Co-worker Made Fun of Audiophilia

The "masses" = audiots.

 

Is this guy actually from the area (Philly/PA)? Remarks like that will get you beaten in NY/NJ.

 

Bah. I get ribbed for still carrying a portable CD player, but whatever. The music sounds great and I don't have to use the "bleeding edge" in the office.

Let the Plaintrons live in their brickwalled cork-sniffing fantasy world if they want to.

 

I prefer the term Unwashed Masses!

 

I listen to:
1) The construction of melody/harmony/rhythm
2) The performance quality
3) The lyrics
4) The sound quality

In that order of priority

 

I guess im missing the point of this thread.
He uses Plantronics....so what? Does that effect you somehow?
As long as he enjoys the music, whats the big deal?

 

So, "Audiophilia" is quite a word. So I bet the co-worker wouldn't even understand what that means. So it's really not much of a problem after all. So long as we begin every sentence with 'so', we shall overcome...

 

I am allowed to listen to music at work via headphones when I am coding (Among my job duties where I work is creating computer software). Anyone indicating that you shouldn't be able to listen to music at work or that doing so makes people less productive is working from a "old school" thought about the typical workplace.

My job does require I attend a lot of meetings (obviously I can't listen to music at that time, even if the meeting is a telephone conference call), but when I am coding programs, etc - I am doing that alone. The music shuts out the din of the office and helps me actually concentrate on what I am doing (if you can believe that!!) and I find I code quicker than when I am not listening to music.

So I suggest some people open up their minds and move away from the old way of thinking in that certain jobs can benefit from music listening via headphones, and can even increase productivity.

I agree that not every job is conducive to personal music listening, but there are many where listening to music via headphones will have no ill effect on the workplace, and could allow somebody to be just as productive (or even more productive than usual).

 

I might be going out on a limb but i am guessing argumentitive and confrontational exchanges at the work place are not limited to the dac.

 

Me, I'd take a piss in the coworkers coffee.

But that's me.

 

Your coworkers are right to mock you, OP. Taking 10 minutes or so every morning to set up a fancy dedicated audio system in your cube? That's a bit much. That's like taking specialized cutlery and place settings to the food court.

 

Lots 'o' Beats where I work. I've got some Sony V-6 headphones, decaying earpads, $3.50 at a local thrift store. Hook 'em up to my Nano. No problems. The Sonys are efficient, have a nice tonal balance, go deep without being irresponsible about it, look positively retro. Don't see the point of 'ultimate sound' in the workplace. Simplicity, ease of use, portability are all more important. That said, Sony V-6s into a Nano playing Apple Lossless files ain't exactly chopped liver either. More than good enough as background music for data entry.

 

Because hes not an audiophile?

 

Thats exactly what I was thinking

 

I have never worked anywhere that this would even be allowed.

 

I hope this isn't considered a threadcrap, but I'd likely side with your co-workers on this one. Basically when you stated that "it's kind of a process to get everything set up and taken down". Is it really that necessary to listen to some tunes via the process, I assume in the background, while you're working?

It suppose it depends on the job, but the profession I'm in you wouldn't be listening to any music at all if you're focused on several tasks where you need to concentrate. The best analogy I can think of is music in the car - when it's in the background it's fine for day-to-day driving when you're kind of on auto-pilot mode. But when you have to really concentrate, both hands go on the wheel and the music goes off. That's kind of how my job is. most of the time.

If I'm listening in the office at all, it's on my phone as that's really all I need. But more times than not, there's simply no music at all. My good DAC / headphones would actually end up distracting me from my work tasks.

 

No, because people need to mind their own business and the op shouldn't give a **** what the coworkers think.,- but that's me

 

I am struggling to get the point of this thread - would anyone bother to put it in a simple sentence for me? The only thing I got so far is that the OP claims not to be audio snob and yet considers himself part of a "small breed of people". If that's his attitude towards his colleagues I can see why some of them might be annoyed sometimes (although I have to say that the description of the meticulous process of OP deploying his audiophile setup in what appears to be an open space office is a strong contender as well ))

 

I keep picturing that poor guy in the movie ''Office Space''.

 

If you do anything in a work environment that is different to what everyone else does someone will comment. It is the nature of things.

 

The same people that have 40" high definition TV's, but they listen to music on the equivilant of what would be small black and white teles with bad reception.

 

This is close to my experience. I bought a very unpretentious entry level system off Craigslist for my office. Onkyo receiver, Monitor Audio speakers with a small Yamaha "sub-woofer." I only source FM or my I-pod/I-phone.

My younger co-workers frequently bring their music into my office to have a listen. Occasionally at 4:45 on a Friday I'll put on a little old school Funk and crank it up a bit. It happens if people are hanging around and the work has slowed to a trickle. If I haven't done it for a while I get some nudges from co-workers like, "how about some tunes?" or "we need a little Funk to get this weekend started."

I'm very aware of not abusing the privilege and I make sure my music isn't too loud during working hours. Maybe your "ritual" is disruptive to some coworkers. Their comments are a little rude.

 

One thing I have learned from this thread, cover up your coffee when unattended.

 

Mindless spreadsheet or database work is another good time for tunes to help. I would suggest that listening to classical music, instrumental jazz, and ambient electronic music can also help with creativity process when needing to problem solve, write up some technical results, or brainstorm a powerpoint presentation. Some may be able to do these tasks while listening to vocals, or heavy metal, or classic rock, etc. but I find the instrumental music is better for me.

Having said that.....

I agree with this post. I can live with my iPod/iPhone in the car, at the gym, and in an office environment. The audiophile listening for me is at home with my vinyl and cd systems.

 

What's funny about that analogy is I distincly remember in the early 90s, before Starbucks exploded and raised the bar on high quality coffee in the office and urban areas, a coworker who brought his own fresh ground coffee, a filter, and this green plastic thing that he would pour hot water over to brew a single serve cup of joe!