Proof positive you've gone over the deep end with audiophile obsession

Not ashamed to admit I'm listening to Air Supply's Greatest Hits right now and the song "You're Every Woman in the World to Me" came on. I got lost in the song and its relevance to my life from a long time ago for about ten seconds and then I started thinking "wow this sounds really good. Wonder who mastered it for cd." Might have to exit the forum for awhile. What's your eureka moment? The one where you said " yeah, this might be a bit much."

 

I get that moment every time I visit this forum.

I mean, this site can be EXPENSIVE. I have Dark Side of the Moon, but I don't have the Most Super Version from the far flung parts of the planet. I guess I need that..... when in reality, the one I have is good enough, and the money I'm spending on the Super Duper Version really ought to be spent on new music I don't already own.

Oh - that and Pink Floyd's the Wall. I have the Immersion Box - but I don't want to keep opening it to play the discs in case it starts to look tatty. So I bought it on CD again. Even though I found my copy of it by "Original Master Recording" with gold discs. Someone on here said it wasn't their favorite version - so I got it again.

Madness.

 

Nope, not gonna listen to Air Supply. Ever. But I understand.

 

I think I started at an early age, I clearly remember buying Who's Missing on cassette when it came out specifically because it had Bargain live 1971 on the track listing, first of many one song-bought whole album decisions that added up over the years. Once I joined SHF, it multiplied exponentially of course-lol!

Also, I did learn to love all the songs on Who's Missing, but now have it on vinyl (SHF), MCA CD, Canadian CD (SHF), Japan SHM-CD w/bonus tracks, HDTracks 96-24, blah, blah, blah...

 

all my moments are...I enjoy my music to the bones...

 

Well, there was this one time that I purchased special connectors for my headphones to hear any difference tonally. I'll be damned, there was a difference. Now I switch between cables when listening to different masterings. Yep, I've lost whatever few marbles I had.

 

yes, I too enjoyed a few of their albums...

 

We all get obsessive with our little quirks. Mine is more with pressing plants and cutting engineers. I love "Monarchs" and "Presswells" or anything mastered by Robert Ludwig, Bernie Grundman or Doug Sax. I am always searching for them. To others it may be something else. It's what makes this hobby fun. However, it can get quit expensive.

 

Asking friends and family if I can see their CDs when I visit them - even the ones that own fewer than a dozen titles. They could have something that I need... Then when they show them to me and I ask, "Do you have any more somewhere else?" and they look at me like I'm sick or something. I probably am

 

But sadly you have listened to them -- on the radio. And so have I. We all have...

 

Sometimes when I'm listening to a CD I think about how I would've mastered it differently.

 

Me too. Check out my thread "Tour of Bernie Grundman mastering".

 

When I buy the same album repeatedly, hoping for some minute improvement with each re-release....

 

It started so easy...you want to carry on...carry on

 

My answer probably belongs in the 'hardware' section but my moment came when I built some step up transformers to power my new expensive MC cart which the led me to butchering my phono amp in order to change all the resistors in the signal path. All of sudden I realized this hole was bottomless and it was time stop and pack up. All my expensive gear is now in storage.

 

Nope. You're in exactly the right place!

 

What's funny is that the period in my life when Air Supply songs mattered to me was in the mid eighties listening to these songs on cassette in my girlfriend's father's Corolla. Real hi fi stuff... And it's never sounded as good since.

 

I don't think that simply wondering who mastered an album that you think sounds good is indicative of an unhealthy obsession. Now, when you start buying the same title over and over...and over again to get the very best mastering and or re-mix...OK, it might be time to moderate a bit. It's all good, though.

I have a hard time thinking of a single "eureka" moment. I just gradually grew more and more into audio after getting my first transistor radio when I was just a wee lad of...I don't know...probably 8-10 years old. It just grew from there.

 

When I realized I care more about how the finish product sounds than the artists themselves...

 

Not if the masterings have sucked so far.

 

When you start changing out cables just because....

 

Maybe it was when I shipped my Thorens turntable halfway across the country to be serviced. Or maybe it's that I own numerous copies of "Aja" on vinyl, but I'm not satisfied because I still don't have a Cisco pressing...

 

I never did that marker thing on the edge of CDs so I may be okay.

 

i recently purchased the Goldfrapp 'Felt Mountain' RSD limited edition white vinyl issue - I didn't know they were going to release it on plain black vinyl straight after. Now, rightly or wrongly, I'm not a big fan of coloured vinyl so I'm going to buy the black as well - I think that qualifies me as being over the edge

 

Definition of an audiophile: a person who likes listening to bad music recorded well.

By the way, I am an audiophile and went thru my brief Air Supply phase about 3 years ago.