as i do have fun playing with gear, but nonetheless, this is sage advice for most engaged in this passion |
Funny you mention this. Just replied on another thread about this same topic. Trying to get back to this. Kinda done searching for different quality recordings and trying to slow down on rotation of gear and component listening. Sort of re-discovering when we land on something that just works, sounds good enough, getting "back to the music" is a great spot to be in.
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My audio system total $ = ca. $1,500 But, I can enjoy music better than my neighbor who owns B&W and etc. Why, I do have one more very high end part, my brain's selective filtration function. What is the function? It selects good part of sound produced from a mediocre audio system, and filters bad parts (noise, 3rd harmony high frequency, etc) out.
As long as I maintain the function in my brain, I do not need high end audios. Please, try to develop the function instead of wasting your money. |
- 216 posts total