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Horrific Confession And Puzzling Questions

In what I hope is only a frenzy of interest, passion and enthusiasm, I often play many different CDs or DVDs in one sitting -- although not in their entirety -- which leaves me wondering:

1) Have any other members experienced an attention deficit disordered frenzy of playing different tracks or watching different scenes? I seem to annoy friends and girlfriends alike with this habit.

I know we audiophiles are often criticized for caring more about sound than music which can lead to a "listen to this!! ....and now this! ...and this!! ADD behaviour...

...but I love music -- I swear -- and I used to listen to albums, symphonies, operas straight through for HOURS -- blissfully. And now, as mentioned in another thread, I just jump around like some bleary eyed junkie trying to get some happiness and satisfaction.

These frenzies result in discs being scattered all over my floor, chair, or desk etc, and to be perfectly honest, I don't take very good care of them. Many of them are scuffed or scratched, despite my meticulous care of LPs and equipment. Which leads to my other question:

2) Does this really matter? Sometimes, if discs are badly scratched, they might not be read or they might skip, but they seem to endure surprisingly rough handling. Maybe my ears are tin, but it doesn't seem to really matter. Do those disc polishing cleaning thingys do anything? Do I need one?

Maybe this is all about digital..... Anyway, that's just one of the pressing concerns in the forefront of my brain today and I thank you for listening.
cwlondon
10 responses Add your response
jameswei
795 posts
 
We started doing this in college when the record companies would put one or two hits on an album then load up the rest of it with crap. You know what you want to hear, play it, then go to another album. Perfectly rational.

Classical is a little more complicated, but the same principles apply. You know what passage you want to hear, play it, then go to another album.

Perhaps it would be good if you took better care of your digital media. The error correcting algorithms in many CD players can forgive minor scratches, fingerprints, dust, etc. I don't like the scratch remover devices. They seem to take out big scratches but replace them with a large number of small scratches that the error correction algorithms convince the CD player to ignore. If you do develop some big scratches though, I would urge you to try one of these scratch removers. They don't cost very much.

I always try to treat my equipment and media with respect. We share a fetish for vinyl and obsessive fastidiousness for our LPs. I have extended that to my digital media as well. After all, if I don't take care of my CDs, I won't have "perfect sound forever," eh?
ozfly
887 posts
 
When I am showing my system to someone new, I tend to play a lot of different CD's (listen to this bass! listen to where the instruments are in this recording! do you like these guys?) -- and yes, it does get messy. Alone, I tend to listen to entire CD's or -- and here is my recommendation --> on a 5 CD changer put on ramdom disc, random track. That way, I only need to have 5 CD's out at a time and I put them away before I put in the next five. Plus it minimizes handling. CD's do perform better with good care. I use a Cal Audio CL-10 with the Perpetual Technologies system and it sounds quite good. Option 2: Have you tried meditation? ;-) Seriously, enjoy the music in whatever manner you choose! But, take care of the source and the source will take care of you. Enjoy, and always remember ... Think with your ears!
onhwy61's avatar
onhwy61
4,163 posts
 
When vinyl was the primary format a record ran from 40 to 50 minutes. A typical CD now runs 65 minutes. In the pop/rock arena this translates to more mediocre music per disc. Realistically, how many pop/rock CDs are worth listening from start to finish?
viridian's avatar
viridian
4,184 posts
 
This is truly an audiophile trait. Do you leave concerts after hearing your favorite song? For most audiopiles the system's sound is the thing of value and we constantly song serf to find things that lock in. Discophiles on the other hand - at least the ones I know - tend to get swept away with the music and play through the whole side.

Regarding your other query, it seems that the error correction circuitry in a CD player can really soak up a lot of juice both in correcting the physical position of the laser assembly and interpolating missing information. This can theoretically load down the power supply and effect the sonics of the player. Arguments are raised that many CD treatments minimize these Phenomena. But who really cares, you'll just be throwing in another CD in a minute anyway and maybe it'll be less scratched.
marsh
43 posts
 
I don't have any suggestions on the multiple movie scene senario, but as far as music goes, I found myself doing the same thing. Then I bought a multi disc transport that had a random feature. All of the sudden I found myself drawn to those songs that I had once ignored. Hope this helps your delima.

And, NO this is not an audiophile only trait. I think the door to the self convicting nature that we some times display swings both ways. Meaning some things we do are better and some things are much worse.
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
Viridian: Disco-philes are too busy dancing !!!
garfish
1,840 posts
 
Cw; I can relate. Several different points here though: 1. CDs are incredibly tough rascals-- have you ever tried to break one in half with your bare hands? 2. I like CDs and take just as good care of them as vinyl lovers do their LPs. 3. I have nice long, pleasant listening sessions, but when I'm trying out something new-- even a minor tweak, I sometimes drag out maybe dozens of CDs.

I've got to respectfully disagree with '61 a bit. Even in the early days of LPs, record companies have ALWAYS put filler in with "hit" music, and the same thing happens today with CDs, IMO. Also it's seldom that I find popular CDs with 60-65 min. of music-- most I see are in the 35-45 min. range. And yes CDs have just as much "filler" as LPs do-- but hell, that's what programming, delete, random, repeat, and CD-Rs are for-- IMHO. Cheers. Craig
pardales
652 posts
 
If your comfortable then your okay. Try to take care of your dics better. I think the suggestion of a multidisc player is a good one.

To me, I knew I landed on the right combination of components when I stopped, on a regular basis that is, changing tracks and albums before they were complete. I honestly feel like the need to keep telling people, or yourself, to hear this particular chord or drum beat, might be a sign of dissatifaction with your equipment. To me when I can focus on the music as a whole, and not the parts, I know I have arrived. But that is just me..........
mwalsdor
94 posts
 
Your situation is common, if that makes you feel better. The analytical process is partly to blame; how are you to know when to turn it off? And the other reason for this condition may be your system. That it does a better job of drawing attention to itelf than the music being replayed. This may satisfy you for awhile but unless you are a effects-geek it will not achieve long-term satisfaction. That can only result when the music-lover is unaware of the system or the technology or replay, and instead they are tricked or seduced into believing something else: The impression of live music is LESS fraudulent. When you forget what device you are critiquing or which passage you are listening for you may be on your way to creating not an instrument for frequency observation, but a transportation device.
kthomas
911 posts
 
Showing off your system to somebody else tends to bring out the rapid-switching phenomena - I think that often the person you're showing it to doesn't have the innate interest in it that we do, and there's a "need" to try to get them to be wowed. When it doesn't immediately happen, it's, quick, on to the next piece, maybe that will work.

I used to listen to whole album, album after album, but then again, I used to have no kids, no stressful, time consuming job, etc. I also had less money to pursue other things I was interested in. I think part of it is the higher end system and all the audio "tricks" we like to explore, but I think part of it is just that life is a heck of a lot more distracting that it used to be.

I have a Netflix subscription and with rare exceptions, every disc I get looks like there is no way that it will play, it's so scratched up. Again with rare exceptions, they all do. Amazing. -Kirk

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