Thinking about this a bit more, I don't tend to doubt what I am hearing (for the most part) and describing it. I think I'm pretty good at that (my weakness is tweaks where for the most part I can't hear any differences). I feel less comfortable with the issue of proclaiming one piece of gear as "better" than another, assuming equipment of similar "quality" - I'm not talking about gross differences between mediocre and excellent gear. But when comparing the good stuff, I can hear differences, but find it hard to say which is better, as it always seems to be tradeoffs in one area of perfomance or another - and in no case does reproduce music sound like live, unamplified music - not very close IMHO. When asked to compare, I feel most comfortable saying two pieces of equipment (Music Reference versus Atma-sphere for example) are both very good, portray music differently and it is a matter of taste. I ask for other opinions of "disinterested" folks that know and love music since I feel I get a less analytical assessment (my own) and a more unbiased, natural reaction to the musical event coming through the gear.
In Whose Ears Do You Trust Most?
Ok, so I've been an audiophile for 30 years or so, I've heard a lot of equipment, and I think I can analyze sounds and express what I hear in words pretty well, but still, when it comes down to it, I don't feel 100% about what I think I'm hearing till my non-audiophile, equipment agnostic, music loving significant other tells me what she hears, how it compares, etc. I'm always a tiny bit afraid that I hear what I think I will hear (I think Roger Modjeski called it the Heathrow Effect) - don't know if you had that feeling. I trust her her naive, indifferent assesment of equipment to keep me honest. You?
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- 24 posts total
- 24 posts total