Poll: Where do you listen to music?

The ears have it!

(Credit: Steve Guttenberg)

CNET Poll

Where do you listen to music most of the time?

iPod, phone, or MP3 player
Car
Computer
Hi-fi or home theater system

View results

Music is everywhere, so we're curious about where you do the bulk of your listening.

We have a hunch very few people listen at home over a hi-fi or home theater system. It might be the best place to really listen, with the best sound quality, but is that enough to keep you on the couch? Or do the distractions at home thwart any chance of concentrated listening?

Here in New York City, it seems as if everybody is listening to iPods and Zunes, and we assume that out there in the rest of America, most people listen to music in cars or over a computer at home or at work.

[tipoo_]

MP3 player, mostly on the bus to and from home.

[ajdbarros]

Dear Steve, your poll does not really take media convergence into account. I actually listen to music on my hi-fi most of the time. But the source is a NAS disk + computer with a digital sound card that goes into the receiver + power amp for the front channels. While listening to music I usually surf the web from my armchair using a wireless keyboard, image on a 84" screen. In bed, nothing like an internet radio that can also stream my music collection. While working, no music. I can't focus.

[cvaldes1831]

ajdbarros is right. You are not seeing media convergence.

My computer is plugged into my home theater system; there's also an iPod dock wired in. I can take a variety of media sources (physical CD, digital files, streaming audio, broadcast radio) and push it through my stereo a variety of ways (computer, standalone devices, built-in tuner).

My car has an iPod interface in addition to the regular lineup.

My usage is pretty evenly split between your choices. Like ajdbarros, I don't listen to music while I'm working. I'll end up focusing on the music, even if it's purely instrumental, like classical or jazz.

[Wormy101]

I think what Steve is really asking about is the environment in which you listen to music. For those of us who live in NYC, listening to music through earbuds on a noisy train during our daily commute makes up a lot of our listening time.

[cvaldes1831]

That doesn't change my answer; it's still pretty much split between the poll choices (home, in my car, out on the town).

Note that he doesn't really specify locations, but technologies/delivery methods. At both home and work, I actually have computers and hi-fi systems. My iPod is portable enough to make the trip from home to car to work, and then in reverse order.

So for home and work, I would say "three of the above." For my car, I would say "two of the above." Generally speaking, I would say "all of the above."

Let's face it: it's a poorly crafted poll.

[TheAudiophiliac]

Wormy 101 has it right, I'm asking WHERE you listen, not which technology you're using. Hence the title of the blog, Where do you listen to music?

[ajdbarros]

I see what you mean, but ipod, mp3 are not an answer to a WHERE question. In the car, ok. On the move would be a better first alternative to the WHERE question. Anyway, the results are very interesting by themselves. For me they mean that people are much more interested in the music itself than in the technology. Whatever brings music to our lives is welcomed. Doesn't matter if the sound isn't pure hi-fi. In my mp3 player I maximize space using VBR 160. Who cares if the player can read flac? With a plane roar around me it doesn't make any difference. But a decent pair of headphones will help! What I find really amazing is that the digital revolution did not change the hi-end hi-fi world. It changed the daily music listening - music is much more readily available (record companies are starting to grasp the potential of digital music - just see DG's site) and we can now listen to music anytime, anywhere. Blessed be the inventor of mp3!

[feverboy777]

I'm sorry to say that I listen mostly to music with my i-Pod during exercising although I prefer to listen to my stereo. The only problem is my stereo requires me to sit still and be directly in front of it, if you own a pair of old Quad 57's u'll know what I mean.

[ericaucoin]

you guys really should have added an "all of the above" option. i listen on all of those about the same.

[sophty]

The "bulk" of my listening is not really listening. I can listen to internet radio all day at work over a pair of $20 speakers while, at the expense of my colleagues, sing along and enjoy the tunes. Or, on the weekends, while I'm working around the apartment, I'll let my computer transmit the thousands of tracks I've [compressed and] uploaded through an optical cable to my home-theatre receiver. That's the bulk of my listening.
But at some point, I must sit down with my hi-fi and listen to an album or two straight through. That's the REAL listening, making all the rest of it seem peripheral. The amount of time I spend listening decreases as the quality of the sound increases. But the amount of enjoyment is high enough to compensate.

[minimalist]

All of the above really.

Most of my listening is at home wirelessly streaming from iTunes to several zones around the house (one of which is my home theater setup). But I also listen at work a lot from iTunes to a decent set of Shure earbuds. In the car its either CD's I burn from my collection or via an iPod over an FM Transmitter (something I'd really like to change as it sounds pretty bad, unfortunately I have no AUX inputs on my car stereo).

Its all the same music though. Its just pumped through different channels.

[jeepinls]

minimalist, You can get a head unit and ipod sync cable for about $250. Sound quality is much better than with the FM transmitter. (please everyone with the awesome in home systems, I realize this is no comparison to your living room sound quality) Clarion and Kenwood both have several styles. No, I'm no salesperson, just researched alot before choosing for my own auto.

[Slick1of2]

Isn't an iPod an MP3 player? Or am I missing something, sorry, I'm not a complete computer know it all geek. I just know how to use them.

[cvaldes1831]

It is, but if you say "MP3 player" the typical consumer will think "something other than an iPod." That's a reflection of the dominance of the iPod brand, not because of differences in technical specifications.

[crisante]

I agree that Steve is probably asking about the environment more than anything. For me, it's usually in the car. At work it's internet radio that I can hardly hear sometimes. Basically background music that breaks up the day.

Although I'm proud to say I got my first true hi-fi system installed today. I plan on doing my real listening here.

[adlieb]

I do all my "LISTENING" in my bedroom, chillin on my Lovesac (that's a big comfy bean-bag chair in case there's any confusion), listening to my 2 channel hi-fi system that is solely dedicated for audio purposes.

I play music in the car quite often, but my car audio system is a far cry away from the quality of my 2 channel bedroom setup. Also my automobile listening is pretty much restricted to the radio, so that I get some exposure to new music, and I do a lot of news radio as well. There is ZERO critical listening done in the car.

2 channel system,

Denon AVR-2807 (now repurposed for 2 channel playback
Onkyo DV-SP1000 Universal Disc Player
Thorens Turntable
BG Z-92 Tower speakers driven in bi-amp mode
Panamax 5100 Power filter

[babybambi15]

on long rides

[DjElectroknight]

I listen to music everywhere...it's always in my head! When I'm at home I stream music online via a very sweet surround sound system. I hardly ever listen to traditional radio...it's too dull, predictable and full of commercials and blah..blah...blah. I transfer music from my PC to CD-R, Flash Drive and Sansa MP3 player when on the go...I have an extensive CD and Tape Cassette collection so I spend a lot of time digging through it and making sense of it all.

[pubmat]

I listen to the bulk of my music in my hermetically controlled environment at home. Hate it in the car, and REALLY hate it on earbuds through an Mp3. (even though I have an ipod.)

[z386]

To really hear recorded music I think earphones are a necessity. I've been surprised at the high quality of sound that I get from my little Macbook. I rip with the wave encoder, plug in the phones, lay on my bed and enjoy.

[z386]

P.S. Steve, I really love "the ears have it" graphic. I have a place on my wall for that if you would email me a copy.

[Freeradical79]

Dito to what several people say.

I wake up to my laptop playing music via AirTunes linked to the hifi (you can use iCal to make an alarm). I take my iPod and play it in the car, or through headphones if I cycle to work. I have my laptop playing music right now while I'm sitting at work. I might have to go in the lab for a few hours, but I'll take my iPod and plug it into a pair of powered speakers. Then I'll use the iPod with headphones when I go to the gym later, and again when I travel home. Then on to AirTunes again when I'm home ...

Basically, thanks to iPods and high capacity hard drives on laptops, I am with all my music 24/7, and I'll listen to it in any way I can! =)

[sadchild]

uh... where is the all-of-the-above option? it's a pretty even split.

mp3 player at the gym, mowing lawn, clearing snow, taking a walk.
car when traveling (which is a lot)
computer at work
stereo at home

[rrafson]

Why isn't Radio a choice? I listen to music mostly on the radio.

[sadchild]

you listen to FM radio? aaahhh, so YOU'RE the one.

hey everybody! i found him!

[mmntech]

Me, probably 60% car, 30% home, 10% iPod. I have XM in the car and at home so it gives me unlimited variety. Buying CDs is too expensive and lord knows I don't want to feed the RIAA more cash. New music is mostly crap anyway. MP3s are too lo-fi for the price. At home it's either the radio or listening to classic rock albums on my turntable that I "inherited" from my dad.

[Konfuzed]

The question should really be where do you most "prefer" to listen to your music. Although I do most of my listening on my iPod--slightly more than in the car--my real enjoyment of listening to music comes from sitting down and listening through a good home system. There isn't much that can compare to quality recorded music... no matter the genre.

[tcPlautus]

I agree, the way this poll is crafted makes it difficult to answer satisfactorily. It needed to bring some clarity to the different between physical location/context and the listening mechanism. Even something like "iPod" can mean a lot of things: from mp3s heard through basic earbuds while out walking to uncompressed audio heard through top quality in-ear monitors in a quiet room.

It also omits one significant category, which is live performance. If you were to ask me "Where you do the bulk of your listening?" I would have to say: in concert halls and other live performance spaces. (Similarly, an active musician would do the bulk of their listening in performance/rehearsal/practice spaces. Even a serious amateur would find a lot of their listening was to live music-making.)

If the poll is really just about listening to recorded music, which would be fair enough, I'd say that I do the bulk of my listening at home, but that this can vary between CDs on a quality audio system to audio from my computer with good headphones ? really just depends on what's most convenient and how much listening I'm expecting to do at the time.

Oh, and I avoid background music like the plague. Music's my work so I can't "work to it", way too distracting!

[sadchild]

how to "work to music".
step 1 play vapid trite rehashed stupid pop music of today in background
step 2 be undistracted by any meaningful lyrics, gripping vocal performance or stellar musicianship