Audio reproduction is a matter of taste?

[JoeWhip]

The simple answer is yes. We all have different processors between our ears and therefore process data differently. Why should audio be different than all other personal experiences?

[JoeWhip]

I have been involved in numerous listening sessions with the same system playing all kinds of music where there was no universal agreement on whether the system was transparent or faithful to the fidelity of the recording. Unless you were in the room when a recording was made, you don’t know if what you are hearing   Is faithful to the original sound. Playback in the control room can be very colored too. I have experienced this myself. I sat at a Steinway ticking the ivories during one of my son’s recording session. Going back to the control room and listening to the live mic feed on a set of big JBL’s, I was struck at the difference in tone. Maybe the tone would have been perfect on a different set of speakers? Who knows? I do know that the final recording sounds great on my system but I can’t say it sounds just like what I experienced live. So yes, it is all a matter of taste. There are no absolutes in audio. Hey Chris loves Wilson’s. Me, not so much. I am good with that. The matrix has nothing to do with it.

[JoeWhip]

It is more like 20 tracks but that is OK.

[JoeWhip]

Yeah, and guess what, it is still true. I will have a LIM here next week for a formal review and comparison with my OG. As for the power cords, Jim Anderson hears the same thing as I do. So I am not the only delusional one out there.

[JoeWhip]

Sure he is, only politely. I am ok with that as I hear with my ears and brain and no one else’s.

[JoeWhip]

Well, condescending at least. Of course it is a matter of taste. We use language in an attempt to describe what we hear. Same with food and wine reviews. I don’t see hard and fast objective truths in audio as they go through our unique filters. Which is why I see no point in arguing about tubes v. SS etc. pointless.

[JoeWhip]

Musk, chocolate , black current leaves are not flavors? We  use language to describe what we hear, at times, inartfully. A wine reviewer does the same thing to describe what they taste. I compare what I hear to what I have experienced, like the sound of a piano. A wine reviewer knows what chocolate tastes like, at least to him, no? Same damn thing. This isn’t hard friends.

[JoeWhip]

Watching Spurs losing to Palace. Time to move on.

[JoeWhip]

So I guess we should use the term aural sensations then? OK.

[JoeWhip]

I am out after this. Listening to music and audio is entirely a subjective experience. When I say something is more accurate or real, it is so to ME, maybe not you. By all means, if you don’t like what people write, don’t read it. Doesn’t matter to me. Bickering here is like arguing about the shape of the earth, pointless, although I do enough of that in one of my other “jobs”.

[JoeWhip]

Praise be!

[JoeWhip]

I have the same speakers Jud. You are correct of course!😀

[JoeWhip]

Someday Markus. Btw, I love the debate idea as I have done it on other even more contentious topics. Cameras on though! 

[JoeWhip]

Hopkins, please stop calling people here with different opinions than you on this subject dishonest. You also made similar assertions against Schiit for having three flavors of Yggy. 

[JoeWhip]

I will have the LIM on Friday and will be doing a ton of listening. I doubt that Schiit is scamming their customers. They are telling you exactly what they are doing with the three dacs. Scamming is taking an Oppo Blu ray player and putting it in a fancy box and tripling the price without telling the customer.

[JoeWhip]

1 hour ago, hopkins said:

Perhaps some people who claim all this is a matter of taste can explain in detail how they evaluate components or various tweaks they implement in their systems?  

 

Also, if it's all a matter of taste, do you follow others' recommendations and if so based on what you think their tastes are? How does all this work in practice? 

Well, I generally pay little head to reviewers in the major mags. I have been in too many rooms with some to know that they listen for different things than me. I guess that is the polite way to say it. I look for who the manufacturer is as part of the decision making process, generally for reliability. Don’t want to purchase from what could be a here today gone tomorrow company. Take Schiit for example. Back in the ‘90s I had some in person conversations with Mike M. and owned some Theta products, one of which still works quite well. Made it easier to decide to try one of his new DACs. I use previous experiences with designers like Richard Vandersteen and Steve McCormack in the process. But in the end, once I am satisfied with reliability and such, it is listening to the product either here on in systems that I have familiarity. Being in an audio group brings in all kinds of options for listening and experiencing numerous products. I have extensive joint listening sessions with a small group whose opinions I value, but I do not always agree. I have to make the ultimate purchasing decisions using my ears. If the company has a30 day return policy, that helps too.  Once I do extensive listening, I take the product out and listen again to try to make sure I am not fooling myself. It is amazing how many times I thought I was hearing a difference but wasn’t. I did not buy those products. On the other hand, there are times, like the ESP cords that I couldn’t put them back in the system fast enough. It is products like that which are keepers. Finally, if I have to think I hear a difference or an improvement, I really am not, so I never purchase those products.