Is it just me or ....

Jaybeez

... Is there a downside to better gear?

Specifically I'm finding that poor recordings are almost impossible to listen to for any length of time, while better recordings reveal (good) things I've never heard before.

Tonight I started off a 2 channel session with some Aerosmith that I just didn't remember sounding so bad. Lacking in dynamics and clarity.

Then when I switched to Abbey Road I heard bass notes I'd never noticed, keyboard sounds, guitar parts and an accuracy in Ringo's cymbals that make me pretty sure I can name the model of each one.

Not complaining really just wondering if this is a common outcome of going down the rabbit hole?

F1nut

That is indeed true and is, at times why I wish I'd never progressed further than the transistor radio.

Jaybeez

F1nut wrote: »

That is indeed true and is, at times why I wish I'd never progressed further than the transistor radio.

Joey_V

If not lossless, yes, better gear equals worse experience.

But on the whole, I feel like better gear has enhanced my experience.

tonyb

Yes and no, and I can agree with all the above statements. What I've found is the better your gear, the more personal involvement it takes from you, more attention is needed to create that synergy and sound you want.

We didn't need to pay attention to any of that back in the boom box days or transistor radios. Remember those all in one units with speakers flanking a stack of components ? Consoles ? All you had to do was plop it down anywhere and plug it in.

Takes more effort, a bit more knowledge today to extract good sound. Plus recordings only recently have expressed a desire to be better. We had good recordings in records and tape back in the day, but then we had periods of yuck and the loudness wars. Recordings were made for car audio more so than home audio.

Of course the interest in better recordings has fueled a whole industry. Except many who have saved recordings over decades have no wish to buy them all over again and some may not even be available today.

If you fall into that category, then a system a bit more forgiving should be your aim to accommodate those old recordings. A system too detailed will reveal every flaw and send you running for your safe space.

This could also be why, we old timers who enjoy older rock music have warmer systems that take that edge off of those bad recordings while still extracting an acceptable level of detail. The good news in all this is, everything can be tailored to your preferences and musical recordings you listen to. Isn't that why we have such a variety of gear available to us ?