Author Topic: Alan Parsons on Audiophiles and Music  (Read 4178 times)

Offline tmazz

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Alan Parsons on Audiophiles and Music
« on: June 18, 2021, 09:27:37 PM »
I came across this quote the other day from Alan Parsons describing how he as a musician feels about audiophiles:





It makes me think, how many times in this hobby do we end up putting the cart before the horse?

Comments?  Thoughts?
« Last Edit: June 18, 2021, 09:33:16 PM by tmazz »
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Offline P.I.

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Re: Alan Parsons on Audiophiles and Music
« Reply #1 on: June 18, 2021, 09:57:13 PM »
I think the man is brilliant.  He has a grasp of reality that few possess in music.  I also think that he is about 90% right.  People that call themselves audiophiles cover a lot of types.  I have found the majority of them to be gear-heads.  There is a small group of people that are true music lovers.  Coming from a musical family I gave been in love with music: listening to it, making it, recording it and building gear to those ends for about 60 years.  I do what I do for the love of the medium and trying to spread the joy, mostly to people of modest means.  This makes me happy.
"A man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument." - Hilmar von Campe

Offline Nick B

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Re: Alan Parsons on Audiophiles and Music
« Reply #2 on: June 19, 2021, 12:52:19 AM »
I think the man is brilliant.  He has a grasp of reality that few possess in music.  I also think that he is about 90% right.  People that call themselves audiophiles cover a lot of types.  I have found the majority of them to be gear-heads.  There is a small group of people that are true music lovers.  Coming from a musical family I gave been in love with music: listening to it, making it, recording it and building gear to those ends for about 60 years.  I do what I do for the love of the medium and trying to spread the joy, mostly to people of modest means.  This makes me happy.

Dave,
Your dedication to and love of music has very much contributed to my enjoyment and to music lovers worldwide. Thanks and keep doing what you’re doing!!
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Offline James Edward

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Re: Alan Parsons on Audiophiles and Music
« Reply #3 on: June 19, 2021, 07:56:32 AM »
Definitely guilty… There are times when I listen just for the bombast of it all. It’s fun on a different level- different than listening cerebrally or emotionally, though I guess it does tick the emotional box on some level.
« Last Edit: June 19, 2021, 08:00:30 AM by James Edward »
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Offline P.I.

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Re: Alan Parsons on Audiophiles and Music
« Reply #4 on: June 19, 2021, 10:22:46 AM »
I think the man is brilliant.  He has a grasp of reality that few possess in music.  I also think that he is about 90% right.  People that call themselves audiophiles cover a lot of types.  I have found the majority of them to be gear-heads.  There is a small group of people that are true music lovers.  Coming from a musical family I gave been in love with music: listening to it, making it, recording it and building gear to those ends for about 60 years.  I do what I do for the love of the medium and trying to spread the joy, mostly to people of modest means.  This makes me happy.
Thanks, Nick.  I wasn't fishing for compliments here, but yours is greatly appreciated!

Dave,
Your dedication to and love of music has very much contributed to my enjoyment and to music lovers worldwide. Thanks and keep doing what you’re doing!!
"A man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument." - Hilmar von Campe

Offline Nick B

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Re: Alan Parsons on Audiophiles and Music
« Reply #5 on: June 19, 2021, 11:01:05 AM »
When people ask me what my hobbies are, I usually say I’m a music lover or music enthusiast. Those are good, descriptive words as, now especially, music is so much fun to listen to and these tweaks I’ve been trying have been contributing much as well.
If I had more money to play around with, I’m sure I could slip into my gearhead mentality a bit, though.
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Offline steve

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Re: Alan Parsons on Audiophiles and Music
« Reply #6 on: June 19, 2021, 09:04:46 PM »
It is all about how the music sounds here.

cheers

steve
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Offline rollo

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Re: Alan Parsons on Audiophiles and Music
« Reply #7 on: June 22, 2021, 12:30:40 PM »
It is all about how the music sounds here.

cheers

steve


 Exactly. The better the reproduction gear the better the emotional impact. Starting with clean power ending in great speakers. Look we can tap our toes to the car radio for sure. We will dance to the same music from our rigs. Of course the music matters. Now record it better Alan Parsons.



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Offline P.I.

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Re: Alan Parsons on Audiophiles and Music
« Reply #8 on: June 22, 2021, 01:47:53 PM »
It is all about how the music sounds here.

cheers

steve


 Exactly. The better the reproduction gear the better the emotional impact. Starting with clean power ending in great speakers. Look we can tap our toes to the car radio for sure. We will dance to the same music from our rigs. Of course the music matters. Now record it better Alan Parsons.



charles
Dude!  I have seen you dance to the music.  That's what it is all about  :thumb:
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Offline BobM

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Re: Alan Parsons on Audiophiles and Music
« Reply #9 on: June 22, 2021, 04:43:55 PM »
There was a time in all our lives as audio hobbiests where equipment was what it was about. Don't deny it. That was our learning phase where we experimented and played with all sorts of stuff someone outside the hobby would call "crazy." But, if you have evolved as I have you reach a comfort zone ... a point where the music shines through ... a point where you are satisfied with your equipment, or maybe just tired of playing that never ending game of trade ups.

You can now relax.

You can enjoy life without pressures.

You can stop spending money on trivialities.

You can enjoy the music more.

Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry and you'll have to blow your nose.

Offline tmazz

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Re: Alan Parsons on Audiophiles and Music
« Reply #10 on: June 22, 2021, 08:29:49 PM »
Bob I could not agree with you more and I am in that place now.

For me, I kind of got pushed there when I got married 7 years ago and ended up moving. First off I lost my dedicated room and had no other choice but yo move my system into a shared space that was quite a bit smaller than what I had in my old house. This lead to several things. First off the some of the gear I used in the dedicated room would not work in the new space. Not only was there not enough space to fit it, but even when I squeezed it into the new space the speakers simply overpowered the room. And secondly, I had spent over 25 years tweaking things in the dedicated room. Even I I found a house withe a big enough space to use the same gear it wouldn't have sounded the same in a new space.

So I reconciled myself with the fact that the system was not going to sound as good as it did in the past, but it could still sound quite good and I started to focus more on enjoying the music. Have I made some gear changes since then, sure, bu t they were more driven by my desire to add new functionality to the system that would make it easier for me to enjoy music (i.e. computer and Roon based library) that it was by my desire to chase that last 2% of audio quality. And quite frankly I am much happier for it and am finding myself getting more pleasure from finally just listening to the system as opposed to trying to upgrade it.

But I do have to say that even when I was in the equipment upgrading phase my goal was always to get gear that would allow me to enjoy the music more. my biggest sense of accomplishment after upgrading was when it was all done and I could sit in the sweet spot fire up the salt lamps , turn off the rest of the room lights and sit in the almost dark listening to Dark Side of the moon and some of my other favorite music. For me it was always about improving the musical enjoyment, not improving the sound just for the sake of doing it.

And don't get me wrong, I am not saying that I am right and the gearheads are wrong. If you get your kicks out of pushing the sonic limits of your system just to say you can, by all  means, have at it. Your getting pleasure out of gear is no less or more valid a reason for being in the hobby as somebody else's love of music. Hey whatever floats your boat.

But I think Parsons' comment is more base on his frustration that he puts a lots of time and effort into creating music as an art form and then watches (some) audiophiles simply use it to evaluate their gear which in his mind shows no respect for the art that he created.  can understand where he comes from
Remember, it's all about the music........

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• McIntosh MC 275
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Offline steve

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Re: Alan Parsons on Audiophiles and Music
« Reply #11 on: June 25, 2021, 12:21:16 AM »
For me, personally, it is all about realism. Does the voice sound real. How about the instruments. I want to feel as though I am actually there as I love how instruments sound live. I can enjoy the Vienna Symphony, Ben King, or Eva Cassidy as if I am in the audience live.
 
My brother played the coronet and I played a trombone and don't want them sounding weird. I enjoy the live orchestra or a jazz session, and I want to hear it anytime I wish, as if I am in the audience.

cheers

steve
« Last Edit: June 25, 2021, 12:23:21 AM by steve »
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Offline jimbones

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Re: Alan Parsons on Audiophiles and Music
« Reply #12 on: June 25, 2021, 05:54:21 AM »
I don't try to "recreate" the live experience. I shoot a lot lower. If it sounds to me that there is this mirage of the event happening before me Im ecstatic, but that rarely happens and changes with source material so my goals are modest. I get burnt out from this hobby.
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Offline rollo

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Re: Alan Parsons on Audiophiles and Music
« Reply #13 on: June 25, 2021, 08:03:34 AM »
For me, personally, it is all about realism. Does the voice sound real. How about the instruments. I want to feel as though I am actually there as I love how instruments sound live. I can enjoy the Vienna Symphony, Ben King, or Eva Cassidy as if I am in the audience live.
 
My brother played the coronet and I played a trombone and don't want them sounding weird. I enjoy the live orchestra or a jazz session, and I want to hear it anytime I wish, as if I am in the audience.

cheers

steve

  My goal as well Steve. I love the chase. I love the experimenting. For me it will never end. I enjoy a state of the art system every night. It IS NOT about the gear. It is about pulling out the potential of the system to make the music I love sound more life like.
   If I had to compromise in a new room then I would choose the right speaker for that space with the best front end I could afford.




charles
« Last Edit: June 25, 2021, 08:08:05 AM by rollo »
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Offline Folsom

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Re: Alan Parsons on Audiophiles and Music
« Reply #14 on: June 25, 2021, 10:21:15 AM »
We had a discussion along these lines on ClubHouse audiophile room the other night.

You might be surprised that some musicians said the sound was more important than the music itself, but for them that ranged a bit wider than JUST audiophile systems. Their point was if it isn't complete then it isn't really why they're into music.