Listening to music

[popeyespappy]

Vulcanlogician's recent thread on trippy music, made me wonder not so much what most of you listen to as much as how you listen to it. Are you playing back crappy MP3's on your iPhone with a pair of cheap ear buds? Do you have a nice DAC decoding high resolution audio files through expensive headphones, or maybe vinyl via an old Mcintosh tube amp driving a pair of $15,000 Martin Logans? I'm asking because it makes a big difference. Some of you may not realize how much of a difference if you have never experienced anything but your iPhone and ear buds.

Once upon a time I had a nice stereo system. Pioneer separates including an equalizer and reverb pushing a pair of JBL 4312 monitors. Too many parties, too many moves, and not enough appreciation for what I had meant it didn't last long though. Eventually I replaced it with a surround sound system. I'm now on my third generation of surround sound which works great for watching movies, but just wasn't cutting it for listening to music. So much so that it was rare when I listened to music at home.

I recently decided fuck that. I want to listen to music again. So now I have a decent 2-channel audio system again. Which much to Karen's chagrin, required moving a bunch of furniture around to make it sound right. But now I can listen to my music the way it was intended to sound. I can hear things I didn't notice before. The soundstage in the sweet spot is perfect. I can close my eyes and hear the base player standing to left of the singer with the guitarist on the right and the drums behind. It's music like I remember it and I'm enjoying it a lot more than I have in years.

[arewethereyet]

I am from the age of albums and must admit to missing that sound.

If I am listening on my laptop (which I bought specifically because of it's upgraded sound card) I wear my Bose over the ear headphones. I listen from my phone sometimes to my hearing aids. With the hearing loss I have I feel lucky to still be able to enjoy music, especially with my beloved headphones.

No matter what I do, I will have some tonal quality loss but I don't let that stop me from listening to music from the 60s to now and from many genres.

[onlinebiker]

I listen to CDs while working in the garage on a 5 disc changer.

I have a bigassed Kenwood amplifier that could arc weld a battleship driving a set of Studio Pro speakers (the cabinets have two 18 inch woofers a 5 inch midrange and conical high end horns with a three way crossover) that are big enough to impress the guys who built Stonehenge.

Did I mention I am a bit hard of hearing?

Just follow the sound of Dire Staits. You'll find us.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

I’ve got these things called ‘radios’. They seem to work well enough.

Boru

[Angrboda]

My sound starts from my computer sound card, either from my collection of lossless audio files or via Amazon Music Unlimited. It goes through a Sony 7.2 channel A/V receiver, and out a pair of Pioneer tower speakers, a Klipsch 12" subwoofer, and for movies, an Energy (by Klipsch) CC-5 Center Channel Speaker. Sometimes the music starts a little further upstream from an Echo Dot. I was an audiophile when I was younger, but these days, it just has to be good enough. And I've suffered some hearing loss in my left ear recently, so music is a lower priority these days.

The only problem is that I'm relocating my computer, so these days I sit off to the side of my speakers. I intend to add a set of switchable, small studio monitors, but I don't have the money right now.


System:
Sony STR-DH790 7.2-ch Surround Sound Home Theater AV Receiver (145 watts x 7)
Pioneer SP-FS52 Home Audio Andrew Jones Designed Floor Standing Loudspeakers
Klipsch Reference RW-12d 12" Powered Subwoofer
Energy (by Klipsch) CC-5 Center Channel Speaker

[Jackalope]

I mostly stream Spotify to a pair of wired over-the-ear headphones. I do have a Pioneer A/V receiver with Klipsch bookshelf speakers in my home office which also mostly streams Spotify. We do have some old vinyl, and I was thinking about repurposing that for vinyl playback elsewhere in the house.

[popeyespappy]

I am from the age of albums and must admit to missing that sound.

Last week's garage sale find. Near mint for $0.25.

---

I have a bigassed Kenwood amplifier that could arc weld a battleship

There's a 200 watt a channel KR-1050 listed on Reverb right now $3,800.

---

My sound starts from my computer sound card, either from my collection of lossless audio files or via Amazon Music Unlimited.  It goes through a Sony 7.2 channel A/V receiver, and out a pair of Pioneer tower speakers, a Klipsch 12" subwoofer, and for movies, an Energy (by Klipsch) CC-5 Center Channel Speaker.  Sometimes the music starts a little further upstream from an Echo Dot.  I was an audiophile when I was younger, but these days, it just has to be good enough.  And I've suffered some hearing loss in my left ear recently, so music is a lower priority these days.

The only problem is that I'm relocating my computer, so these days I sit off to the side of my speakers.  I intend to add a set of switchable, small studio monitors, but I don't have the money right now.


System:
Sony STR-DH790 7.2-ch Surround Sound Home Theater AV Receiver (145 watts x 7)
Pioneer SP-FS52 Home Audio Andrew Jones Designed Floor Standing Loudspeakers
Klipsch Reference RW-12d 12" Powered Subwoofer
Energy (by Klipsch) CC-5 Center Channel Speaker

I'm building a new small PC around an EVGA NU audio card. Don't have it all together yet... My surround system is a STR DN1080 with decent speakers and front and rear subs. When I put the damn thing in direct (stereo) mode the damn subs shut off.

[arewethereyet]

I am from the age of albums and must admit to missing that sound.

Last week's garage sale find. Near mint for $0.25.

---

I have a bigassed Kenwood amplifier that could arc weld a battleship

There's a 200 watt a channel KR-1050 listed on Reverb right now $3,800.

I think I have two copies of that album. My parents bought it for me when I was a young teen and then fussed about hearing it thunder through the floor when I played it on my plastic clamshell Sears record player...then many years later my dad came across it at a sale and bought me another copy not realizing I still had the first.

[HappySkeptic]

I have vinyl and a table, but I listen mostly from a digital server, on a high-end stereo.

I've been into high-end audio since I was a teen. I can't get the same experience from headphones that I can from speakers.

[popeyespappy]

I have vinyl and a table, but I listen mostly from a digital server, on a high-end stereo.

I've been into high-end audio since I was a teen.  I can't get the same experience from headphones that I can from speakers.

Any recommendations for a nice DAC with a decent app in the $12 to $1500 range for streaming from a NAS?