Critical or casual music listening

[Marcus DiBenedetto]

This post was prompted by a recent Steve Guttenberg (Audiophiliac) YouTube video entitled "Can even the best audio systems ever sound 100% realistic? Does it matter?" The video was mostly to encourage a listener to discard all the system tweaking and finally sit down and enjoy the music. Allow yourself to get immersed in the music. This brought to my mind a persistent question, am I a casual or a critical listener. There are only so many hours in a day to enjoy our music systems. I do like to sit and simply lose myself in the music. I'm not thinking of anything else and occasionally closing my eyes to imagine all the instruments before me. To me, this is critical music listening. On the other hand, there are plenty of times I am listening but also questioning. Is the "toe in" good? Are the instruments blending well across all the speakers? Is the image and soundstage good? Sometimes while listening I'll bring up a pdf of the music and read through it or even a website to scan through forum posts.

I'm just curious. How do you approach music in your listening room? Are you letting yourself get immersed in it? Or, is it more background music.

Thanks
Marcus
Las Vegas, NV

 

[Sonnie Parker]

The only way I can get immersed is have it tuned properly... and while I'm relaxed, I consider that critical listening, while others may only consider critical listening when they are writing a review and trying to compare equipment/speakers, etc. It is "critical" for me to get the best imaging, sound stage and depth acuity before listening, which means I will need to tweak the system to do that. It's just not as enjoyable (for me) to sit and listen to a speaker that is not finely tuned.

Background music is in-ceiling speakers for me... walking around the house, hearing the music in the background sort of thing. When I go to my listening room to listen to music, it needs to be right.

 

[Marcus DiBenedetto]

I agree with you Sonnie, and I do work hard to make sure my system is properly tuned. But, at some point, you say to yourself, "Yeah, I got this dialed in," and you sit back and enjoy the music. I also want to get away from the concept that "critical" listening is limited to reviews. Instead, when I want to listen critically to music what I mean is focus on enjoying the music without distractions.

Marcus

 

[Sonnie Parker]

You nailed it for me.

I don't know that there is any set standard or rule of thumb, as it could be different for everyone, but for me the emotional effect the music has on me is what keeps me listening for literally hours at a time. Back in the early days when I had little understanding of what good music was supposed to sound like, it was hard for me to sit down and give music a chance, unless it was a laserdisc concert that made it feel like watching a movie. Once I finally had guys over that knew more about setting up a system and was able to really get my system dialed in, that's when I was like, "yeah, now that sound wonderful and I want to hear more of that"... and I was hooked. Now it's fun and enjoyable, whether I'm just listening or whether I'm doing a review/evaluation.

 

[CAAudiophile]

Very good topic ... In away listening to music as a critical listener/audiophile is like tasting a good wine, once you had that experience you'll always want to have the good wine and the same is with listening to a good system /music. On the other hand listening critically or just casually, that depends on the person and how experienced is he with the audio and speaker set up. It's not an easy task, however once you get it done right you would then really enjoy the music. And perhaps that's the definition of an audiophile and I think you are one.

 

[rxescobar]

To me the words, "critically listening" implies looking for faults with the musical presentation and thereby getting into your head. I prefer to listen mindfully, in the moment, open heartedly, letting the music wash over me and elicit whatever response it's going to provoke. Casual listening to me is when you're multitasking and the music's in the background as filler. Maybe we're all saying the same things, just using different terms.

 

[Marcus DiBenedetto]

It's possible that the term "critical" was not a good choice. But, I like what it describes to me. Listening with no distractions or interruptions. I am challenged to set aside time to actually sit down and listen without distractions. Some days, I can't find time at all (sad). I bought my system, set it up, dialed it in for the best reproduction possible and amassed a huge collection of great music. I don't want the experience to stop there. Every day I try to find time to sit back and enjoy what I have put together. As a classical music lover, I own many different performances of the same music. When I am critically listening, my mind is comparing the experience with other recordings. Am I getting the same emotional reaction? Am I hearing the different nuances produced by the conductor and orchestra. This is a hobby that creates passion in me. It is well worth the ticket for admission.

Thanks everyone for your contributions to this thread.

Marcus
Las Vegas, NV