Why do musicians have lousy Hi-Fis?

Another twist I'll throw out.

The music musicians *play* and the music they *listen to* are often, perhaps usually, two different things. Rock musicians tend to listen to jazz, and jazz musicians tend to listen to classical. The itch that gets scratched is an appetite for harmonic complexity, which is perhaps hard to fully appreciate if you don't know something about harmony.

 

Hey:
Maybe. My experience as a lifetime on and off Semi Pro musician is
that a good number of Musicians aren't that interested in music except
for the own or the music they're making/performing. Many just don't listen that
much for a variey of reasons...including burnout or over exposure, insecurity, lack of curiosity.
I've known and played with a fair number of players who don't listen much or
consume music period. Don't even go to concerts. Sad I know but that's how it is..


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

 

Many musicians just don't listen music in their free time, they need a bit silence.
A very close friend of mine, a chorus conductor and pianist, working really hard (she conducts two professional choirs plus one child choir plus she work as a pianist) very very rarely listen to any music just for fun - she is so tired of music, and on top of that she is an absolutist (she can name immediately the exact note when hear any sound), that she just need rest. Once she asked me to stop the music in the car, because she just see all those notes..so for her a classy audio system is the very last priority, and it's understandable, IMO

 

No kidding. Even just dabbling in an instrument offers far greater "insight" than even the best quality system.

 

All I know how to play are records so I'm not a musician. I wonder if a musician would rather spend time listening to the music being reproduced and not the equipment reproducing it?

 

Good point. I always get friends wanting me to stop by on the weekend and set their turntables up. Now that it's a job, I'd rather put the top down and go for a ride in the country. I can see how it's easy to lose the fun aspect of it all.

 

I am a musician most of my friends are in the business. Most of 'em don't have nice stereo, and a significant amount don't have a proper stereo at all. The one's who do have nice gear make more money, are typically into recording, and are at least 40 years old.
By the way... I never understand the comments here about musicians maybe not desiring a nice stereo because they get to hear the real thing... as if it sounds superior to a stereo. I think live music sounds like crap, almost without exception.

 

I was in a band in the late 90s-early 2000s where all of our members were huge music fans. Every night after rehearsal, we would spend hours listening to CDs on a great audiophile worthy system. Reading the stuff in this thread has made me realize how lucky I was to be in a band like that.

Also, I remember reading an interview with Eddie Van Halen (who I love BTW) where he said he listened primarily to his own music. Now that was something I couldn't understand. Even when I was really proud of something I had written and recorded, I didn't want to listen exclusively to myself. I could never be moved by my own songs in the way I was by other people's music.

 

"live music" is a rather broad term. And in the broad sense I agree that most of it does sound crap. But I think in audiophilia what we are really talking about is live acoustic music played well in an excellent venue from an excellent POV. That particular flavor of live music really does set the standard for aesthetic excellence IMO.

 

Maybe some musicians have a tight budget.

 

I have had experienced great sounding live music (e.g. Kenny Rogers) and very heavily compressed live music although the performance was great (e.g. Miranda Lambert) and I hear more of the latter than the former.

 

I am a musician and have a great stereo. But I grew up listening to vinyl with my Dad and learned early about sound. My musician friends all love my system but generally cannot afford one like it , not that I can either
Exposure to quality sound is rare in most circles including musicians.
A friends band, The Critters, just released a vinyl EP (also available as a free download at thecrittersmusic.com) it is in mono no less! Still compressed, but a step in the right direction.

 

Recorded music sounds better than live? What's next? This picture of the Grand Canyon looks better than the real thing?
Lol!

 

Yep. Typically. However, I am not talking about acoustic music in great sounding rooms. It's possible, sure. But it's not common. Then, even if you get that... is the music worth listening to?
If I spent all my time at the symphony or listening to someone with an acoustic guitar, I'd feel different. But I usually listen to amplified music and in a live situation it's usually too loud to enjoy and it's in a bad sounding space with a disgruntled engineer at the board. I'd rather put a record on at home.

 

perhaps their stereo plays fine.. but to an audiophile addict its the wrong label or color to be considered 'correct'.

 

Ya when one thinks about the musicians that aren't as successful as the big name stars they wont be speding their extra cache on state of the art equipment because they can't afford a system and in lots of cases not even a intro level system. Because as the old adage goes "The Difference between a musician and 14 inch pizza... Is that a pizza feeds a family of Four"

--The Master

 

That's interesting and I think that there's a lot of truth in that. Most of my friends and family are definitely in category 3, (including ex pro musicianss) loving their music but for the most part completely indifferent to the standard of sound reproduction, regardless of of how realistic or not the system is. I would place myself in category 4, because I care about the sound. It's an aspirational thing though, I in no way have anything even approaching a "good" system.

 

Back when I was gigging fairly regularly and working a full-time job, pretty much the only time I spent in front of the stereo was to figure out how to play songs. When I stopped playing in cover bands (and buying guitars/basses/amps etc.) I started actually listening to music for pleasure - and I started upgrading my sound system.

 

In a Country Weekly, I recently saw a photo of young newcomer Hunter Hayes jamming to vinyl on a Crosley while he played every instrument on his CD and even was surrounded by all of his instruments, and on Twitter a while back, 1990s country hitmaker Jessica Andrews was listening to some vinyl on a Crosley and I recommended her to upgrade it to at least an Audio-Technica AT-LP120USB, Sherwood RX-4109 receiver, etc. and she replied that "I love my s***ty turntable" and then afterwards, posted that she has a home studio and I replied that the one thing she should add is an Audio-Technica AT-LP120USB turntable. They do treat hi-fi like most people in other words and are in category 3. Taylor Swift is well known for listening to vinyl on a Crosley as well.

 

There is nothing wrong with category 3 at all, after all, that's where most people are. Most of us are in category 4 as we do care about the sound reproduction.

 

My brother was a musician too. Your statement is absolutely the same as what my brother always said.

All my brother had was a really cheapo portable CD player and some small speakers. The only time he really listen to music at all was when he wanted to learn songs with a new band to play on stage. Certain passages, licks, he'd listen to it, maybe listen to it one more time, a certain part, and then the CD player went 'off'. He got it. Done. It was all business.

From all the musicians that I met, through him, they were spending their money on equipment, strings, lights, PAs, boards, etc. No money to waste on a stereo, even a cheap used one. But they would drop $1000 for a used vintage Guild hollowbody guitar! Not a problem, unless they were cash short. Then they would make payments.

Most money was spent in wheeling and dealing in musical equipment, of one sort or another. The rest was used for cokes, pizza, gas to the gigs, and some other stuff.

A musicans lifestyle.

 

Louis Armstrong's system in Queens NY, 1960s.

 

....before big screen tvs took over the living room...

 

Oh I give up.