Is “Dedicated Listening” becoming a lost art?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Khorn, Aug 3, 2022.

  1. Glmoneydawg

    Glmoneydawg Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ontario Canada
    Obviously you raised him right my friend;)
     
  2. ThinWhiteDuke

    ThinWhiteDuke Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Zealand
    6 hours without a single movement is quite impressive. I can't do that. Not without falling asleep!
     
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  3. ThinWhiteDuke

    ThinWhiteDuke Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Zealand
    Neilsen UK reported 2021 as record breaking year for book sales: The record-breaking year that was 2021 – Nielsenbook-UK

    Quote: "Both the UK and Irish print book markets experienced their highest value sales on record in 2021". "...children’s books reached lifetime highs in both markets..." "lifetime peaks for children’s non-fiction and picture books, as well as strong growth for fiction (particularly young adult fiction, which has reversed its downward trajectory from pre-2020 with a helping hand from TikTok)"

    I'd be willing to bet other first world nations experienced similar.

    Perhaps it's just the Portuguese and Canadians that are loosing the ability to read? :D
     
    Khorn likes this.
  4. Tone?

    Tone? Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco

    No

    being a dedicated human and appreciating things is becomes a lost art
    And it’s not a lost art
    It’s a loss of appreciation.

    what makes you sit down and enjoy our dumb systems is our blessings.
    Yeah there is science to it
    But it’s not a matter of ‘ pushing buttons’.

    it’s the way we feel.

    that’s what music is about
     
  5. The Pinhead

    The Pinhead KING OF BOOM AND SIZZLE IN HELL

    Yes indeed; few people listen in that way, but it's been like that since like forever. We are the weirdos I'm afraid.
     
  6. Tone?

    Tone? Forum Resident

    Location:
    San Francisco
    I like the way you think
     
  7. dennis the menace

    dennis the menace Forum Veteran

    Location:
    Montréal
    For me, that's the only way to really listen to music.
     
  8. Khorn

    Khorn Dynagrunt Obversarian Thread Starter

    Many times I’ll start my session listening to new material I discover by posting here. I specially like listening to great newly discovered covers of previous favourites. I consider that a double win for me.
     
  9. cdash99

    cdash99 Senior Member

    Location:
    Mass
    To digress, while I prefer physical media whenever possible for music and movies, I prefer e-books for reading. Carrying two 500 page novels on a tablet doesn’t take up any space.
     
  10. Christian Evans

    Christian Evans Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chile
    It is my preferred way of listening, but not focused on how my equipment sounds, I get quickly bored this way.
    It is all about clearing my mind of thoughts and let the music merge with my senses.
     
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  11. Khorn

    Khorn Dynagrunt Obversarian Thread Starter

    After initially settling in with my new system the only time I tend to be conscious of it is in marvelling how fantastically good it performs. Most of the time though I’m deeply engrossed in the music. Then again I’m sure many others here feel the same way.
     
  12. Dingly Del Boy

    Dingly Del Boy Forum Resident

    Location:
    British Columbia
    Wow. Can't unread that.
     
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  13. Dave Mac

    Dave Mac Retired Sophisticated Gentleman Of Leisure

    Back in the day (the '70s) I lived in a couple versions of the "Party Central" house with free flowing beer and a certain aromatic recreational herb wafting throughout and except for my rare but occasional down time the music was usually background for the social scene. Given the usual environment a certain amount of zoning out to the music was acceptable, especially if it was just a couple of us hanging out. (Hey, you still with us?) But it was normally just a group yakking and laughing and carrying on which was OK because I hadn't as yet been able to fully embrace what became my "dedicated" listening preference. Over the years since I've known very few people who were willing to visit and just "groove to some tunes" so I reserved my real listening enjoyment for when I was alone. It was in just the last few years after I inherited the old family homestead that I was able to spread out into what became my Man Cave. Really in name only, it actually has windows with real suburban daylight and scenery clearly and pleasantly visible. Still, my listening is almost exclusively relegated to the evening hours after dinner/sunset when my Happy Homeowner chores are done for the day and I can have a couple pours. And despite my grudgingly advancing age and minor infirmary I have been known to bop around the room quite joyously to my original Track Who's Next or one or more Dave Edmunds LPs, among many others. I'm tellin' ya, Moony's drumming is jaw dropping through Mac powered Klipsch!

    Having learned in my 20s about the merits of "high-end" audio (I worked for a high-end retailer for a few years where I bought my first Cornwalls) I gradually built the system I have today. Early in the game I was made aware that the gear itself was not the end game but the means to the end of getting the most enjoyment out of recorded music. My system today is my end-game system and it allows me to hear and enjoy the quality inherent in the music I play on it. I'm nearing 70 and we seem to think that our (boomer) generation have a lock on digging recorded music in a way that makes it sound alive but my grandfather was way ahead of that curve. He would park in his La-Z-Boy in front of his pair of 2205s, a C32, a pair of big Mac speakers, a Thorens with a V15 Type something playing a Deutsche Grammofon anything, and he would be transported by what he heard just as I am today. His name was Frank McIntosh.

    Cheers,

    Dave Mac
     
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  14. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    There's nothing like sitting in front of the speakers and immersing oneself in the music. Be it simple, be it complex, there no better way. For me, music cerebral. No moving around. I guess i'm more like Doug Sclar in that respect. I've always been that way.

    I also love staring at the reel to reels or records spinning round and round. They say that's a sign of autism...
     
  15. Khorn

    Khorn Dynagrunt Obversarian Thread Starter

    Great. Have to admit my very first separate and one of my two all time fave systems was a three way Pro JBL /McIntosh bi-amplified system. Just loved it.
     
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  16. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Aside from one family member, I've never known anyone (discounting fellow forum members) to just sit down and listen to music.

    It's played while cooking, vacuuming, cleaning, performing other tasks such as driving, but never with any concentration nor in anything close to an optimal setting.

    But I see this as the same thing as movie-watching. Next to no one I know sits still, in silence, and concentrates on the movie from start to finish; bathroom breaks, talking, playing on a cell phone, eating, drinking, falling asleep, you name it...

    Extremely difficult for most to stick with that one activity.
     
  17. fluffskul

    fluffskul Would rather be at a concert

    Location:
    albany, ny
    I still do it, but mostly for a "special occasion," like a new release, or more often new remaster, of an album I'm particularly excited to hear.

    I'd say 90% of my listening is somewhat distracted... i.e. in the car, by the pool on outside speakers, or my go-to which is sports on TV and music on my system. I love sports, I love music. I don't care for commentary, I'll usually only put it on for the final 15-20 minutes of a game. So I follow the game, and listen to music. It's a nice compromise and enables me to enjoy 2 hobbies I love while working FT and enjoying family, etc.

    EDIT: And I almost forgot poking around this forum. It isn't "dedicated listening" if you are scrolling the internet! But sometimes while listening, I like to poke around here. Fun to interact with others, often about the very same piece I'm listening to, or even get ideas for the next album.
     
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  18. Grant

    Grant Life is a rock, but the radio rolled me!

    When I was two years old, my father would keep his reel-to-reels in the upper kitchen cabinets to keep me from trying to play them on his deck. I distinctly remember climbing the cabinets early one morning to get to them and my father catching me. And, I was scared of heights! I remember another time soon after that where I woke up early one morning and woke up the house playing an album on my mom's stereo console. I had to climb on a stool to get in there. It was an exercise record with a red label. Again, my father had to get me out of there. he was furious because I woke him up.

    When I was five years old, whenever my mom put on a classical record, I would quit playing with my friend and come in the house to listen to it. He used to get pretty steamed at me for doing that. I didn't care. When you gotta go, you gotta go!:laugh:
     
  19. Khorn

    Khorn Dynagrunt Obversarian Thread Starter

    So many times I’ll bring in a drink and maybe a snack in at the start of a few hour listening session. They’re still there at the end. I’ve completely forgotten about them cause I was so involved in listening.
    I guess I’m just an old stick in the music.
     
  20. reapers

    reapers Forum Resident

    Location:
    Michigander
    A couple of nights per week, I’ll just sit and listen. I don’t call it critical because I’m not actively try to place the location of instruments and such. To me, that level of scrutiny and analysis would work against my enjoyment (but if there is something interesting about the presentation I will notice it). I just sort of open up and let it do it’s thing. Whether it’s cerebral, emotional or relaxing, I just go with the flow and let it take effect.
     
  21. Tawaun A Williams

    Tawaun A Williams Forum Resident

    I dig finding new cuts to...hell i scale the YouTube audiophile videos for new songs...lol
     
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  22. Francois1968

    Francois1968 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Netherlands
    Of all the people I know there are only a few that will sit down and listen. Oh, and they don't even have a great system..... I remember that back in my youth many had good stereo sets (for the time), they didn't mind spending quite some money on it and they enjoyed to immerse in the music. It's pretty ironic that today one can buy a great sounding system for relatively little money, but only a few people use the opportunity. They feel it's normal to buy a new 1k smart phone every year, but the same people think it's absurd when you tell them you've bought a great turntable or loudspeakers..........
    The world has changed a lot.......everything is way more superficial, people hardly take time to discover things and most just follow the crowd. It's more gratifying to brag with the latest smart phone than a nerdy turntable.
     
    Last edited: Aug 5, 2022
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  23. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    it's tough for some to dedicate the time these days.
     
  24. CrimsonFan

    CrimsonFan Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    My question was rhetorical :D :D
    Please read the original post. (I.e. Post No.1, by Khorn)
     
    Khorn likes this.
  25. Tim 2

    Tim 2 MORE MUSIC PLEASE

    Location:
    Alberta Canada
    I do what you folks call " dedicated listening " most evenings. :agree::cheers:
     

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