I have a single night set aside each week for five hour or so listening session, never listen casually. These days all streams or cd rips, let Roon randomly choose from my huge library either from within specific genres or from entire library. Random play means only one track per album played, the variety in sound staging, resolution, transparency, tonality, timbre, dynamics, etc. is incredible, can't imagine NOT being attentive to this. I'm also not particular about ultimate sound quality of recordings, I'm open to pretty much anything. While I maintain awareness of all these qualities in regard to sound I mindfully maintain a non-judgmental perceptive listening state.
I believe the key to maximally enjoying one's system for both the music and sound is found in turning off the prefrontal cortex of brain where judgment is primarily located. Simply acknowledging these sound variables rather than evaluating and analyzing is key to a relaxed state of listening. I do like some of the previous allusions in this thread to Buddhist philosophy, lessening desire allows one to see things as they really are, analyzing, comparing, evaluating comes from the wellspring of desire. Relax your mind, let the sound and music flow, you'll be a much happier audiophile.
