Is progress taking some of the enjoyment out of hifi?

[BTH K10A]

Folowing a discussion earlier today with a friend who had disposed of his Kindle because he missed browsing at bookshops and the physical ownership of "real books" as he put it, my thoughts turned to hifi and how I get as much enjoyment out of the equipment and the physical medium as I do from the music.

Now I have tried to get into file based audio, but I find it all a bit sterile and lacking in tactile experience. I'm not talking about the music, more so the whole hifi experience with records and their sleeves, turntables and their foibles etc. CD and it's successors reduced the experience, but at least it was still a physical medium. So for me, filed based audio will just be for casual lofi listening on my iphone and I'll stick to the old fashioned (Luddite?) way for the hifi.

[The Grand Wazoo]

I think it can take some of the enjoyment out of the experience of owning and using music, but it can also provide a lot of it's own enjoyment too. My music buying habits are partially by design, but I also buy a lot of things opportunistically. If I didn't have a variety of ways of accessing music, I would be missing out. Records, CDs, tapes, files - they're all a way of accessing the prize, so why deny yourself out of some ridiculous allegiance to one format or another?

[Macca]

I think that anyone over the age of forty-five is probably habitualized to physical formats, with the exception of the I.T types who find the mysterys of file audio great fun to unravel.

It's what i'm used to and it's what I know so I stick with it. In any case Hendrix and Zep still don't sound right to me unless it is vinyl. But again it is just conditioning I suppose.

I went down to the off-licence earlier and realised I missed the old place that was a proper offy with wine in barrels and an old gadgee running the show. Now it is just a mini-mart sort of thing same as you get everywhere. Progress is not always what it is cracked up to be.

[BTH K10A]

I don't think I miss out an anything as I will always buy the music I want to listen to via my hifi in a format that adds to the enjoyment.

As I have said, there is a place for file based audio for me, it's just that it will be for convenience listening on the go and maybe sampling some new music online pror to purchase in what is to me a preferable format.

[Stratmangler]

My Squeezebox provided me with easy access to music when I couldn't get up and down and move easily due to having had spinal surgery - I was in a chest and neck brace for the best part of 4 months.
I had a neck fracture due to being shunted in my car, something which could happen to any one of us. The driver who hit me wrote my car off, and nearly managed to put me in the scrapyard with it.
As such the Squeezebox was a lifeline.
Don't knock technology just because it doesn't suit your way of doing things.

During the period I'm talking about the Luddite experience was not something I could enjoy.
Be grateful that you still can - I enjoy playing vinyl again now, but that was denied to me for a long time.

[Macca]

I never listen on the go and if I want to check out a band I use u-tube. If I like it then I will get the cd. So at the moment I dont need a computer for music but I could enisage a situation where that might change. When I was a teenager you would swap tapes with a mate. Now they swap files. I suppose the principle is the same.

[The Grand Wazoo]

I don't think I miss out an anything as I will always buy the music I want to listen to via my hifi in a format that adds to the enjoyment.
Sorry that wasn't intended as a poke at you, more a general rant at widespread silliness.

[struth]

it is interesting, but as an oldie with a vinyl habit, I have 3 old laptops doing sterling work playing my cd collection in flac form through my 3 systems. Have to say vinyl wins with aesthetics and in many cases, sound too, but flac is not far off these days and is very convenient; maybe too convenient!!
I'd say it has its place, and if you have a redundant laptop then with fairly low input of cash and perhaps a bit more re time you can have another string to your bow.

[destroysall]

I believe there are differences between the concepts of adoring music and hi-fi gear. I believe above all, that music should be the primary aspect in one's quest for music being accurately reproduced. If it can be easily obtained ethically, I find it to be essential. However there is a joy that I do believe conveys itself when owning something tangible. I believe this is one of the reasons physical media and research materials are still produced and asked for. Owning music and gear in the physical allows one to connect more with their products; creating a spiritual sensation almost. I don't see it depreciating to the point of extinction for a long time. Tangibility is something very important to human beings. We can't rid of it even if we wanted to.

Think of it as art. In art, we have "isms" or movements. In one particular movement called Futurism, the idea of progression became known. However afterward we had a new movement arrive entitled Surrealism, the idea of dreams intermingling with reality to create a whole new reality; releasing the creativity of the unconscious mind. If we were to put this into context, progression is not always the way of the future, because dreams and ideas of the past will continue to linger forever. This supports that physical media and gear perhaps will never disappear because as aforementioned we see it as the ultimate gateway to pure hi-fidelity sound. It will never fade into the abyss known as time. You can affirm this in plenty of examples today. One primary example can be pinpointed to the fascination many have of the early-mid 20th century. I can not tell you how many automobile shows I've attended where vehicles from the 1930s-1950s were present. Its our dreams of wonder that are placed onto our past as humans that will never allow us to progress fully.

Cheers,
Chris

[Marco]

I would totally agree with what you're saying, Andy, as in terms of the joys of using physical music media, those are my sentiments entirely. However, Chris (Strat) also makes a valid point, which is that file-based audio also has a very useful function, depending on one's lifestyle and also on how one chooses to listen to music.

One thing I can certainly appreciate with those who prefer the FBA route, is the lack of clutter it brings, due to not having to house a physical music collection. If your music collection is small to medium-size, say no more than 500-1000 LPs and CDs, it's not too hard to store them somewhere. However, when that collection grows to many thousands of each, that's when it becomes a major issue!

Of course, that problem can largely be solved by having a dedicated room for one's system and music collection, but unfortunately not all of us can afford that luxury - and even then, it can get to the point where one is simply running out of space, as I myself am currently discovering... It's a good job that we own another property locally where we can house the stuff we no longer listen to...!

However, for me, FBA (File-Based Audio) fulfills three main needs:

1) Convenience/lack of clutter for those who desire such through their lifestyle choice/assistance for those with temporary or permanent physical disabilities with listening to music.

2) Can provide an upgrade if one doesn't own a top-notch CD player or turntable, capable of competing with or outperforming, sonically, the best of what FBA has to offer.

3) Easily facilitates the discovery of new music.

For me, only 3) is relevant.

However, I can get that from simply listening to Spotify on my laptop, swapping music with friends, or even better, popping into my local independent record shop and flicking through 1000s of records and CDs, and taking a punt on something different, or asking the chap that owns the shop (who invariably is someone I've gotten to know well) to play it on the shop system before I buy it.

I've probably discovered more new music that way over the years, than any other way - and most importantly, it's fun! :)

Most importantly too, I own the music and my collection has a (considerable) monetary value, which is something that FBA can never offer........

Some of the local record shop owners even phone me up when they get something new in they know I'll like, and so I'll pop along and check it out. That arrangement works especially well for rare albums that are hard to find - and on top of that, I get great deals with discounts for cash on multiple purchases. Now *that* is what you call customer service, and why I enjoy supporting my local record shops!

The day I can get that sort of service from a computer, is the day I'll probably invest in FBA... ;)

Marco.