Houston, We(I)Have a problem !! Seriously

MDP

MDP

Behavior Moderator (be nice police!)
Joined
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I've fallen into the trap,the one we all fear. It started a year or so ago. I was going through a period of changing amplifiers,then listening to the differences. Then after i was satisfied with the sound of the ones I bought, I started changing the speaker position,listening to the differences in the sound from different locations. Before I knew it I quit listening to the "MUSIC" and found I was listening to see how good the"SOUND" was :afraid:

I'm really having a hard time letting go, relishing the song or music instead of the sound.

Herbal supplements and Tequila help, but I'm looking for suggestions from anyone who has been through this.
 
"Herbal supplements and Tequila", isn't that a Jimmy Buffet song?!!! C'mon man, snap out of it. Look at your sig, most people would kill to have a system like that. :)

But seriously, swapping out gear is an enjoyable thing to us audiophiles. There is so much gear out there that we feel the need to audition, audition, audition. What happens, like you said, is that we get away from the one thing that got us into this hobby in the first place; the music.

Whenever I get into that OCD pattern, whether it be audio gear, bike gear, or whatever, I try to find something else to occupy my mind. Go for a bike ride, play a round of golf, take a walk, just something to scratch that itch and for God's sake stop reading Mike and Joe's posts! :P
 
I agree with Doug.

Just some time not listening helps too. A vacation from listening, sort of speak.

The other side, the bad dark side, which I hope is not the case. It might be that there is something in your current set up that is subliminally upsetting your ears so you can't connect with the music. For example, for me, there is an extremely fine line between having too much resolution in a system, too much and it just high quality noise playing instead of music.
 
Buy a Bose wave radio.

Listen for a week.

Throw it against the wall.

Go back to your other system with your favorite album.

Realize the error in your ways, and put smile back on your face.
 
Thanks Guys, Jock, it's not my system,I can listen for hours with no fatigue. It's kind of like when you listen to too much other gear and the start to listen critically instead of for pure enjoyment. You start to analyze the sound instead of sitting back and enjoying the song. I've really been concentrating on the music lately to break this habit.

I'm really surprised this hasn't happened to anyone else.
 
Thats great, I didn't think it would be your system, but thought I would throw it out there.

I've definitely had it happen to me. I usually just take a break from listening for a week or so and that gets me into missing the music enough, I forget about the system. If that makes any sense.
 
dlb2 said:
"Herbal supplements and Tequila", isn't that a Jimmy Buffet song?!!! C'mon man, snap out of it. Look at your sig, most people would kill to have a system like that. :)

But seriously, swapping out gear is an enjoyable thing to us audiophiles. There is so much gear out there that we feel the need to audition, audition, audition. What happens, like you said, is that we get away from the one thing that got us into this hobby in the first place; the music.

Whenever I get into that OCD pattern, whether it be audio gear, bike gear, or whatever, I try to find something else to occupy my mind. Go for a bike ride, play a round of golf, take a walk, just something to scratch that itch and for God's sake stop reading Mike and Joe's posts! :P
Click to expand...


It gets worse, we talk on the phone :panic:
 
MDP said:
I'm really surprised this hasn't happened to anyone else.
Click to expand...

I get that when I upgrade , and sit and try to figure out what exactly is better.and if the rest is better or the same. But then I grab something I love like Joni (blue) and crank it up and sit back with my eyes closed and enjoy it. Herbal supplements and tequila do help. Lol .
I know your problem, you need some tubes up in there!!!!!!to sooth your soul :audiophile:
 
Hi Mark. :)

I don't know what to say exactly as only you can decide the way you live your life.

But because I always have some' to say, I'll say this: I believe that at some point in everyone's life we have to make the void.
In the sense of emptying our material life and simply living the essence.
And what is the essence? ...For me it is the creation, the art, from the artists, the composers. ...And to let it take all over my soul.
There is nothing to do, only to let the music impregnate the flow of our daily activities. ...I think.
...No necessary concentration, no disposition, no position, just flow with the river of our emotional dreams, and spiritual dispositions ....

That's all. ...Simplicity in itself; living freely in the present for the moment.

Instead of concentrating on the audio gear and everything that it encompasses, we should simply explore new musical avenues; new recordings, new artists, new classical music composers, music that flows our boat & soul. ...And just let it rip. ...With total abandon, freedom.
I truly believe that we'd all be better off, and that we'd gain much more real life's wisdom by expanding our musical horizons.

The reference they said is in real live events; real live events are the emotional impacts.
Get the emotions first and foremost, and always. ...If we lose sight, or misstep along the way, it's normal, totally natural.
The music, not the gear, I believe, has the true power to get us back on track; of rectifying the sometimes unfortunate bifurcation from the true essence.

Have a great day Mark, and everyone. :)
 
I used to fall into that "critical listening" pattern often in the past. It happened because I was building and tweaking equipment, and those evaluation periods alwyas had to follow every change so I could discern the degree of improvement/change and compare it to a baseline. It was a never ending cycle.

Then I stopped trying to find that giant killer DAC + mods under $500. I stepped up in the world and got a really nice CD player. I made some adjustments to my NOS tubes in the preamp and phono stage and then stopped playing with them. I cleaned my wire connections and said "ahhhh, that's it".

Does that mean I don't still "tweak"? No, that is the nature of the hobby, but I am no longer so obsessed with the small stuff because the big stuff is pretty damn good. When I do try new things I am less obsessed with wringing out ultimate nuances with my ears and more concerned whether my feet are tapping and I am singing along.
 
Gear, especially speakers have progressed more in the last 3 years than in the previous 10 or even 30 years. I remember when a Magnepan 3.6 to a 3.7 was considered "progress". I owned both - it wasn't much of a difference to be honest.

In light of today's SOTA speaker technologies, DAC technologies, etc. that seems laughable today. We are witnessing the golden age of audio. Two channel audio has never been more popular than it is today. Home Theater is on the decline, vinyl is making a comeback and digital is sounding better than ever thanks to hi res files and DSD.

I wish I could explain WHY some of the speakers made today (Wilson, Raidho, Magico, Sonus Faber, TAD, MBL, Vivid, Estelon and others) represent such a vast improvement over speakers made 5 or 10 years, ago, but I can't. I would suspect it has to do with measuring technology and better technologies in general for parts.

5 years ago, the norm in many households was a 34 inch (or even smaller) CRT standard def TV. Today it is hard to fine anything smaller than a 47 inch HD 1080p TV.

One can also look at the vast advancements in computer technology as well. We just seem to be leap frogging. These aren't inching along improvements - these are literally technologies that double or triple in a short time period.

That doesn't mean one can not enjoy their standard def TV (I still watch one!), their older PC or Mac (I still use one!) or their music on a older (not so quite SOTA) system.

A good analogy would be cars. I drove a Nissan Pathfinder for almost 13 years. It got me from point A to point B, carried all my stuff and was reliable. Today I drive a new Hyunda Santa Fe and it does all the things the Nissan did, but let me tell you, I definitely enjoy driving it more!

The reason I continue to listen and swap gear is because of the incredible advancements in gear - especially in the past 3 years - which ultimately brings me closer to the music. But if funds didn't allow, I would be perfectly content to just spin my records and occasionally poke my head up like a groundhog in spring to see what's going on.
 
NorthStar said:
"Home Theater is on the decline." ... I didn't know that.

* Everything is just better and better. ...True that, but what about people's soul? ;)
Click to expand...

Talk to dealers. Many are abandoning it and returning to 2 channel. Those that jumped on the HT band wagon are jumping off now. 70 inch TV's at Costco are killing their projector/screen biz.

Did you not notice the few home theater magazines have had to merge just to stay alive?
 
MDP said:
I've fallen into the trap,the one we all fear. It started a year or so ago. I was going through a period of changing amplifiers,then listening to the differences. Then after i was satisfied with the sound of the ones I bought, I started changing the speaker position,listening to the differences in the sound from different locations. Before I knew it I quit listening to the "MUSIC" and found I was listening to see how good the"SOUND" was :afraid:

I'm really having a hard time letting go, relishing the song or music instead of the sound.

Herbal supplements and Tequila help, but I'm looking for suggestions from anyone who has been through this.
Click to expand...

Go to future shop or bestbuy and you will appreciate what you have :)

All the joke aside. I'm with Jock as well .... Stop listening for a while and get back to it when you feel like to listen to them again.
 
Mark....I do the same thing. it takes the enjoyment out of the music......and it could get worse. I start to limit what I listen to....choosing only the better recordings. That's no way to enjoy music.
 
As Bruce knows, I can listen to some not so well recorded music and still enjoy what I hear. I love the gear but I love the music more.
 
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