Why do musicians have lousy Hi-Fis?

Why do musicians have lousy hi-fis?
by Steve Guttenberg
August 11, 2012

"It's one of life's little mysteries, but most musicians have the crappiest stereo systems. I know it doesn't make sense, but it's true: most musicians don't have good hi-fis."

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-57490819-47/why-do-musicians-have-lousy-hi-fis/

 

I think Steve is cutting a pretty wide swath on this. The 20 or 30 musicians I've interviewed in the last five years all had great hifi systems and loved to listen to music. Unless you've really interviewed a wide sampling, I think this is a tough one to call.

A lot of my friends that are musicians that aren't terribly successful financially, (again to small of a sampling to really make an accurate call) are just the opposite. They spend most of their money on their instruments and often spend so much time touring, that by the time they get home, they really aren't crashing in front of the stereo like many of us would.

I think if we were able to address a wider range of musicians, we might get a different answer...

 

You may as well close the thread right now. This is so dead on.

 

Because they spend their money in overpriced guitars/amps/effects...

 

This matches my experience, especially the part in bold. I think you are correct.

 

Because they spend a lot of time experiencing real sound, unlike the rest if us who spend on hifi to get a facsimile of the real thing.

 

Agreed,

the vast majority do not own stellar systems???

 

The musicians I know spend all their hi-fi money on drugs!

 

Their ears are caned from years of PA abuse.

 

FWIW, I think most musicians fit into Category 3 when it comes to music. These are my categories as to how people feel about music.

1. People who hate music - they turn off a radio when they walk into a room where one is playing. Do not own a stereo, cds or anything like that. Listen to talk radio in their car if they listen at all.

2. People who do not care one way or the other about music. They are OK with low volume background music. They don't own many cd's and if they have a music system it is cheap and they seldom use it.

3. People who really like music but do not understand or care about sound quality that much. I think this category includes the great majority of people. I think many musicians and many non-musicians are in this category because once they hear the music on any system (AM radio, ipod, boom box) their mind takes over and they hear the music as it should sound without even realizing how it really sounds. I have no data to support my theory, it is just what I think.

4. Audiophiles - people who love music, but also want it to sound right.

 

I can easily recall the stereo of a conductor who is very active in the San Francisco Bay area. His was an all-in-one stereo with speakers on the floor of the music room along with a beautiful double manual harpsichord and a cello. In this case it was simple—his closest approach to the original sound was the original sound. Mind you, this conductor makes audiophile recordings. I would think the rules of the game for 'classical' musicians will be different than for rock/pop types. Sound quality for classical musicians involves a different set of concerns than for rock and roll folk. Have to say that most of the musicians I recorded cared about sound but didn't spend as much money on playback gear as on instruments and such.

 

Musicians are people. Most people don't have "audiophile" stereos. Be that as it may, I've found that this depends on the kind of musician. I know many jazz musicians personally, and while they may not be fanatical about audiophilia like we are, they definitely care about sound, and they have an ear (much better ear than audiophiles who are not musicians) for what sounds good. From my experience, most have some kind of stereo in their homes.

That said, there are some audiophile musicians. Ron Carter is one.

 

I am a musician, although I don't play much professionally anymore, and I have a great stereo. But, there was a time, when I was more involved with music, when my stereo was nothing more than a boombox, for the simple reason that I did not have much time to listen to music at home.
Practicing, composing, recording etc. can take a long time and you cannot be involved with music 24/7. After 6-8 hours of practice or recording you want to do something else to clear your mind.

 

I sold my Rega Saturn to a somewhat well off musician.

Here's the "listening station" at his recording studio (I asked for a pic)

 

Oh... lol... the wide shot!

 

Quad speakers, perfect!

 

But also, most people don't have good sound systems....I know musicians who have great gear, some mediocre and some bad...each one has its reasons to be.

I don't understand why people have the notion that musicians don't have or wouldn't appreciate quality gear.

 

Most folks obsess on one thing at a time, whether it be computers, motorcycles, cars, bicycles, boats, etc. When I was playing out I was all over ebay and musician Web sites yacking about guitars, basses, and amps. I don't play out any more, my music gear is way better than I need, and so now I waste time salivating over stereo equipment and reading sites like this.

I must say, "audiophiles" who don't play instruments seems odder to me than musicians who don't spend big money on stereos.

 

I read this about classical musicians that their minds adjust for the inadequacies of the system.

 

Part of Steve's view stems from when he was working with Chesky Records in the 90s. He and David would talk about how many musicians they knew with lousy systems. Sometimes we would make them a test CD to try and we would get some weird comments that we later traced back to poor playback. So sometimes we would play the CDs back in the Chesky mastering quite. They were usually pretty excited after that. Sometimes they would complain about the volume level being low because Bob Katz wanted to ensure lots of dynamic range. It sometimes took some explaining but most got it.

But I do believe part of the reason is financial. I've been working with some top violinists from the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and while they make decent money by most people's standards they often face the burden of buying a $300-500K instrument to get great tone. Sometimes great talent will enable them to be loaned a fine instrument; sometimes it will not. Nick and I try to steer them to great budget gear when we can and they often take our advice. There is a desire to have a system that sounds good so they can more precisely judge their tone and listen better for missed notes.

And as others mentioned the touring can be grueling.

 

"the rest of us?"

 

This right here is perhaps the most accurate thing ever written on this forum

 

Really?? Would it count if said audiophile played piano at a young age? LOL.

Perhaps they should have some singing capability too as most music is not strictly instrumentals...

I think there are only two legit "excuses" for musicians who don't own decent stereo gear:

a) Poor - obviously this is understandable across the lot for all people.
b) Listening for pleasure is somehow equivalent to "work". We all know those who have cool jobs who would prefer not to do these "cool" things after hours.

Still....I wonder about pop/rock star musicians who have plenty of money. Do you think John Mayer has a nice system? Alicia Keys?

Would be disappointing if they didn't. These people listen to music for enjoyment/relaxation too just like the rest of us.

 

You don't know what you're missing until you're exposed to it. As my brother (who still plays and performs something I haven't done in years) points out it's ultimately about what the music communicates to the performer not necessarily what they "hear". That appreciation can come later but there are also people who prefer to "see" films for example with no film grain and textures that look plastic assuming that's what high def, for example, should look like.

Then again there are those people who just don't care--it's about the emotion of the music.

Let's keep in mind that also professional musicians are probably more likely than the average person to experience hearing loss as well so some of those rare folks who don't--that may play a role in their listening as well.

I don't think it's black and white.

 

For Christmas 1977, Ruby Seals asked me to help her buy a stereo system for Jimmy. He had nothing and hardly any records, which was quite a shock to me.

I got him some Advents, a Kenwood table and IIRC Hafler preamp and amplifiers. We didn't spend a whole lot, but got some good value gear. Of course he had no records so he asked me to take him shopping. This was a total disaster as the only record shop he felt comfortable going to was a small Mexican shop in San Fernando, and they had hardly any pop titles.

I told him that we needed to go to a Wherehouse or Tower, but he had no interest in doing that for fear of being recognized. I went instead and got him a handful of current records.