[Closed] Audiophiles - listening recomendations

Love Action - Human League. There's a whole bunch of stuff going on in that song you can only hear well with headphones.

nickc - Member

Love Action - Human League. There's a whole bunch of stuff going on in that song you can only hear well with headphones.

Or a reference-level Hi Fi...

cliches I know, but Jennifer Warnes' Famous Blue Raincoat, Dark Side of the Moon, and Tubular Bells.

[i]Or a reference-level Hi Fi... [/i]

Sorry, genuine question, what does that mean?

Sorry, genuine question, what does that mean?

you would have to go and spoil it by asking awkward questions 🙁

nickc - Member

Or a reference-level Hi Fi...

Sorry, genuine question, what does that mean?

http://www.naim-audio.com/index.htm

... for example.

Ahhh right, decent HiFi, cool, I thought it was some sort of set up thing.

It means you have read the reference manual and have all your cables connected the right way around.

bonnie prince billy - master and everyone

the opposite of something like dark side of the moon, but very "immersive" on headphones

Or a reference-level Hi Fi...

Surely a real reference Hi Fi would be some flat frequency powered monitor speakers? 🙂

grievoustim, oooh that's a grand track, might have to stick that on

PS: I suppose I should offer an explanation of my own, so:

A "non reference-level" system will only allow you to hear a great deal less than 100% of the information that is contained in your source, ie: CD, MP3 download, Vinyl disc etc. You could say as little as less than 50% will get across to your ears.

A "reference level" system will relay at least 90% of what is available from your information source, also presenting it in a musical way with proper pitch, pace, rhythm and timing.

These parameters would apply to using headphones as well, of course.

The percentages I use are approximate only, just used to illustrate the situation.

Hope that helps. 😀

[i]These parameters would apply to using headphones as well, of course.[/i]

Do you mean decent headphones on a "non reference" HiFi are better, or are just better on the Reference HiFi?

I listen to most of my stuff on headphones, is it worth spending more on a decent set, or am I wasting my time?

Decent headphones on a poor system will only allow you to hear what the poor system is giving them. That's likely to actually sound worse than poor headphones attached to the same system, because good headphones are only likely to highlight the poor reproduction.

Any piece of equipment in the chain is only capable of working to it's best founded on the quality of the pieces preceding it down the chain from the source to your ear.

GIGO, basically.

such passion for music being displayed as usual on STW. "I'm cleverer than you" 🙄

Try some Flying Lotus.
[b]M83[/b] - take me to another world on headphones.

(no mention of "parameters", "percentages" and "reference levels" I'm afraid)

Good stuff I'm listening to at the moment- The XX- XX, Beach House - Teen Dream, Frightened Rabbit- The Midnight Organ Fight all fairly easy going stuff and for something a bit livlier, The **** Buttons - Street Horrrsing & Tarot Sport
This is some of what I'm listening to on my ipod at the mo

DezB - Member

such passion for music being displayed as usual on STW. "I'm cleverer than you"

Try some Flying Lotus.

I don't understand your comment. I'm just trying to help.

The album 'Blue ' by Joni Mitchell gives me the hair on the back of the neck thing, through a good system.

'Obtain' the Guitar Heros version of Metallica's latest album.

It was mistakenly put into the game losslessly from the unmastered tracks and subsequently ripped via the digital out. It sounds amazing compared to the released CD. The drums actually punch through the guitars instead of being background mush and clipping.

Mastering these days seems to consist of setting the digital gain to +12db and clipping the shit out of the tracks. 😕

[i]I don't understand your comment. I'm just trying to help.[/i]

Sorry MrW, but the OP was after listening recommendations, not spending £5K on a new hi-fi.

[i]on STW. "I'm cleverer than you"[/i]

sorry, DezB that was probably my fault, love my music, but I know eff all about HiFi, and MrWoppit does, just picking his brain is all.

Music recommendations? Farm, Dinosaur Jr "said the people" seems to be getting more playtime than other stuff ATM

Response #1. nickc proposed a conditionality.

In direct response to the OP: One of the things that has surprised me, following each upgrade that I have made to my system over the past year, is exactly how much subsequent detail and musicality is revealed by recordings of single, double or triple acoustic guitars, playing.

nickc, as a contrast between your speakers and your headphones, you might want to try something like:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Guitar-Trio-Lucia-McLaughlin-Meola/dp/B000004756/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1266405645&sr=1-11

not spending £5K on a new hi-fi.

Trying hard not to give in to the temptation to indulge in willy-waving, here... 😉

If I understand the question properly...I recommend some classic jazz albums by Miles Davis and the like. REM's albums after Green are good - Green and before are good in their own right but not so well recorded IMO. The there's some Zappa albums like Best Band you never heard in your life. Beastie Boys later ones then there's the Bjork album with the shouty track - Post and even Dangerous from Wacko. Also Ween, They Might be Giants and U2 later ones. Ooh and Jelly Fish.

BTW, I use Naim Hi-Fi but not sure it's reference - more exciting.

I'm listening to iPlayer through my laptop and iPod headphones
the stream is pretty good and certainly better than listening to other people tip tap tapping away at their keyboards and complaining about the weather
.
unfortunately I don't work in a soundlab
.
is that making you cry Mr Woppit? 😉

At the risk of diverting the thread and incurring the wrath of the membership 😐 , what's your system, mudshark?

[i]is that making you cry Mr Woppit? [/i]

I'm listening to Bar 9 - on iPod headphones, connected to a .... portable Minidisc player... recorded in LP2 mode..! And it's shaggin BRILLIANT!

[edit]My eardrums have just been chewed up and spat back out. Lervly.

I always find the idea that your choice of stereo drives what sort of music you listen to a bit odd.

Having said that some music sounds poor no matter how good the system (Manic Street Preachers for example).

The following are albums that I like and that sound fantastic.

Peter Gabriel - Us
Eels - Electro Shock Blues
Lambchop - Is a Woman

Some completely electronic recordings can be very rewarding - currently, my favourite is Justin and "dlay" from:

http://www.soapsudcity.com/

I haven't heard Peter Gabriel's "Us", but I DO have a copy of "Up".

The bass extension is really impressive, even more so because the production allows the rest of the instrumentation to still shine through...

Lambchop new to me, not my thing, but it's cool to listen to new stuff

I agree with dezb about m83, they're great. If you like that try listening to Norken, all the songs are good but east is a good one to listen to first... That stuff sends me miles away...

mudshark, never "got" Zappa, where would you recommend I start?

[i]That stuff sends me miles away... [/i]

Which reminds me: Burial.

I haven't heard Peter Gabriel's "Us", but I DO have a copy of "Up".

Us is much better than Up.

Burial +1

Dez, do you know Norken? I thinkyou would really like it...

[i]Dez, do you know Norken? I thinkyou would really like it... [/i]

Listening to Norken Radio on Last.fm at this very moment. Perfect listening for work 🙂 Cheers for the recommendation.
(and a big change from Bar 9!)

The most dissappointing CD's I've bought, simply because they can't compare to the quality of the original vinyl versions, are Jimmy Page's re-mastering of the Led Zeppelin output.

I think it was a bad idea to let him anywhere near the desk - after all, this IS a man who's spent over 40 years in front of an enormous stack of Marshall speakers listening to himself at enough volume level to launch a space shuttle... 😯

+1 for UP by M83- cracking track. A definate nod to Kate Bush on that one. I actually thought it was her when I first heard it.

http://www.last.fm/music/+noredirect/M83/_/Up+!?autostart

I really must get some decent headphones (rather than earbuds). So much of my listening is done like this these days - hifi is hardly used, alas - that is seems silly not to have a slight quality uplift, even if it isn't to [i]reference[/i] 🙄 standards.

There is an element of choosing a hifi to suit the music one likes (like Naim with their tradiotnally "fast" sound), but since I like a wide variety of music I have to accept the limitations of the kit I listen though. Most of all, though, I try not to listen too intently to the individual sounds, rather to absorb the whole effect.

For music to be good, it must touch my soul in some way. There is no [i]reference[/i] for that.

[i]For music to be good, it must touch my soul in some way. There is no reference for that. [/i]

I agree, I've never really been interested in whole HiFi thing, although i understand the appeal, music for me has to say something.

Rachmaninoff's Vespers recently made me sob like a baby...marvelous

ourmaninthenorth - Member

For music to be good, it must touch my soul in some way. There is no reference for that.

That's what's so good about NAIM equipment, in my experience - one of the things it does really well, is convey musicality (pitch, pace, rhythm and timing) - the "HiFi" stuff is a bonus.

Some systems I've heard can be wonderfully analytical, but don't inspire the foot to start tapping along...

Rachmaninoff's Vespers

Whose recording? I really must pick up a copy.

That's what's so good about NAIM equipment, in my experience

I don't deny that. Almost all Naim stuff I've listened to has been great, though the naimee adherents are a little on the tiresome side. Or, as a friend put it, if Naim released a condom with a hole through it, they'd claim it was better than industry standard.

I used to be really keen on hifi, but always as a means to an end. Now, all my CDs are loaded into the computer at 128mb, and I listen on my ipod. Recently, I've never bought so much music, regularly buying 5+ CDs a week.

I don't deny that.

Oh, O.K...

if Naim released a condom with a hole through it, they'd claim it was better than industry standard.

Well, obviously it would.

though the naimee adherents are a little on the tiresome side...

You should have a look at the forum - one post recently went into great depth discussing the best way to dust/clean the casing on one of their Power Supply Units... 😯