# How do you listen to your music?



## AudioDawg (Jan 31, 2014)

Like it or not, the act of listening intently to music is odd to most people. Mostly, music is used to fill a void while doing something else. Right now, as I type this, I have some music playing. To the majority of people that is as far as it goes. But we....well we sit and actually listen to what is being played. We have systems dedicated to making the music sound good, and we listen, with the music becoming not a filler but as the primary focus.

When I talk to people about this they think it is a very strange thing to do.

So, how do you listen? Do you have a ritual? A method? A process?

I will begin...

I usually let my stereo warm up for about 1/2 an hour before I begin to listen. I actually enjoy turning it on. I have tubes in a few of my components so I let them ripen before I pick the music from them. On weekends I leave the system in standby mode so I dont need to let it warm up.

Then, I sit in my chair, in the sweet spot, with the door closed and the lights off...with my eyes closed. I often have a light blanket on me as well. I will sometimes have a glass of tea or diet soda on the table beside me.

I seldom listen to an entire album of music (unless I am using my vinyl rig or just got a new disc) and instead opt to have my music collection sampled at random by my server. My listening sessions usually last 2-3 hours, and I do this at least 4 times weekly.

I have been known to fall asleep while listening. 

I always become absorbed in the music. I listen intently at the various instruments trying to isolate them from time to time. I listen for the processing used to create the recording and I often marvel at the sound they achieved in the late 50's recordings and how they destroyed much of that in the 70's

Sometimes I am moved to dance. Dancing alone while no one is watching can be a wonderful release. 

I make listening to music an experience. And I like it.


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## DocFJ (Apr 17, 2013)

In my formative years, 12-22 years old, I would get a new CD, find a friend or a few and we would listen to the whole thing. We would chat about the music, any latest additions to the stereo system, etc. We would drink ice tea, or in later years, drink beer and smoke cigars. I got away from any serious music listening for a while as I spent too many years as a broke college student and started a family, but I am finally back after a long hiatus. I actually got back into music by way of home theater, but I spend more time sitting in the sweet spot of my home theater listening to two-channel music than I do watching movies.

I usually start listening with a favorite song or two while I build a playlist for the evening, then I turn the lights down, close my eyes and disappear into the music for an hour or two.


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## OKLAGMCRUISER (Jan 20, 2014)

a good choice of threads...subscribed. 

I too will sit in the sweet spot with random selections set to play with my eyes closed. I enjoy picking out the small background musical hints...not just the in your face front stage. Sometimes, to me, hearing a guitar player's hand slide up/down his strings puts a smile on my face over feeling a snare pop through my system.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

I like that Mike... go into a room and sit down in the sweet spot, cover up with a blanket, turn the lights off, shut my eyes and turn on some music. No wonder you are falling asleep, what you are describing is going to bed with the sleep-timer on the radio. You don't listen to the whole album because you are asleep after the first couple of songs. lol

I am not sure I have any rhyme or reason about how I listen. It varies. I can go into my room and watch a couple of my recorded shows and for some reason I sometimes start thinking about a song or something I am watching triggers a song that I want to hear. I usually keep the Palladia Channel tuned in and when I stop or finish a program it is playing, it might trigger a song for me. When I am done, I will turn on that song and before you know it I am listen to several songs... perhaps for hours.

Then sometimes I go into my room with the intentions of watching a show and decide to listen to a few songs before watching and before I realize it, it has been 2-3 and sometimes 4 hours before I get done. 

I have no particular ritual, but I do sometimes shut my eyes while listening, not always, but often. I usually like to leave my lights on, but it is fairly dim in my room.

I can easily listen to entire albums, especially if they are new album. I will often listen to an album several times to make sure I am not missing a new discovery of something that turns out to be an excellent recording. Then at other times I will skip around... listen to parts of songs... here and there, all over the place. 

I find that a really good recording will entice me to listen more so than just the music. There are a lot of songs I hear on Pandora at the office... or on XM radio when driving, that I like, and occasionally I will discover a new artist and order their CD. I get it in, but because the recording is so bad, I don't really care to listen to it. Yet, I have some songs that I might not be all that crazy about hearing on the radio, but love to listen to them in my room because they sound so good. The car radio and Pandora office computer doesn't do them justice.

A good recorded album will get me out in my room to listen quicker than anything else. Well... okay, those Montis do have a way of magnetizing me too.


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## AudioDawg (Jan 31, 2014)

> You don't listen to the whole album because you are asleep after the first couple of songs.


That is not far from wrong.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

I admit I may have fell asleep once or twice myself.


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## ALMFamily (Oct 19, 2011)

Subscribed!

I must admit that I have not had much opportunity to actually sit and listen to music in the last couple of years as I have been knee deep in the construction process.

That said, something in Luther's last review clicked for me and that was Melody Gardot's approach of listening to music to control her pain. I can see myself turning the lights off - except for the star ceiling - and just listening to music for hours. Well, once my kids are older anyway...


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## JQueen (Jan 11, 2012)

We listen to music every night, most of the time something where the little ones can go crazy and dance there energy out so they sleep better, and we like to listen to christian music at a lower level while eating dinner


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## Nuwisha (Apr 21, 2013)

There a are a few ways I listen, though I have no ritual. I usually grab a book and read, putting it down for the good stuff. For the really good stuff I'll turn the lights out and just get lost in it. Esp. for Devin Townsend's stuff, so many layers to listen to. 

I've always got music going when I'm playing GranTurismo (zone 2 for music while the ps3 gets the mains. Hope to have zone 2 on it's own amp soon to give the rear surrounds back to the game). 

And when I'm doing stuff around the house I crank up all three zones so I don't miss anything anywhere in the house.

*edit* oh and always when driving. That's where my bass obsession began. Been through a few in the car/truck over the years. Still have my first amp though (Rockford Fosgate punch 100a2).


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## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

Interesting question, not sure how often it is discussed so this is good. 
I am not sure that I always have a routine, I am not the most organized dude around so I walk into the secret lair, as I am in right now and turn everything on, sit in the main chair and decide what to cue up on the server while the tubes warm up, like you do. Funny you asked now actually, I am in the lair and listening to a very old recording of Jeff Beck and Rod Steward performing "Old Man River", very unique.

It seems when there is a need, almost daily now, to actually sit down and listen quietly, I do sit, get comfortable, set my favorite drink in place pick an album, turn off the lights, kick back and close my eyes. One may be able to tell from my ramblings that Jack is easily drawn away from the tasks at hand so it has to be quiet, dark and alone. The turntable does not get used so much, there is a certain lazy satisfaction to listening to an entire set list without having to get up. 

There has been trouble in paradise of late in that there is too much listening for issues, perfect centering, is everything symmetrical, am I using the best input, etc. Hard to just turn on and tune out these days, must be the speed of the world eh ??


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## Almadacr (May 5, 2011)

I have to listen to music everyday or i will get really annoying  but i like to listen it loud ( this amazes me since i'm 43 and by 30's i taught that i would be deft by my 40's ) . Has i said in other tread even with freezing temperatures i start my ipod before i start my car .

At home i have several options and one of them is always working or playing music , my TT , i don't use it at the moment since the TT died and it kills me since its my favorite format it's vinyl and there's things that i can ear in those jimmy Hendrix albums that i can't ear on CD . 

So i basically move around my HT system where i have one of my pc's with a external HHD ( i have 3 , 1T each , external HHD with music for several purposes ) with files only in FLAC , but i also am a big fan of live concerts . I always wonder why HTS doesn't review BD concerts so i leave the question here if someone can answer ? 

One of my other options is my laptop that i connect to one of my guitar amps and try to track down all the guitar parts of some new or old song . In my laptop i have about 200G of music converted to 320 since i try to manage my 30G ipod with it :help:  

At this moment i am listening to Metallica " Through The Never "


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

I mostly listen at fairly low levels in the late evening.
Sometimes I use headphones.
If my wife is out I have been known to crank it up and have a concert.
Over the past couple of years I like to listen to an artist's catalog in chronological order, lots of times this takes multiple listening sessions.
I almost never use random play when listening by myself at home.
Falling asleep listening to great tunes is a precious joy I hope to always get to experience.


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## kevin360 (Oct 4, 2012)

I'm not sure I can say that I have a ritual either, but I'm almost always listening to music. If there's none playing in the real world, the music server in my head cranks up. I fall asleep to music every single night - 'Oxygene', by Jean Michel Jarre has been featured lately. The 2nd system in the bedroom has a 2nd pair of speakers just for that purpose.









The big rig has a valve amp, but I fire it up with music playing - just quite softly. I'll give it about a half hour with gentle music, which I nudge up every now and then. During that time, I build a playlist that I think I want to hear. Fairly often, a track will grab me in such a way that I decide to take my listening journey in a completely different direction. Regardless, selecting music from a library on disk is this old fart's dream come true. Modern music playing technology is cool!

I may watch TV for an hour each day, if that. I listen to music while doing other things and I listen to music while doing as little else as possible - sitting quietly in a comfy chair, eyes closed, head bobbling (not a typo) to the music.

Music with images can be very entertaining as well. Concerts on DVD or Bluray are phenomenal. I'll finally get my projector back on Friday.:yay: I'm pretty sure the music I hear that night will be part of a multimedia experience.:bigsmile:

Is there a wrong way to listen to music?


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## Oldsoul (Feb 6, 2014)

Interesting question.
If I say everyone listens to music in a wrong way, it's surprised a lot of people.
I wonder how to listen to music properly.
Maybe there is no proper way.
For me, I just listen whenever I feel like to.
Shuffle mode on and skip a lot.
Just listen to half song is just one way I sometime do.


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## Bowers (Mar 10, 2012)

Hi, my way to listen to music changed about 1 year ago, when I finally got my own musicroom. Befor that, I have had music system quite expencive ( lets say 200.000 kr in norway is about 32.000 dollar ) I could put in a cd in my cdplayer ( that player is gone now ) and listen to music while doing something else. If I sat down just to consentrate om the music, very often I pushed forward to the next song. 

Now after I got my own room, I can sit for hours, relxed in my sofa, with my legs on the litte legrest, and just close my eyes and let the music and tones come to my. Usually I can put on a cd an just listen to the whole thing. 

But my music interest has also changed a bit. I listen now to more music, and to many other types of music than before. And this means there is a whole new world of music for me to grab.

Witch I`m loving...


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## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

Almadacr said:


> I always wonder why HTS doesn't review BD concerts so i leave the question here if someone can answer ?
> 
> One of my other options is my laptop that i connect to one of my guitar amps and try to track down all the guitar parts of some new or old song . In my laptop i have about 200G of music converted to 320 since i try to manage my 30G ipod with it :help:
> 
> At this moment i am listening to Metallica " Through The Never "


Oh good question but I can say that the Metallica with Orchestra disc is great and if you like Elton, his 60th birthday concert disc on BR is stunning. So many good ones.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

We have started to review concerts. We did the Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Festival... and I think we are going to do the Heart Blu-ray.

We were going to do Metallica, but it ended up being a bit risqué, so we had to pull it back.


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## Savjac (Apr 17, 2008)

Sorry then I did not mean to mention it, so I will go to the Heart disc, Live in Seattle, it is brilliant and on occasion can raise the hairs on the back of your neck.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

We don't have a problem with you mentioning it... we just ain't gonna review it.


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## Almadacr (May 5, 2011)

Savjac said:


> Oh good question but I can say that the Metallica with Orchestra disc is great and if you like Elton, his 60th birthday concert disc on BR is stunning. So many good ones.


The S&M i have it in DVD , Elton John the closest that i have is the live appearances in the Live AID and Live 8 also in DVD , but lately the one that is having some spin is Dream Theater - Live At Luna Park and this is a great one to have .


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## 16hz lover (Jun 10, 2012)

You wouldn't fall asleep at my volume level


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## Mike0206 (Jul 14, 2013)

First off great thread! I seem to miss a lot of threads cause I'm only usually viewing HTS on my phone or iPad. Glad I caught this one before page 10 lol! 

I listen to music very casually. I'll come home during lunch when I work local and listen to 15-20 minutes and totally veg out. It's a major de-stressing mechanism for me. When I get home and decide to listen it's not background music for me. I sit in the sweet spot, relax and enjoy. I usually close my eyes and visualize a concert stage. I'm weird that way but that's how I do it.


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## Saddle (Feb 19, 2009)

I don't get to 'listen' to music now as much as I used to. Aside from a busy life, if my Wife isn't watching a movie, she's making noise and doesn't really like my music invading her doing something in the kitchen with the TV on in there... But...

When I listen to music, it is the event. I listen the same way I watch a movie. Every sonic change, the arrangement, the mix itself, and of course the song and the way I get 'wrapped' up in different songs. Funny thing is, I don't seem to ever have background music on. Not too often anyway. To me it's like having the TV on in the other room and not being there to watch it. I guess I watch the imaginary concert in my mind when I'm listening. Or where ever it is that I go to when I really get deep in the music... But because of that, it requires the time and place, that I don't seem to have as much as I would like.

Thanks...


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## whitey019 (Feb 2, 2013)

Dark room, sweet spot, eyes closed......phew I thought I was the only weird one. I've been doing it for 35 years and its great to hear there are more of us!


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