auditioning sessions vs. listening sessions

Hi Newbee,
How right you are. No flow if you audition, not even that of the grape, however the latter helps in flowing and drifting when just enjoying the music....(:

Detlof, You are so right,

God bless the grape! Off topic, sort of, my first real experience with wine tasting occurred on Thanksgiving day 10 years or so ago. My brother-in-law entrusted us with keeping 45 cases of California Cabs, 10 year old stuff he took delivery of from some wine futures. We didn't touch it til he came to Calif for a visit. We opened one of each brand and did a 'wine tasting'. I really gained appreciation for; 1)the small but important differences in wine, and 2) how an appreciation for the subtlies could eclipse any memories of the rest of the day! Wish I could say as much about some audio experiences. I still have 2 bottles left. My brother in law never took delivery from me! :-)

The two often mix for me. When adding something new I start in the auditioning mode, if its a good change I just sort of drift into the music mode. Bad changes usually get tossed out pretty quickly so I don't have to stay in the analytical mode for any length of time.

The most difficult changes are the very subtle ones. I can change my listening modes quite often over the evaluation period. These evaluation periods are generally long listening sessions (five to eight hours) over several weeks or even months. Sometimes everything can seem perfect, than some recording I put on brings out something I don't quite like, suddenly I've gone from listening to auditioning.

Often, these subtle changes require other subtle changes, and on and on.... I can be constantly switching between the listening mode or audition mode through all these changes. Actually, I suppose I'm perpetually doomed to be in this mixed mode. Isn't this forever cycling of the auditioning/listening mode the very essence of audiophilia? The non-audiophile can simply stop making changes and be in listening mode forever.

Ha Newbee,
still off topic but much to the point, your tale, though much more civilized than mine to follow, reminds me of a wedding I was invited to many years ago, where I drifted into a room full of different wines waiting to be served during the day of festivities. I was alone and settled down to taste. When they found me, their mood was different to mine. I was gloriously happy, they were not. I woke up next morning in my own bed. I don't remember how I got home. When I looked, my car was parked properly where it always was. I was about 21 at that time. Long, long ago. Wasn't always that lucky as I had been on that day...No, it wasn't my own wedding....

I think Detlof hits the nail on the head when he says that equipment must serve the music, not the other way around. Musicians often talk about their techniques being the slave of the music, and not the other way around.
I would say that critical listening should also be in the service of musical enjoyment. So to take Twoleftears second and third categories, the more one listens in the second category, the more one will learn, and this new understanding furthers the enjoyment of the third category listening. And the two categories do not necessarily need to be separated, either. If critical listening is approached in this way, then the "cycling" Sns speaks of will become a positive thing, and not a negative one.