More enjoyment


In my never-ending quest to achieve more enjoyment from my  stereo, I’ve found one more strategy to do so. Without eliminating the quest for enjoying the sheer sound of the equipment.  
I try to, at first, just choose music that I really love, regardless of sound.  I try to forget about the sonics completely and go completely for the music. I know this is very hard to do.  But if I approach my music that way, little by little I can find  my way back into  the sound , and the combination of music and sonics is blissful.

rvpiano

one of the best features of roon as a streaming platform/software is that after you play a piece of music you select, after that song ends, roon will select and play other music it believes is in the same genre and style that isn't in your library, for you to hear

this really adds to the musical enjoyment -- the software curates new music for you based on what you have played -- I have learned about and now enjoy so many new artists and albums that i would not have otherwise found as a result

this makes me listen to music more and my system less

@shooter41 

I have a German pressing (vinyl) of Van Halen II and it is pretty darn good. I have never heard any other version, except for the cassette I wore out in my Craig Road Rated under dash tape deck back in the day. wink

But the VH debut album is pretty sad and Fair Warning might top the list (at least in the top five) of all terrible rock recordings.

As I've posted here before, a passage in the Herman Hesse book Steppenwolf summarizes my thoughts regarding music and the reproduction of pure music.

believe music is a gift that never ages, if we approach it in a thoughtful and relaxed manner, without the complications of how its delivered:

The Core Idea: Music in the Mind

Hesse argues that while the radio (the "machine") may distort the physical sound waves, the true spirit of the music remains untouched for those who know how to listen. The "goodness" of the music isn't in the speaker, but in the listener's ability to perceive the eternal harmony behind the static.

Here is the essence of that philosophy:

"Every popular song, every jazz tune, every radio broadcast, every bit of cheap music is a piece of the world, a piece of life, a piece of the spirit... even the most miserable radio, even the most wretched gramophone, is able to give us the spirit of music, provided we have the spirit in ourselves."

Key Themes in the Passage

  • The Struggle with Modernity: Harry Haller hates how the radio "filters" the sublime music of masters like Bach or Mozart through a "mixture of rubber, glass, and metal."

  • Mozart’s Lesson: Mozart (appearing as a figure in Harry's hallucinations/vision) mocks Harry’s snobbery. He explains that even if the radio makes the music sound like "stepping through mud," the divine structure of the composition is still there.

  • The Listener's Responsibility: The passage suggests that if you have the "music in your soul," your mind can reconstruct the beauty, ignoring the "mechanical squeak" of the device.


I have what I consider a very revealing, neutral, hefty system….. early rock Stones, Led Zeppelin, G.dead etc …. They are dead, damn 

@rettrussell 

Thank you so much for those quotations from Hesse. They are right on. When I was a kid all I had was a small AM kitchen radio to listen to.  And with it I discovered and reveled in the whole world of music.