Forum Influence On Your Ears

Depends on what one wants to be, a cursed audiophile or one of the clueless masses. Hmmm, like you said, once you turn that page, there's no going back!

 

I'm still relatively new hear and started paying more attention to recordings when I upgraded my speakers and amp recently. I'd always thought that remasters were the way to go until I came over here and started looking (and listening) to better alternatives.

FWIW, I'm in the "old" Zep sounds better than remastered Zep camp. I'm sure it depends on what system you listen on, but at my house, the older Zeps have more coherance and vocals blend in well with the rest of the instruments.

If you really want a great example, go listen to the ZZTop "Six Pack" remastered 3 disc set and pick up the 10 track "Best of ZZTop" on Warner. The 3 disc set is obviously remixed (it says so in the notes), but IT IS HORRIBLE! Just A/B "La Grange" and its a world of difference.

This site has taken a toll on my wallet, but my ears sure are happy

 

It IS a fact that many audiophiles, especially the aged ones tend to be snobbier, particularly with musical repretoire.

Audiophiles don't have to be snobs, it's just than many are not very diplobatic, or "socially astute", for lack of a better term.

 

I couldn't have said it better myself John.

Sam S, it sure sounds like you've got that undeniable audiophile bug now. Excellent comparison with the ZZ top recordings BTW

 

Thanks, Dave.

 

Well said. I came here because I was in search of a forum where complaints about gross mastering defects wouldn't be dismissed with a "hey they sound great in my car!" response. I also wanted to find people who could help me get the best-sounding versions of my favorite albums. People for whom details mattered. Most of all, people who were swept away FIRST by the magic of music, and only THEN by the magic of audiophilia....

I continue to marvel at the knowledge and passion and friendliness here--very high signal to noise ratio. There's also a very good balance between hardware talk and music talk, with most of the attention on the latter.

Gardo

 

...THEN by the CURSE of audiophilia!!!!!!!!

 

Garlic bread is known to keep the curse at bay

I feel a bit like a musical Peter Pan myself

All the best - Andrew

 

This forum certainly has had an influence on my checkbook. In the past two months I have purchased DCC versions of "McCartney", "Red Rose Speedway", "Band on the Run", "Ram", "Steve Millers hits" & "No Dice". My fave so far (sound-wise) is Band On The Run followed by Ram. BOTR was a real eye opener. "McCartney" is still in the mail. Can't wait.

-Michael

 

Now at a theatre near you: The Return of the Son of the Bride of the Curse of AUDIOPHILIA.

In Sensurround, of course. (Now I'm really dating myself.)

As for BOTR, agreed! I'm fascinated to hear how different all the tracks sound in terms of production design. Paul can be quite the sonic experimentalist--something he doesn't get enough credit for, IMHO. The title track is good clean in the studio, almost sounds straight into the board--then we get something like "Jet," which has some pretty serious manipulation going on. Very, very cool.

And of course the DCC reveals the amazing bass of Sir Paul to even greater effect....

Gardo

 

The biggest influence on my ears: Midrange, Midrange, Midrange!

Previously, I was with the unwashed masses in jacking up the treble and bass. Now I leave those treble and bass controls in the zero position. My ears had to adjust a little, but since they have, I appreciate the music more.

Of course, with an SH mastered disc, things sound even better.

 

I see this made sense to some people -- but it didn't to me.

The proper analogy would be, did you read any *reviews* of Grapes of Wrath before you read it?

er...right.

 

<sniff> What I *can't help* notice in the audiophile rags is how conservative and middle-of-the-road the musical tastes of their reviewers tend to be. The stuff they use to audition components often makes me roll my eyes to see.

LOL.

-S.
'elitist and proud'

 

Well, I would say that they are trying not to offent their percieved readership, who is likely older: over 50, conservative, WEALTHY...

 

The forum has DEFINITELY influenced ME. I was so sick of the sound of CDs on my old Sony 507es (a very GOOD player in its day) that my main sytem, which I had pumped a THOUSANDS of $$ into had been sitting idle and unused for a couple of years, and I spent the time I used to spend listening to music watching DVD.

I stumbled on this forum by accident. My first post consisted of something like "I used to love music and play it almost 24/7. Now I never listen to it anymore. I hate the sound of CD, on a good system, but it seems to sound OK on my computer. Maybe I should by a crappy system and some cheap speakers or go back to LP?" I was advised to get a new CD player with a newer-high end converter and to listen to some DCCs. That was about six months ago.

Since then, I've completely upgraded my home theater setup (it was great for movies, but not MUSIC), I've got 3 SACD players hooked up to my main system (I'm trying to decide which one to keep) and I've found 77 DCC gold titles from various internet sources. I've picked up over 100 MFSLs. Right now, I'm listening to a bunch of the new Stones reissues. My DVD player sits idle. Music plays almost 24/7 again. I find I'm whisling songs that get stuck in my head while I'm working. (I haven't done THAT in a LONG time.)

All I can say is, thank God for www.stevehoffman.tv and this forum!