Audiophile stuff

[Sandteufel]

Anyone here an audiophile? I kind of am though not exactly a very active one. My dad's a vinyl collector and huge audiophile, tons of headphones, amps, all sorts of things to listen to music the "right" way. Having only ever used shit headphones and MP3s, I never thought I needed proper headphones and CD quality music. Dad always ranted and raved about how much better it was and I frankly didn't believe in the hype. I used one of his with an amp, got some FLACs and... I was wrong. There's a difference. A HUGE difference. Some albums I wondered why were so loved by others until I listened to them on CD quality FLAC and good headphones. MP3s now feel kind of... incomplete though I still like them.

 

[wilddogsdivorce]

it's sadly quite an expensive hobby to get into. i make do with a simple amp, some fondly regarded but fairly affordable headphones, and cd quality audio files. frankly i find myself listening to music through bluetooth speakers more often than i'd like, lately. just a touch more convenient, really...

at the end of the day i dont really understand the people who drop 2k on a pair of headphones. i'd rather buy an instrument at that point.

 

[DunkeyKong]

I almost read that the wrong way

Anyway, not sure if it counts but my grandma loves hearing songs from her "boombox" looking thing. I'm not sure what it is, maybe "CD Sound machine" because it looks close

She still loved it though

 

[Zemus]

On the contrary, I found highly compressed audio in particular allows me to pay much better attention to the content. I tried going the lossless route with electronic music that exemplified its benefits, but didn't find it as appealing as the usual GBA/SNES/PS1 selections in the end. I have music playing 24/7, a compositional background, and probably feel more strongly about it than the average person, so in that sense you could call me one, but not in a formalist sense.

Though maybe I am, using whatever around me is available to play the music I want at whatever cost? There's a dedication aspect to that as well.

 

[Sandteufel]

On the contrary, I found highly compressed audio in particular allows me to pay much better attention to the content. I tried going the lossless route with electronic music that exemplified its benefits, but didn't find it as appealing as the usual GBA/SNES/PS1 selections in the end. I have music playing 24/7, a compositional background, and probably feel more strongly about it than the average person, so in that sense you could call me one, but not in a formalist sense.

For retro VGM the quality definitely doesn't matter much. When I'm listening to electronic music, classical, metal or prog rock, stuff that's more 'textured' if that makes sense, it makes a huge difference.
Are you alright with sharing some of your music? I periodically write myself, though I haven't in a while and I really need to up my theory knowledge.

 

[Zemus]

I might if I were under my usual username! I appreciate the interest.

I'm actually huge on the texture aspect of any music I listen to, but I don't find minute differences in audio quality to have an effect on that.

I can relate completely to what you and others have said about high-end audio setups, but having been there myself while feeling similarly about music, is it possible my ears are just worse genetically?