[anon(1482580)]

So, how important is the quality of music to you? Are your ears trained to pick out every instrument in a song or are you generally indifferent and prefer a mish mash of sounds?

Myself, a couple years back, I decided that I'd had enough of $20 headphones and wanted a truly enhanced musical environment. I haven't looked back since.

First, I started with the headphones.

Denon AHD2000's:




Cost: $220

Then, I built a headphone amplifier.






Cost: $450 in parts

However, it turns out the headphones I bought weren't as sturdy as I'd hoped, and I was ready for an upgrade. So, now I topped it off with:

Creative X-FI Titanium HD Sound Card:


Cost: $169

And, lastly...

Fischer FA 002 WT Headphones:



Cost: $319

Hand crafted wooden ear cups, made to order, and shipped directly from Russia.

Why headphones? I work on my PC and I love the closeness of them. Plus, they're portable. I can't take a surround sound system with me, but all of this stuff I can pack up into a regular laptop case and carry with me wherever I go.

So, how much do you love your music?

[amazinglygraceless]

Let's see, I have 4 terabytes of music spread out across 6 drives, I digitized over
3500 audio cassettes, spent a ton on my home sound system and a half weeks
pay on a badass set of headphones (Sennheiser HD 800.)

Yeah, I am an audiophile

[SCrid2000]

Dude your headphone setup cost more than my car, and AG has more music than I've even heard lol.

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[WhoolioPreludee]

I love music so much I play them on my guitar through my marshall amplifier. That's how much I love music.

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[anon(1482580)]

Dude your headphone setup cost more than my car, and AG has more music than I've even heard lol.

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lol yeah, I don't mess around. A lot of my friends think I'm off my rocker to spend this much on audio equipment. I always invite any of them to listen to some songs on my headphones and not a one has had much else to say outside of "wow" yet :P

Amazingly: that's awesome. i dont have that much music myself as i'm actually picky about what i listen to (around 500 gb of music) but 4 Tb is sick Also heard good things about those headphones. hope you have a DAC/PPA to go with them

Whoolio: i have no skills with any musical instruments, sadly. i tried, but it didn't work out. being able to actually plan the songs you listen to is pretty sweet though.

heh, every audiophile is an audiophile in their own way

[highjakker]

no i'm not! that case was thrown out of court.....oh, wait, you said audio.....NEVERMIND

[anon(1482580)]

no i'm not! that case was thrown out of court.....oh, wait, you said audio.....NEVERMIND

Gee, didn't see that one coming.

[jlb21]

I once worked at an ultra high-end home theater/audio store for some extra cash. They had a room dedicated to 2-channel stereo....

They had a pair of speakers that cost $25,000. Utter insanity. But I guess if you have the $, why not.......

[kbz1960]

You should see what some people spend on their home theater systems

[anon(1482580)]

Yeah, home theater is a different level all together. The headphone route can get you the same or better quality of sound for much less money and ultra portability.

However, home theater does have its merits of course. If I ever settle in one place long enough I may look into it down the road, but as it is I keep moving and I'm looking to move outside of the US eventually, so yeah... maybe someday I'll get that home theater :P

[amazinglygraceless]

@1stStrike: A while back I was just like you, very picky. Now not so much.

I am a huge fan of musicianship and a bigger fan of songwriting. Of all the music I
own a considerable portion is in languages I do not understand but the the
performers are so fully invested and the quality of the work is at a "must have" level.

Add to that, my brother (BigBadWulf AKA The Keeper of the CrackBerry Jukebox) sends me
really good stuff almost daily and I am in heaven.

[anon(1482580)]

i listen to some music from asia and europe. i also spent a year in korea which contributed to this. i blame my short attention span, though. it takes a pretty awesome song for me to make it all the way through it. i usually "song hop"

[amazinglygraceless]

See that is the opposite of where I am now. I listen to everything without regard
to "awesomeness" I just love the art of music.

This is probably because although I am a middling trombonist and an excellent flautist
(been playing since High School back in .:cough 1978:. ) I am completely tone deaf
when it comes to my own voice.

[Super_Saxy]

Since this is the industry where I work, I'd like to share my thoughts.

I hold a B.M. in Music Recording Technology. One of the courses that we had to take was "Ear Training for Audio Engineers". In this class, we were responsible for listening to audio clips of white noise and discerning exactly what frequency it was at. Once we were proficient in this, we then listened to real songs where our professor used outboard processors to cut or boost certain frequencies. Again, we were responsible for being able to pick these out. The final step was listening to unedited to real songs which had subtle frequency irregularities in them, and again we had to pick them out.

This ended up being a double edged sword. On one hand, it was an integral piece of my training becoming an audio engineer. I cannot even begin to tell you how important and useful it is being able to pick out frequency ranges from ear. However, this also made listening to music a bit less enjoyable for me. I can now hear the difference between poorly compressed MP3s and uncompressed files. I can hear frequency irregularities in tracks, in fact, they pop out to me like a sore thumb. So, I have all my music ripped without any compression, straight from CD. Takes up a great deal of space, but for me, its worth it. Again, this is the nature of the beast I suppose.

Regarding all of this, I say "to each, his/her own". For me, poor quality listening devices (headphones, speakers, etc.) bother me to the point of not enjoying the music. I am accustomed to listening to music on professional quality stereo headphones and studio monitors. For me, listening on anything else sounds noticeably different, and lessens my experience. However, I totally understand people who enjoy listening to music on a "crappy" $20 pair of headphones. I am, and always will be, a musician first before anything, and the most important thing is the experience that music brings to an individual. Music is about art, expression and enjoyment through a universal language that every person in the world can relate to. So I say, listen to music on whatever makes you happy

I'm sorry for in advanced for that long winded response. You guys just happened to pick a topic that I'm passionate about

[amazinglygraceless]

@Super_Saxy - great post and I agree. It does not really matter what you hear it
with, the point is, you hear it.

[anon(1482580)]

That's good insight, Saxy. I agree that it does tend to make music a bit of a pain because you can't deal with compressed music anymore. I'm obviously not trained like you to pick out every flaw in music, but at this point I can tell the difference between lossless and anything else in a second. Also, I can't wear cheap headphones. It's like physically impossible for me to listen to music in anything but premium headphones.

So, double-edged sword indeed. If I didn't have a stable job that allowed me to buy all this stuff then I'd be one miserable person :P

[BigBadWulf]

Been into music for as long as I can remember. Many of my parent's albums I wore out over the years. I started playing in 4th grade, also the time I built my first turntable, with my dad, a Heathkit. Nothing brings more joy to me, than listening to lossless. Is there anything better, than immersing yourself in a great 4 channel system? I however have music running through my head at all times (virtually every event in my day makes me think of some song), and can listen to a poorly compressed file, on a crap system, while mentally filling in the blanks. There are few styles for which I hold no interest, as my brother can attest to. I seek out, and pass around all manner of song. My favorite part though isn't the listening, but sharing, and the joy it seems to give. I wish I'd taken full advantage of my talents, and regret I can't enjoy playing like I used to. (See body parts thread)

[Rootbrian]

I used to download tons of music, now I don't since it's all available on community radio stations, I hear it new every second week. It's a wonder why I haven't filled up my house with cassette tapes! (I use those still, beats out DRM and other copyright protection measures)/

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[amazinglygraceless]

@Wulf, I for one thank you for the shares and the great discussions we have on the
subject of music. I can always count on you to introduce me to new stuff, rare
gems and some of the best classics ever.

[anon(1482580)]

Oh, I picked an instrument for band when I was younger - the trombone. Problem was, I had to walk 3/4 of a mile to and from the bus stop every day and that got old pretty quick with lugging that thing around 3 days a week. I quickly gave it up :P

I tried to learn the piano a couple years back, but I didn't have time for the lessons due to work, so that got tossed too. I suppose I don't need to learn the piano, though, as I already do plenty of typing - that'd just be one more contributor to arthritis and carpeltunnel

[amazinglygraceless]

Just out of curiosity, where do your taste in music lie. I am very eclectic although
my favorites are Jazz (everything from Maxine Sullivan, Jack Teagarden to Euge
Groove), Classical (Bach, Rimsky-Korsakov, Philip Telemann, Hector Berlioz) and
the great contemporary songwriters (James Taylor, Bruce Springsteen, Melissa
Etheridge, Jimmy Buffet, Eric Clapton, Elvis Costello, etc....) and great singers
(Anita Baker, Luther Vandross, Eva Cassidy, Norah Jones, Loey Neson, and so on)

[metllicamilitia]

A few years back I had had enough of the $20 crap, it all sounded bad to me, I've been through literally hundreds of them, then I recommended the Sennheiser CX300's, those were an amazinf step up, but I wanted better, so I jumped to Sleek Audio SA6's. Well dogs ate them, so I've preordered the Sleek Audio SA6R's and am impatiently waiting for soundearphones.com to get them in stock.

And I'm currently using a Cowon D2 mp3 player with much tonal tinkering. But I would to get the Cowon J3 and the JH Audio JH16's, but that'll be a while yet. So um, I'd like to consider myself at least somewhat of an audiophile.

And I'm a guitarist, and I'm never happy with my tone. I listen to metal, heavier stuff like In Flames and Dark Tranquillity so as far as bad recordings, I get some of the worst when it comes to early albums.

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[waterxyro]

i thought i was but no

[lssanjose]

Many of you guys have high-end headphones. I'm looking to upgrade my headphone set, and I'm a little partial to senheiser only because I heard of them through my audio professor in college. What headphones are the best bang for one's buck in the $100 range? My past favorite was the HD212 Pro, but those wore out after a year or two. Surprisingly, this "lower-end" HD457 is lasting pretty well.

[metllicamilitia]

There is no "best" and it the "best" will vary on what you are listening through and what kind of music you listen to as well. There some headphones better suited for different types of music than others. Then it also depends on whether you want headphones, ear buds or IEM's. I go to head-fi.org when I am looking for some new stuff 'cause I'm never up to date and a lot of members there get some amazing headphones free from the company for the sole purpose of reviewing them. There's a lot of great info there.

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