Comments on: Listening to Music: A How-to Guide

The Audiophiliac's tips on how to become a better listener.

[buzzvader]

Unique to the Listener

All of this is subjected to each individual's listening characteristics. It all depends on where you are and how you listen. I love Star Wars music,yet,to me, it sounded better on the CD I was listening to rather than hearing it played in a world class philharmonic hall by a world class orchestra. Go figure! The best stereo system I ever heard consisted of an Ampzilla amplifier played through a large set of Magneplanars on a Garrard turntable. The record was "Poetry Man" by Phoebe Snow. I swear I could hear her breathe all the words as well as her fingers sliding over the guitar strings. Nothing has ever sounded so good. If I were to hear her play it live or take that system home, it wouldn't have sounded the same. I actually think my Monsoon planar computer speakers sound better than most of my very good stereo equipment, which runs the gamut from Altec Lansing to JBl to Harman Kardon to Marantz to Advents to Rotel.
You can spend a fortune or spend an average amount and nothing will sound the same to the reviewer or to the average listener.

[Johnny Mac 7]

Right On Steve!

I would ad one suggestion, try listening with your eyes closed. By eliminating the sense of vision you can heighten the aural experience and you might be surprised how much you can "see" with your eyes closed.

[ecyph]

Subjective...but the basics are the basics

You have to appreciate the fact that Steve is talking about basic things to listen for which can enhance someone's experience with their music. Subjective as the result may be, the things to listen for are the same basic things.

Granted 90% of the people reading this blog are already doing that, but it's still a good concept for a lot of the "MP3 generation" who may or may not understand this.

In fact, the "mp3 generation" has really been cheated, because "lossy" formats just don't recreate the same experience as a vinyl record, or even a full "lossless" digital source. Listening to a lot of 128kbps mp3's is like listening to unadjusted Bose speakers for too long...your ear just gets tired (not to mention the fact that music is recorded with too much compression as it is)

Anyway, I think Steve is making a great point here, and people who are active listeners are going to find more interesting things in their music.

[acardes]

I think it would be cool if...

producers miked a session by using two microphones with an optimal field (super cardioid?) spaced 6" apart, to model the orientation of human ears.

Then those of us that can't afford super high-end speakers might able to get an awesome listening experience with a set of good headphones and an amp.

Then again, this might just be garbage... I don't know the first thing when it comes to producing.

[Fantastipotamus]

In response to 'I think it would be cool if...'

Currently there are already people playing with recordings taken from inside a mock ear canal. The recordings are called 'Binaural', and often use microphones inside a 'dummy head'.

To really hear the difference in recordings, Binaural.com says you'll likely need headphones, suggesting IEM's, but I've recreated them with normal closed Sennheisers, so regular headphones would likely work enough to illustrate the difference. I'm sure a high quality stereo would be able to recreate it well, however.

There is more information available on Wikipedia.com (search for binaural), as well as a site with samples available, www.binaural.com which contain downloadable mp3s.

It's quite an interesting experience to sit with your eyes closed and listen to someone talk to you from the front, then the side, and then back.

[djcub00]

A lost art

I remember talking with a friend of mine about this about a year ago. His older sister and her friends made a ritual of getting together when their favorite artist realeased a new album in the 1970's. They would gather and sit in between speakers, listening intently until it was finished. Maybe taking a break after flipping sides. I've always wanted to do the same thing...a record club just like a book club. Background noise at a party is fine, but some things I like to pay attention to. Thats when I really know if I like an artist or not.

[sdbgtrman]

Re: I think it would be cool if...

Binaural recording is an awesome technique in the studio. I have a friend who
took a dummy head and stuck two mics in the ears, and made his own
binaural head. It's an awesome room sound, and if you are in a great
recording space, it makes you feel like you are really there. It's one of those
things that we in the studio love, but the listener almost never gets to
experience. The biggest problem is that records you hear today
are rarely played all together. Most of the time, they play the drums (and
maybe bass) first, then overdub all the instruments one at a time after that. If
you listen to country, a lot of that is played by a band all at once (with a few
overdubs), but even then, the guitars are in an isolation booth, the piano is in
another booth, etc. Really, the drums are the only thing that we get to hear in
the room any more. I take that back, strings are an unforgettable experience
to be in the room with on a recording session. If you ever get a chance to
step into a string session to watch or listen, please do, it will change the way
you look at musicians and music for the rest of your life.

All that being said, setting up two mics in the room won't get you to hear the
group as a band any more. It's a great idea, but with how polished
everything is supposed to sound these days, getting a producer to put the
people in a circle and just play is very very hard. Everyone has to have their
isolation.

[cyberDJ-2038765336053745013836]

The 128 kbps music file

With the success of the commercial music file download (all vendors included here), you couldn't "listen" to the music if you tried.

The 128 kbps bit rate removes so much of the music, you won't hear any nuances or subtleties.

It's too bad that you can't easily download the ubiquitous .wav file. It's full fidelity, free of DRMs and it plays EVERYWHERE on ANYTHING.

To this day, I buy CDs exclusively. I rip them into my media server as .wav files.
I can then play them anywhere (car, home, nightclub or outdoors) without proprietary entanglements.

Now, I can listen anywhere without fumbling with jewel cases.

[veer01]

I've got to be honest, since i bought my Microsoft Zune and my Brookstone Earbuds, im amazed i survived with my Sandisk Sansa. Even when I'm working out time just flies because of the details that i hear in the music. Keep in mind that i'm using 128k wma files here a lot of which i ri[pped from cd's at the slowest speeds and to be honest depending on the quality of the source even lower bitrate songs can sound great. I have numerous songs that sound the same as the recording on the original CD and audiophiles that i know even get fooled somtimes. As far as i can see, mp3 are useful but if ur serious about music, get aac or wma and a decent pair of logitechs or altec lancings if ur cheap. Compression isnt the only factor here.