The scrutiny that audiophiles face in music appreciation is unlike in any other passion. For one, there are those who purport being an audiophile automatically excludes qualifications as a music lover. In the world of art hobbyists, never has one been ostracized similarly. If you claim to be a lover of romantic painting, your qualification comes from frequent visits to museums, ownership of a replica and perhaps some participation in exhibit fundraising. For a book lover, a collection of bestsellers and collector’s editions does it. But if you proclaim to be a lover of music, things become less straightforward.
What constitutes qualification as a music lover differs among its purveyors. Ask a random person and he’ll likely posit the ability to play an instrument as paramount. Ask any member of an orchestra from the conductor to individual players and he/she will include every member of the audience. More than painting and writing, the ability to play an instrument depends on one’s giftedness. One can practice the art of painting and writing and attain some heights but music playing is an ability that will only get better and be enjoyable if one is born with such a gift. Barring that, intense will and commitment towards practicing is paramount. Even some composers can be categorized as sound experimenter or music expert and to differing degrees, music lover.
But can an audiophile be a music lover, or are these two classifications mutually exclusive of each other? I often come across comments that seek to exclude an audiophile from the rank of music lovers. The proponents contend that audiophiles listen to their equipment and not music, thus they cannot be music lovers. I can see the underlying intent of prioritizing music listening, but music listening at its most fundamental level is a way to spend time, whatever concomitant benefits there may be.
The audiophile hobby can consume vastly more money and time than a whole slew of others. There are those with means, who just throw money at the hobby and desire to be entertained; but just as in anything worth doing, it becomes hollow indulgences when wealth approaches a point where money is no longer a concern to the individual. To the audiophile population as a whole, which is considerable, the hobby engages many facets of modern day living, namely the financial planning aspect, the allure of technological advancement and the promotion of it by the industry at large, the buying and selling of said sough-after machines, the joy of inviting likeminded audiophiles to experience one’s system, etc. The hobby actually cultivates the love of music in many; the joy of discovering one’s own meticulously ensembled sound system being worthy of the most beautiful of music is real. There is no other hobby like it.
The question, then, is if it is more meaningful to spend thousands of dollars on equipment and music content and then listen to the music thus-produced for hours on ends, or would one rather prefer spending the same time and resources on whatever else.
In this sense, what makes the audiophile a music lover is his passion for reproducing the most realistic sound of instruments in his own home, and the satisfaction of experiencing music performed by renowned ensembles of the world, produced by fine instruments and recorded in the most meticulous and professional manner. Anyone can be a music lover on the cheap, be my guest if you want to be the one, true music lover requiring only music in your head. Concert season tickets are nowhere near the cost of building a sound system, but to be an audiophile music lover? It takes a lot.
The scrutiny that audiophiles face in music appreciation is unlike in any other passion. For one, there are those who purport being an audiophile automatically excludes qualifications as a music lover. In the world of art hobbyists, never has one been ostracized similarly. If you claim to be a lover of romantic painting, your qualification comes from frequent visits to museums, ownership of a replica and perhaps some participation in exhibit fundraising. For a book lover, a collection of bestsellers and collector’s editions does it. But if you proclaim to be a lover of music, things become less straightforward.
What constitutes qualification as a music lover differs among its purveyors. Ask a random person and he’ll likely posit the ability to play an instrument as paramount. Ask any member of an orchestra from the conductor to individual players and he/she will include every member of the audience. More than painting and writing, the ability to play an instrument depends on one’s giftedness. One can practice the art of painting and writing and attain some heights but music playing is an ability that will only get better and be enjoyable if one is born with such a gift. Barring that, intense will and commitment towards practicing is paramount. Even some composers can be categorized as sound experimenter or music expert and to differing degrees, music lover.
But can an audiophile be a music lover, or are these two classifications mutually exclusive of each other? I often come across comments that seek to exclude an audiophile from the rank of music lovers. The proponents contend that audiophiles listen to their equipment and not music, thus they cannot be music lovers. I can see the underlying intent of prioritizing music listening, but music listening at its most fundamental level is a way to spend time, whatever concomitant benefits there may be.
The audiophile hobby can consume vastly more money and time than a whole slew of others. There are those with means, who just throw money at the hobby and desire to be entertained; but just as in anything worth doing, it becomes hollow indulgences when wealth approaches a point where money is no longer a concern to the individual. To the audiophile population as a whole, which is considerable, the hobby engages many facets of modern day living, namely the financial planning aspect, the allure of technological advancement and the promotion of it by the industry at large, the buying and selling of said sough-after machines, the joy of inviting likeminded audiophiles to experience one’s system, etc. The hobby actually cultivates the love of music in many; the joy of discovering one’s own meticulously ensembled sound system being worthy of the most beautiful of music is real. There is no other hobby like it.
The question, then, is if it is more meaningful to spend thousands of dollars on equipment and music content and then listen to the music thus-produced for hours on ends, or would one rather prefer spending the same time and resources on whatever else.
In this sense, what makes the audiophile a music lover is his passion for reproducing the most realistic sound of instruments in his own home, and the satisfaction of experiencing music performed by renowned ensembles of the world, produced by fine instruments and recorded in the most meticulous and professional manner. Anyone can be a music lover on the cheap, be my guest if you want to be the one, true music lover requiring only music in your head. Concert season tickets are nowhere near the cost of building a sound system, but to be an audiophile music lover? It takes a lot.