I was watching a videocast on Tekzilla on the Revision3 website and there was a question someone sent in asking about what mp3 player to get for listening to lossless audio. The hosts mentioned what exactly lossless files are and then talked about what players actually sound good. The iPods, of course, were mentioned as not being as good as other players, such as those offered by Cowon (spelling?). They didn't address the issue of quality of headphones, which I think they should have, but the videocast got me thinking about my experiences with "hi-fi" gear and compressed audio.
Audiophiles are interesting to me, because they're all about getting the best quality gear to hear everything that's in musical recordnings. There's nothing wrong with getting good quality gear, don't get me wrong, but how much does it really matter? My sister can't hear details in music that I can, so what would getting audiophile gear really matter to her? She can't even hear the difference between 128k and 192k mp3's.
Since I got my Grado SR60's, I've been enjoying great quality sound, and especially since I got my home studio KRK V6 speaker monitors, I can really hear the details in all music. BUT, you know what's interesting to me? I thought going back to listening to music through lower quality gear, I wouldn't be able to hear the same details. What I've found, actually, is that I can still hear most of the details in my music even on cheap gear. What gives?
What I've found is that the higher quality gear makes details EASIER to hear. The details are still there no matter what gear it's playing through . . . I just didn't hear it as easily before. Getting the headphones and monitors allowed me to hear the details, but then going back to lower quality gear, I can still hear the details. I've found this actually helps with my mixing because understanding how music translates from gear to gear helps me mix correctly so the music sounds good on all equipment.
What's my point? I'm not sure. Maybe, the rate of return on high quality musical gear is lower than what an audiophile thinks. Maybe there's a point where hi-fi gear stops being hi-fi and it just gets gratuitously expensive. That point is different for each person, but I think most people have better hearing than they think they do. Don't let your gear take away your musical enjoyment!
My Trusted MOGs
Or, as a famous Rock musician had to say about the subject after decades of high decibel performances: "Eh? What did you say?"
My Trusted MOGs
Amen, brother! I remember having the same experience about 20 years ago. I went to a local audiophile dealer who designed and sold his own brand of speakers (can't remember the name) that were about twice as expensive as standard stuff.
He did this little demo where he sat me in the middle of the room, equally spaced between the speakers, and played a Pink Floyd CD while I had my eyes closed. I remember hearing "new" stuff, and feeling like I was 10 feet in front of the actual band. Then when I got home and did a similar thing with my cheap Fisher speakers (which I still own, BTW) I heard all of the same things.....so I never bought those pricey things....and I've never regretted it.
It's a lot less expensive to have less discriminating tastes! ;-D