Came across this post from Mike, Head Honcho @ Rock Grotto boards (UK based, Musical Fidelity fanboys, rather outspoken on everything...).
I thought he made a few very salient points regarding the fact that everyone's ears, hearing and head-space is unique to them, and these are more important by far than the gear. See if you agree.
I am getting a little bit pissed of with the recent trend where people are expected to "prove" a point (even BEYOND reasonable doubt) and if the measurements don't change the sound cannot be different type of thing...it's all got to be proven beyond doubt before it is accepted as true.
People being blindfolded, gagged, strapped to chairs, hooked up to oscilliscopes, men in white coats taking notes... what the f@@k does any of this have to do with enjoying music?
Of course it's good to have healthy debate but to take it into a "laboratory" setting for conclusive proof is just going a bit too far AND it takes the enjoyment out of the music too...
FFS, it's not the equipment that should be under scrutiny, it's the listener! Trillions of people out there, all with different perception, different hearing abilities, different ears (remember that the human ear is as unique as fingerprints), different states of mind, some stressed, some happy, some relaxed, some sad, some mad, some insane, some drugged, some drunk, some sober, some sombre, some depressed, some manic..... believe me (and this is FACT!) put 1000 people in front of a live band and they will ALL have a different perception on what they saw and heard.... the "band" may have been technically perfect but the atmosphere, the vibe, the surroundings etc. will have been digested by each individual differently.
It annoys me intensly that we speak so much about the "equipment" but fail to realise that it will be listened to by trillions of ears, and each pair (being a unique acoustic shape) will hear things slightly differently.
A semi deaf person may actually get MORE out of a recording than a person with perfect hearing, much the same as a blind man can sense what's going on around him better than a fully sighted man.
A guy who is "zoned" into the vibe will get more from his transistor radio than a stressed out accountant listening to his latest "?700" 1 metre length of interconnect.
When we can accept the FACT that we are ALL individuals it will then become crystal clear that it's our "perception" of sound that matters (to us in an individual sense)...to have an "expert" tell us that changing a capacitor for a different brand / different value has no effect is actually quite insulting. That is one pair of ears telling a trillion ears that they are mistaken BUT if it sounds good to their ears then carry on... it's all in your mind but that's OK, whatever floats your boat type of thing.
It's got f@@k all to do with audio "religion", voodoo, science, fact, fiction.... it's all to do with the FACT that we are ALL very complex beings with unique auditory sensory skills, the human mind (fortunately) is not as clinical as a computer... it has emotions, it has passion, it has love, it has feelings..... to try and match up a piece of equipment to all these individual, living, being, breathing, walking, seeing, hearing emotional roller coasters is IMPOSSIBLE and I'm sure 99.9% of people would agree that they are unique?
There is nothing more "unique" than emotions, and music stirs the emotions AND the senses..... think of an old tune you liked back in the day, you can even smell and taste that time in place.... it's unique to you..... Can you remember what you were doing in 1983 from looking at a capacitor? erm.... nope!
Rick was so loved here (by me anyways) because he knew that we weren't all the same... we are all unique.... similarly he, like me, managed to pick up that not all capacitors "sound" the same... different brands, different chemical compositions equate to different "house" sounds.... could be that the two of us were two in a trillion (I am not discounting that) and we could both notice quite substantial tonal signature changes between different breeds of capacitor (and resistors).... Rick would ALWAYS back up any of his personal preferences with a "your mileage may vary", "use your own ears" type thing.....
What is pissing me off at the moment is the way this forum is veering off toward annoying people all trying to PROVE that they are correct.... NOBODY is correct, we are all little piss ants in the scheme of things, quasi "molecules" in the arsehole of the universe..... inconsequential, carbon footprint taxed arseholes who only have one true qualification in life and that is guaranteed death.
I am not a subjective / objective listener..... I enjoy music. Some days it sounds like crap, other times it takes me to a new level of being.... all depends on what mood I am in.... it's got f@@k all to do with anything OTHER than my ability to receive and zone in.....
If props like Peter Belt's rainbow foil, incense sticks, LSD, Magic mushrooms, ambient lighting, booze, snorting coke out of a hooker's belly button, a dusting of shake and vac on the carpet, a prince albert in your bell end or a simple "cap upgrade" do it for you then YOU are NOT wrong!
You are in the ZONE.
Read more: http://rockgrotto.proboards.com/thread/11264/finally-got#ixzz58IEq0Dje
I thought he made a few very salient points regarding the fact that everyone's ears, hearing and head-space is unique to them, and these are more important by far than the gear. See if you agree.
I am getting a little bit pissed of with the recent trend where people are expected to "prove" a point (even BEYOND reasonable doubt) and if the measurements don't change the sound cannot be different type of thing...it's all got to be proven beyond doubt before it is accepted as true.
People being blindfolded, gagged, strapped to chairs, hooked up to oscilliscopes, men in white coats taking notes... what the f@@k does any of this have to do with enjoying music?
Of course it's good to have healthy debate but to take it into a "laboratory" setting for conclusive proof is just going a bit too far AND it takes the enjoyment out of the music too...
FFS, it's not the equipment that should be under scrutiny, it's the listener! Trillions of people out there, all with different perception, different hearing abilities, different ears (remember that the human ear is as unique as fingerprints), different states of mind, some stressed, some happy, some relaxed, some sad, some mad, some insane, some drugged, some drunk, some sober, some sombre, some depressed, some manic..... believe me (and this is FACT!) put 1000 people in front of a live band and they will ALL have a different perception on what they saw and heard.... the "band" may have been technically perfect but the atmosphere, the vibe, the surroundings etc. will have been digested by each individual differently.
It annoys me intensly that we speak so much about the "equipment" but fail to realise that it will be listened to by trillions of ears, and each pair (being a unique acoustic shape) will hear things slightly differently.
A semi deaf person may actually get MORE out of a recording than a person with perfect hearing, much the same as a blind man can sense what's going on around him better than a fully sighted man.
A guy who is "zoned" into the vibe will get more from his transistor radio than a stressed out accountant listening to his latest "?700" 1 metre length of interconnect.
When we can accept the FACT that we are ALL individuals it will then become crystal clear that it's our "perception" of sound that matters (to us in an individual sense)...to have an "expert" tell us that changing a capacitor for a different brand / different value has no effect is actually quite insulting. That is one pair of ears telling a trillion ears that they are mistaken BUT if it sounds good to their ears then carry on... it's all in your mind but that's OK, whatever floats your boat type of thing.
It's got f@@k all to do with audio "religion", voodoo, science, fact, fiction.... it's all to do with the FACT that we are ALL very complex beings with unique auditory sensory skills, the human mind (fortunately) is not as clinical as a computer... it has emotions, it has passion, it has love, it has feelings..... to try and match up a piece of equipment to all these individual, living, being, breathing, walking, seeing, hearing emotional roller coasters is IMPOSSIBLE and I'm sure 99.9% of people would agree that they are unique?
There is nothing more "unique" than emotions, and music stirs the emotions AND the senses..... think of an old tune you liked back in the day, you can even smell and taste that time in place.... it's unique to you..... Can you remember what you were doing in 1983 from looking at a capacitor? erm.... nope!
Rick was so loved here (by me anyways) because he knew that we weren't all the same... we are all unique.... similarly he, like me, managed to pick up that not all capacitors "sound" the same... different brands, different chemical compositions equate to different "house" sounds.... could be that the two of us were two in a trillion (I am not discounting that) and we could both notice quite substantial tonal signature changes between different breeds of capacitor (and resistors).... Rick would ALWAYS back up any of his personal preferences with a "your mileage may vary", "use your own ears" type thing.....
What is pissing me off at the moment is the way this forum is veering off toward annoying people all trying to PROVE that they are correct.... NOBODY is correct, we are all little piss ants in the scheme of things, quasi "molecules" in the arsehole of the universe..... inconsequential, carbon footprint taxed arseholes who only have one true qualification in life and that is guaranteed death.
I am not a subjective / objective listener..... I enjoy music. Some days it sounds like crap, other times it takes me to a new level of being.... all depends on what mood I am in.... it's got f@@k all to do with anything OTHER than my ability to receive and zone in.....
If props like Peter Belt's rainbow foil, incense sticks, LSD, Magic mushrooms, ambient lighting, booze, snorting coke out of a hooker's belly button, a dusting of shake and vac on the carpet, a prince albert in your bell end or a simple "cap upgrade" do it for you then YOU are NOT wrong!
You are in the ZONE.
Read more: http://rockgrotto.proboards.com/thread/11264/finally-got#ixzz58IEq0Dje
